Science Quickly

In this episode of Science Quickly, we cover a tragic measles death that highlights the dangers of declining vaccination rates, examine a wave of cyberattacks that are turning supermarket freezers into heaters and investigate one of science’s most important questions: Do cats fart? From public health threats to cybersecurity risks to feline flatulence, it’s a week of science news that’s equal parts alarming and absurd.

Recommended Reading:

New York’s first measles death in 30 years is an omen of worse to come

Hackers are turning supermarket freezers into heaters

Do cats fart? An investigation into the mysteries of feline flatulence

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, Sushmita Pathak, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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As artificial intelligence becomes woven into daily life, the race to build increasingly powerful systems is only accelerating. In this episode of Science Quickly, tech journalist Kevin Roose discusses the rise of artificial general intelligence and explains why some of the people developing AI are among its most vocal worriers and what the technology's rapid evolution could mean for society, safety and the future of humanity.

Recommended Reading:

The AGI Chronicles: The Inside Story of the Race to Create an Artificial Superintelligence. Kevin Roose. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2026

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, Sushmita Pathak, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Addiction hijacks the brain’s reward circuitry, and current
treatments often struggle to break its grip. In this episode, neuroscientist
and neurosurgeon Ali Rezai of the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute
explains how an experimental, noninvasive focused-ultrasound treatment aimed at the nucleus accumbens could quiet cravings so that therapy and medication work better. He also describes how wearables and AI might flag people at risk of relapse before it happens.



This podcast was produced for WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute by Scientific American Custom Media, a division separate from the magazine’s board of editors.



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In this episode of Science Quickly, Rachel Feltman speaks with environmental historian Edward Melillo about the tiny soybean, which has come to dominate America’s diet. When you think of soy, you may only picture a block of yummy tofu or soy milk, but this crop has quietly made its way into 60 percent of processed foods. In fact, 2026 is on track to become a record soybean harvest for the U.S. And soy doesn’t just show up on our plates: as an oil, it can power trucks, buses and even planes. Tune in to hear how this plant took over the American food system.

Recommended Reading:

How Seed Oils Became Controversial—And What the Science Really Says

Why corn isn’t entirely to blame for ‘corn sweat’

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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Marielle Issa 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 news roundup, we take a look at what’s happening with the Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa. Later SciAm editorial fellow Peter Hall joins host Rachel Feltman to discuss recent claims by OpenAI and Anthropic that their models have solved some of the world’s toughest math and physics problems. Plus, we dive into new research that suggests making daylight saving time permanent could put schoolchildren at risk.

Recommended Reading:

Dueling proofs from OpenAI and Anthropic astound scientists

OpenAI just scooped mathematicians’ work on another million-dollar problem

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, Sushmita Pathak, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices