Science Quickly

In this episode of Science Quickly, Rachel Feltman speaks with Alexis Nikole Nelson, better known as Black Forager, about her new book Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! Nelson shares how a childhood fascination with edible plants grew into a passion for foraging, conservation and science communication. From city sidewalk snacks and serviceberries to ocean-water pickles, she explains how foraging can deepen our connection to nature while encouraging responsible stewardship of the ecosystems that sustain us.

Recommended Reading:

Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! Alexis Nikole Nelson. S&S/Simon Element, 2026

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, 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 episode of Science Quickly, Rachel Feltman speaks with criminologist Fangzhou Wang about how romance scams have evolved from simple online deception into sophisticated, artificial-intelligence-powered fraud operations. They discuss how scammers use dating apps, fake identities, deepfakes and cryptocurrency schemes to build trust and steal money and what researchers are learning about helping people recognize and resist manipulation before they become victims.

Recommended Reading:

“Daejon Love Case Highlights Online Romance Scams: Research Reveals Scammers’ Tactics—And How to Defend against Them,” by Fangzhou Wang, in the Conversation. Published online September 2, 2026

Fangzhou Wang’s profile at the University of Texas at Arlington

“A Crime Script Analysis of Pao Fen Operations and the Construction of Prevention Strategies,” by Fangzhou Wang, in Crime & Delinquency. Published online August 14, 2025

“The Prevention of Online Romance Scams Using a Crime Script Analysis from the Victim’s Perspective,” by Fangzhou Wang and James D. Kelsay, in International Review of Victimology, Vol. 32, No. 2; May 2026

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, 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

As health misinformation surges online, Morgan McSweeney—known online as Dr. Noc, a science communicator and immunology expert whose videos reach millions each month across TikTok, Instagram, and X—explores why facts alone might not be enough to earn public trust, and what science communicators can do differently.

This podcast was produced for Bayer by Scientific American Custom Media, a division separate from the magazine's board of editors.



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

In this episode of Science Quickly, we cover discoveries both big and small, from the supersized particle collider needed to find the next subatomic specimen to tropical sea turtles that found new nesting grounds to a recently discovered eukaryote surprising scientists by surviving hellish temperatures and the ever growing energy needed to power artificial intelligence data centers.

Recommended Reading:

What’s the Smallest Particle in the Universe?

Physicists trace particles back to the quantum vacuum

AI’s Power Needs Will Destroy the Renewable Energy Revolution

AI Will Drive Doubling of Data Center Energy Demand by 2030



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, 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 episode of Science Quickly, we share part two of our crossover with Vox’s Unexplainable in which we explore one of the universe’s biggest mysteries: dark matter. Host Noam Hassenfeld talks with Scientific American senior reporter Joseph Howlett, a former physicist who spent years searching for dark matter deep beneath an Italian mountain. Their conversation traces the decades-long hunt for the invisible substance thought to make up most of the universe’s matter and explores an even deeper question: What if some mysteries are beyond science’s reach?

Recommended Reading:

What if we never find dark matter?

Listen to Unexplainable

Unexplainable on Spotify

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, 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