PODCAST · science
Scienceline
by Scienceline
The Scienceline podcast is produced by the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program in the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. For more information, e-mail us at [email protected].
Episodes
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“Stomping out” a species that is here to stay
When I moved to New York City last summer, one of the first things I noticed was the fervor with which East Coasters are trying to stomp out invasive spotted lanternflies. These bugs were detected in the United States in 2014, and made their way to New York during the pandemic. As this invasive...
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Digging up the past at Dead Horse Bay
In 2020, the National Park Service announced the closure of Dead Horse Bay, a section of water and shoreline within the Gateway National Recreation Area in Brooklyn. Survey results had shown radiological and chemical contamination at the popular beachcombing spot, and the park service said that a...
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These advocates are addressing the gap in your sex education
Hannah Chiu might only be a medical student at Tulane University, but she is using her platform to make sure young menstruators know everything from how to use a tampon to birth control options. With only 29 states mandating any form of sex education, Chiu joins the many people around the country...
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How does emotional music affect musicians?
Lots of research has tried to break down how music toys with the emotions of any audience, but have you ever thought about how music makes the musicians playing it feel? A group of researchers from Italy recently noticed this gap in the science and decided to answer it. They found that when...
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It’s a whale of a problem: Can we lower the volume from Arctic ships?
Have you ever wanted to take a trip to the Arctic? Every year, tourists from around the world make their way to the region. But the ships carrying these tourists bring an invisible pollutant with them — one that’s impossible to see and impossible to ignore: noise. How does this unseen phenomenon...
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When city rivers get wild
It’s no secret that rivers winding through major cities have been reshaped by human hands. Where wildlife and marshes once existed, gray sidewalks and bleak straight-lined tributaries have blossomed. Now, some cities are implementing floating wetlands — native plant life on a body of…
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What Was New York’s New Robocop?
Meet the newest robotic police officer in town: the Knightscope K5. This “Robocop” completed a two month trial period in New York City’s Times Square subway station from September to November of 2023, recording video and monitoring the station. But despite city officials promising its safety,...
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(Math + Art) × Fun = Mathemalchemy!
Boredom under COVID quarantine led many to pursue some strange side hobby, but for 24 mathematicians and artists, it resulted in Mathemalchemy — a collective of mathematically (aesthetically, too) charming pieces of art — from cryptographic quilts, huge parabolas of embroidered spheres, crochet...
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Restoring New York Harbor with a billion oysters
Oysters have been a New York City culinary staple for centuries. Hundreds of years ago, when the Indigenous Lenape people lived in the region prior to European colonization, the harbor teemed with shellfish. But by the early 20th century, pollution, urban development and overharvesting erased...
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On the hunt for hidden dams
When you imagine a dam, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s the hulking concrete wall of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River or the Grand Coulee on the Columbia. Large barriers on large rivers, looming large on the horizon. But colossal structures like these make up only a fraction of the dams that...
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Tracking hurricane-induced aging in our genetic primate relatives
Growing up in Houston, Marina Watowich was no stranger to hurricane seasons. This familiarity now drives Watowich’s research in genomics, where she seeks to understand how the environment affects the aging process. She isn’t studying aging in humans — but in a unique population of monkeys in…
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Yet another road to this great ape’s extinction
Chimpanzees are nearing extinction in many countries. Of the four subspecies of these great apes, western chimpanzees are the most endangered. Experts estimate that their distribution is now extremely patchy, with 80% of their numbers having declined in the last 20 years. The largest-remaining...
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Climate change on the global stage
Thinking about climate change can be overwhelming, even paralyzing. Attempting to solve this global crisis will take enormous efforts by politicians, companies and local leaders to reverse the negative effects on our planet. On this global stage, where can artistic expression fit into our…
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Do stutterers always stutter? Not really
What do Tiger Woods, Michelle Williams and President Joe Biden all have in common? Like around 3 million people in the United States, they are all people who stutter. Stuttering commonly develops around childhood and most people stop stuttering by the time they reach adulthood. However…
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What we gain by exercising together
The Central Park Running Club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 in the morning. Not much stops them from starting their days together with an early morning jaunt through the park — not cold, not rain and not even January’s big snowstorm. What’s so special about exercising together that it...
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How Tuvan vocalists sing two notes at once
The Republic of Tuva, located in the Russian Federation, is known across the world for its music. If you’ve ever heard Tuvan vocalists sing, you’ll understand why. A piercing whistle hovers over a deep, buzzing drone — two very different sounds coming from the same singer’s vocal tract as he...
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Fighting Fast Fashion
Sometimes, being a “material girl” comes with a downside. An endless cycle of fashion trends doesn’t only weigh on your wallet; it takes a toll on the planet too. In 2020, the fashion industry accounted for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions, which is more than the oceanic shipping and...
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The icy fate of the universe
Have you ever wondered how the universe will end? Chances are that the answer is “yes”; humans tend to have an innate curiosity when it comes to morbid questions. Scientists, of course, are no different. Cosmologists have pondered the ultimate fate of the universe, and many have converged on a...
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Blue cheese and pale ale have been on the menu for longer than researchers thought
Today, many charcuterie boards, servings of buffalo chicken and cobb salads feature blue cheese and possibly even a glass of beer. New evidence shows that humans’ taste for a cheese flavored by fungi may have begun as early as 800 B.C. The Hallstatt salt mines in the Eastern Alps preserved...
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Everybody wants to help a cat
Like many other volunteers, Brooklyn resident Hailee got involved with feral cat care by accident. After seeing cats in need around her neighborhood, she adopted some, found veterinary resources for others and joined a community of cat-savvy neighbors. Throughout New York City a network of...
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Today's gamers may be tomorrow's agricultural experts
If you’re a parent, you might have the opinion that video games are a waste of time. But the U.S. Department of State, educators and other experts think that gaming might actually be the best way to engage students — especially during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic — on important issues,...
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The lost and future wildlife of New York City's East River
Right in the heart of New York City is the East River, separating Manhattan and the Bronx from Brooklyn, Queens and the suburbia of Long Island. For many New Yorkers, the river is just water running under the many bridges they cross over during their daily commute. But before the confluence of…
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Oddities of outer space
In the last few decades, the study of exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — has exploded. Since the first one was spotted in 1992, scientists have found thousands of different exoplanets in their own unique systems, each of which has told us something new about the cosmos. Hidden among...
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Death of a sourdough
Last year, plenty of people took up the new hobby of baking sourdough. What better to do when you can’t leave the house? And, since sourdoughs are based on cultivating a microbial community of yeast and bacteria in what’s called a “starter,” these bakers had to learn how to care for the billions…
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What does the coronavirus sound like?
In the 1980s, Mark Temple was the drummer for the indie pop band The Hummingbirds. He toured the world and saw his music played on MTV, but eventually left the band and returned to school. When the university where he teaches shut down earlier this year, Temple used his time at home to rekindle…
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The evolution of ethnobotany
As long as humans have been around, we’ve relied on plants for our survival: as food, fuel, shelter, medicine — and to produce the oxygen we breathe. Ethnobotanists are scientists who study and catalog these complex interactions between people and plants. Yet ethnobotany has a complicated history...
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More than just a weather forecast
2020 was another record-breaking year of storms and wildfires in the United States. Against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, reports of fiery skies above California and “unsurvivable” storm surges in Louisiana can feel like apocalyptic icing on a hellish cake. So how do meteorologists...
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Birding provides escape for the pandemic-fatigued
Watching for resident and migratory birds has provided an outlet for people to go outside during the COVID-19 shutdowns. Photo: Migratory birds like this magnolia warbler pass through New York City each year, and the pandemic hasn’t stopped them. [Jean-Guy Dallaire | CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ] Music by:...
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Rhino conservation in a time of crisis
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted economies across the globe. With international travel on hiatus, the toll on tourism has been immense. So where does that leave the communities — and animals — that depend on money from travelers?
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Taking the "folk" out of folk culture
It’s literally in the name — folk culture depends on groups of people. Whether they’re attending a folk dance or a jam session, members of folk communities gather together to engage in a group experience. Or at least, that’s how it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The daunting task of holding an Islamic funeral in a pandemic
Grieving is difficult. Grieving during a pandemic even more so. In the Islamic tradition, a person's passing is marked with an elaborate and symbolic funeral. But what happens to those traditions when the world is put on pause, and when tragedy seems never-ending?
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LGBTQ pride in the pandemic
June felt different this year. The month, usually filled with technicolor LGBTQ Pride celebrations, fell quiet due to coronavirus lockdown measures. Many pride organizers adapted by hosting online pride events, which allowed queer folks from across the globe to meet while increasing the chance of...
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Wolbachia: Bacteria that are saving lives
In this podcast, Scienceline speaks with Fred Rubino, a postdoctoral researcher at New York University, who studies Wolbachia and their survival in fruit flies. Also, Cameron Simmons, Director of Impact Assessment at the World Mosquito Program, talks about how Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes are...
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Are atoms, bacteria and plants conscious?
In this podcast, Scienceline speaks to philosophers David Chalmers, Philip Goff, and biologist Karl Niklas to discuss whether atoms, plants, and bacteria are conscious.
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Garrett Fondoules: Being alone on and off the Appalachian Trail
Can you be a pro at isolation? If anyone could be, it seems like it would be Garrett Fondoules. Normally, he travels across the Appalachian Trail, working to map its landmarks and boundaries. Sometimes, he scarcely sees another human face. Wouldn’t a little more isolation be nothing new? Yet like...
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Is artificial intelligence changing art?
As artists harness the powers of technology for their art, several essential questions arise. What does it mean to create art with artificial intelligence? Are these techniques truly new? And why do we even need art that uses algorithms? This seven-minute episode will explore these questions…
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What makes music sound...good?
Think about a song you like. Regardless of the genre, the song probably includes either reverberation, distortion or both. These add texture to the music that we tend to crave. But how do they work? As a guitar player, I thought I knew. But I’d never taken a pause to think about the details. To...
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Listening to the urban choir
Perhaps you were woken up today by the calls of a singing bird — perhaps trying to mate, or simply to communicate. In an Anthropocene world, those birdsongs are changing. Songbirds today, many of whom live in the midst of human cities, are singing into increasingly noisy skies. Their songs must...
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Hot or not, cigarette butts release toxins
We all know smoking is bad for your health. So is second-hand smoke. It turns out, even a leftover cigarette butt could be bad for you as well. Most butts are made with plastic and are not biodegradable. Scientists know nicotine and other toxins leach out of these ubiquitous plastic waste…
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Coronavirus: a name game
Corryn Wetzel speaks with a professor of ethnic studies, a civil rights organization and an infectious disease expert to understand how rhetoric around COVID-19 has impacted Americans.
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How volcanic eruptions may hold the key to averting the climate crisis
As the world faces unprecedented climate disasters — from the months-long bushfires in Australia to the rapidly melting ice-sheets of Greenland and Antarctica — teams of scientists from around the globe are busying themselves to come up with new climate solutions.
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Climate change is bad news for your cup of joe
Climate change could soon leave a bad taste in your mouth.
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Is New York Ready for the Next Big Hurricane?
Scientists expect climate change will make storms more intense, so the city must amp up its defenses
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PODCAST: What shells can tell us about the world
Shells, often overlooked on the sea shores, tell professor Geerat Vermeij a story about evolution that spans millions of years. Vermeij, a leading geologist and creator of the famous escalation theory, has been captivated by shells since a young age. His is the story of pursuit of passion despite...
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PODCAST: Dive Right into the Hudson River
Despite perceptions that the Hudson is not fit for swimming, it is perfectly safe in many places. But how do you know where?
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Hablemos en Español
Hablemos en Español by
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Coronavirus is reshaping personal space boundaries. But, what does personal space really mean?
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Maria Paula Rubiano started wondering about how personal space boundaries differ across cultures. She followed that curiosity, and here’s what she found.
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PODCAST: Dog cloning, explained
Earlier this year, the world learned that Barbara Streisand had cloned her beloved pet dog, Samantha. As a news item, it was a weird novelty that got a fair amount of attention. But I wanted to know: How exactly do you clone a dog? In this podcast, I dug into the science of cloning to figure it...
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PODCAST: Call these plants by their names
In the far reaches of the South Pacific lies the country of Vanuatu, a small cluster of islands about 1600 miles east of Australia. This hard-to-reach archipelago covers an area smaller than the size of Hawaii. Despite its minute size, the islands are immensely diverse. The country has one of the...
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PODCAST: If you can sing, can you talk?
Whether it takes place onstage, at karaoke, or in the shower, singing is a special activity unique from speech. And since it uses a lot of the same machinery (mouth, tongue, voice box, etc.), at least some of that difference must lie in the brain. This podcast looks at the mental phenomenon of…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Scienceline podcast is produced by the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program in the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. For more information, e-mail us at [email protected].
HOSTED BY
Scienceline
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Scienceline have?
Scienceline currently has 103 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Scienceline about?
The Scienceline podcast is produced by the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program in the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. For more information, e-mail us at [email protected].
How often does Scienceline release new episodes?
Scienceline publishes regularly with 103 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Scienceline?
You can listen to Scienceline on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Scienceline?
Scienceline is created and hosted by Scienceline.
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