Childhood Illnesses Surge, Magnetic Poles Wandered, and a Colossal Squid Is Found

Measles cases are going up—and a federal scientist has warned that case counts have probably been underreported. Another vaccine-preventable illness, whooping cough, sees a troubling increase in cases. Ancient humans found sun-protection solutions when Earth’s magnetic poles wandered. A colossal squid has been captured on video in its natural habitat for the first time. Plus, we discuss evidence that Mars once had a carbon cycle and a planet that is orbiting a pair of brown dwarfs. 

Recommended reading:

This Is the First Colossal Squid Filmed in the Deep Sea—And It’s a Baby! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f8leNRUXdo&t=1s 

RFK, Jr., Is Wrong about Cause of Rising Autism Rates, Scientists Say https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-real-reason-autism-rates-are-rising/ 

How to Talk about Vaccines in an Era of Scientific Mistrust https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-vaccine-hesitancy-occur-and-how-can-people-combat-it/ 

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Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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