Science Quickly

In this week’s Science Quickly news roundup, we look at promising results from a new study about preeclampsia. We also cover the latest news about the Trump administration’s push against clean energy. Plus, we remember pioneering geneticist J. Craig Venter, who died last week, and Scientific American’s chief newsletter editor Andrea Gawrylewski shares an interesting defense technology story from the magazine’s May issue. We then dig into a fascinating new study about scorpion stingers and claws. Finally, we ask a strange question: Where was your backyard 320 million years ago?

Recommended Reading:

Could blood filtering help treat one of pregnancy’s most deadly conditions?

Human genome decoder J. Craig Venter dies at age 79

DARPA’s AI is built to call BS on wild weapons claims

See where your backyard was millions of years ago at Paleolaltitude.org

E-mail us at [email protected] 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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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In this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel Feltman and science journalist Jane C. Hu trace the surprising journey of psychedelics in the U.S.—from symbolizing the hippie movement of the 1960s to being seen as a panacea for mental illness. But where does science stand on psychedelic therapy? And what does the renewed political push for psychedelics mean for research?

Recommended Reading:

The Microdose, a newsletter supported by the University of California, Berkeley, Center for the Science of Psychedelics

RFK, Jr., says ibogaine holds unprecedented promise for treating depression. Here’s what the science says

RFK, Jr., puts psychedelics on fast track to FDA review and approval

E-mail us at [email protected] 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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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Physics can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. In this episode, theoretical physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein joins Science Quickly to explore how poetry, pop culture and imagination can help us grapple with some of the universe’s biggest questions. From spacetime and dark matter to Star Trek, Missy Elliott and queer theory, the conversation traces how physics is shaped by history, culture and creativity—and why struggling with complex ideas can be intellectually and even politically meaningful.

Recommended Reading:

The Edge of Space-Time. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein. Pantheon, 2026

E-mail us at [email protected] 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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s Science Quickly news roundup, we dive into NASA’s new discovery of organic molecules on Mars, including some that have never been found there before. We also explore how human migration may have been shaped by a surprising factor: malaria. Plus, we go over the encouraging results of a new study that links declines in youth suicides in the U.S. to the adoption of the three-digit 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in 2022. And finally, we’ll turn to some interesting findings about AI voice clones.

Recommended Reading:

“NASA’s Curiosity Finds Organic Molecules Never Seen Before on Mars.” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Published online April 21, 2026

“Malaria shaped human spatial organization for the past 74 thousand years,” by Margherita Colucci et al., in Science Advances, Vol. 12, No. 17; April 22, 2026

Young adult suicide rates dropped after U.S. launched 988 hotline 

“Voice clones are easier to understand in noise than their human originals: The voice cloning intelligibility benefit,” by Patti Adank and Han Wang, in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 159, No. 4; April, 2026

E-mail us at [email protected] 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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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In this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel Feltman talks with Yale University epidemiologist Colin Carlson about new research showing that the global wildlife trade is spreading dangerous pathogens far faster than scientists once thought. The conversation challenges the idea that pandemic risks are limited to distant “wet markets,” revealing how everyday wildlife trade—from pet stores to industrial farms—brings animals, people and diseases into close contact. Carlson explains why a stronger investment in basic science is critical to preventing the next COVID‑like pandemic.

Recommended Reading:

“Wildlife trade drives animal-to-human pathogen transmission over 40 years,” in Science, Vol. 392; April 9, 2026

How the wildlife trade boosts the chance of a disease jumping from animals to humans

E-mail us at [email protected] 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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices