An enormous meteorite’s impact 3.26 billion years ago may have made conditions on Earth more hospitable for life in the long run. Washington State is the sixth state to report cases of bird flu in humans. Weight-loss procedures and treatments could lead to an uptick in scurvy cases if patients and physicians aren’t vigilant about vitamin C. And scientists are learning more from the remains of a Norse soldier whose body was dumped in a well some 800 years ago.Recommended ReadingBird Flu Is Infecting Pet Cats. Here’s What You Need to Know Teenagers Are Taking New Weight-Loss Drugs, but the Science Is Far from Settled We value your input! Take our quick survey to share your feedback.E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artist and author Geo Rutherford created Spooky Lake Month to highlight the strange and eerie waters of the world. She first fell in love with the Great Lakes during graduate school in Milwaukee. Rutherford was an early educational video creator, but it was a video about spooky lakes that skyrocketed her to viral fame. She has a new book, Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes That Dot Our Planet. Rutherford joins host Rachel Feltman to discuss art, natural wonders and the deepest lake in the world. You can get Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes That Dot Our Planet at  www.georutherford.com/book Watch Spooky Lakes videos at www.tiktok.com/@geodesaurusWe’re still looking for listener submissions for our upcoming episode on the science of earworms. We’d love to hear a song you just can’t get out of your head. If you’re up for the challenge, sing or hum a few bars in a voice memo and send it over to ScienceQuickly@sciam.com with your name and where you’re from. We value your input! Take our quick survey to share your feedback.Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Geo Rutherford. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Rachel Feltman is joined by Jasmine McDonald, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, to discuss the disturbing trend of an increase in early-onset breast cancer diagnoses. They explore how chronic exposure to endocrine disruptors could be fueling this rise and examine the surprising role that societal beauty standards may play in shaping these risks.We value your input! Take our quick survey to share your feedback.Email us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have confirmed we’re in the solar maximum, a period of increased solar activity that could lead to more auroras. Also, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a fivefold surge in whooping cough cases. And a new study suggests that some microbes might be using our disinfectants against us by chowing down on them.Recommended reading:Whooping Cough Is Spreading Again after Years of Relative QuietEmail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a lot of excitement and apprehension over the seemingly sudden proliferation of artificial intelligence in just about everything. Technological progress often outpaces regulation, and the next U.S. president will set the tone for AI policy. Scientific American’s associate technology editor Ben Guarino walks us through AI policies and plans from Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Plus, we discuss the role AI generated images, videos and even voices could play in spreading misinformation around the election.Recommended reading:How the Next President Will Determine the Future of AI Lethal AI Weapons Are on the Rise. What’s Next? We Cannot Cede Control of Weapons to Artificial Intelligence E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with associate technology editor Ben Guarino. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you stop implicit bias from getting in the way of better health? This doctor wants to make learning how to manage bias as important as learning how to suture.SHOWNOTES:Have you ever felt judged at the doctor’s office, even before you said a word? Unfortunately, that’s not uncommon, and it’s often not intentional. Like everyone, doctors have unconscious biases that can affect how they treat patients, which can pose real risks to health outcomes. In this episode, host Rachel Feltman is joined by Cristina Gonzalez, a physician and professor of medicine and population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, to discuss how these biases form and what can be done to address them.This podcast is part of “Health Equity Heros,” an editorially independent special report that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals.E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything you need to know about last week’s physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine Nobels. COVID could raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes years after original infection. Hurricane Milton causes tornadoes across Florida and delays the launch of Europa Clipper.Recommended reading:How Does Sharing a Nobel Prize Work? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-chemistry-physics-and-medicine-nobel-prizes-can-be-shared-and-how-that/ Why Hurricane Milton Caused So Many Tornadoes https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-hurricane-milton-caused-so-many-tornadoes/ NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission Carries Special Cargo: A Poem https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasas-europa-clipper-mission-carries-special-cargo-a-poem/ E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scientific American associate news editor and music enthusiast Allison Parshall takes Science Quickly through what we know about how singing came to be. Scientists aren’t sure why humans evolved to sing, but commonalities in traditional music offer clues to how the practice evolved. Neuroscience shows us where speech and singing live in the brain and what information the forms hold. And an upcoming experiment will look into how singing might make us more connected to one another.Recommended reading:New Folk Song Analysis Finds Similarities around the WorldHow Artificial Intelligence Helped Write This Award-Winning SongE-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Allison Parshall. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Marielle Issa, Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hurricanes Beryl, Francine and Helene have battered the Gulf Coast this year. Hurricane Milton is expected to add to the destruction, particularly in parts of the west coast of central Florida that are already reeling from Hurricane Helene. Scientific American’s associate editor of sustainability Andrea Thompson joins Science Quickly to help us understand how we measure hurricanes and how climate change is magnifying the damage done by these massive storms. Plus, we discuss how the catastrophic flooding in western North Carolina dispels the myth that anywhere can be a true “climate haven.”Recommended reading:New Hurricane Forecasts Could Predict Terrifying Explosive Intensification https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-hurricane-forecasts-could-predict-terrifying-explosive-intensification/ Hurricanes Kill People for Years after the Initial Disaster  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hurricanes-kill-people-for-years-after-the-initial-disaster/ Hurricane Helene Signals the End of the ‘Climate Haven’ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hurricane-helene-signals-the-end-of-the-climate-haven/ E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Andrea Thompson, Scientific American’s associate editor of sustainability. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hurricane Helene’s death toll continues to rise. Marburg virus is spreading in Rwanda, but risks for a global outbreak are low. Researchers in Beijing used stem cell treatments to reverse diabetes in a patient. Plus, we discuss a map of a fruit fly’s brain and dolphin smiles.Recommended reading:Hurricanes Kill People for Years after the Initial Disaster https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hurricanes-kill-people-for-years-after-the-initial-disaster/ See an Amazingly Detailed Map of the Fruit Fly Brainhttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-an-amazingly-detailed-map-of-the-fruit-fly-brain/ E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck.  The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices