Science Update

Series produced by Science Update

Series image

Science Update is a daily, 60-second feature covering the latest science news in a fun, accessible style. This multi-award winning show has been on the air nationally since January of 1988.

Science Update is a 60-second news feature that provides your listeners with their minimum daily requirement of science every weekday. Science Update covers science, engineering, medicine-- everything from aardarks to zygotes and, on rare occasions, aardvark zygotes. We post the five shows for each week on the Thursday afternoon of the week before so you can get them in your system, ready to go. Every package, including a short tease, is exactly 60 seconds, so you can wrap it around a 30 second station id or funder blurb and have it fit nicely into your clock. In addition to news, we also answer listeners' questions, phoned into our toll-free line 1-800-WHY-ISIT (4748) or emailed to us from our website, www.scienceupdate.com


111 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Piece image
The ability to track the motion of small objects is surprisingly well-correlated with IQ.

  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Microscopic organisms represent a vast, unexplored territory for biologists trying to understand the earth’s ecology—including the ecology inside o...

  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Using precise numbers may give you an advantage in negotiations.

  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Caption: Toucans and other large animals have a big impact on rainforests., Credit: Jupiter Images
When large animals like toucans are removed from tropical rainforests, the trees suffer.

  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Caption: HMS Challenger, Credit: Public Domain
Ocean temperature records from a ship that circumnavigated the globe 135 years ago confirm global warming.

  • Added: Jun 11, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Caption: Chimpanzees, Republic of Congo, Credit: Alexandra Rosati
Like humans, chimps and bonobos can be sore losers.

  • Added: Jun 11, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Caption: Revived bryophytes from the Arctic Circle., Credit: Catherine LaFarge/University of Alberta
Plants that were frozen in glaciers 400 years ago are growing again as those glaciers melt away.

  • Added: Jun 11, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Caption: Eunotosaurus fossil., Credit: Tyler Lyson
A 260 million-year-old fossil could be the ancestor of turtles.

  • Added: Jun 08, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Rare species can have a surprising impact on ecosystems.

  • Added: Jun 03, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Researchers discover why chemotherapy makes women infertile – and hopefully, how to stop it.

  • Added: Jun 03, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Caption: A 5-week-old Weddell seal pup and its mother on sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. By around 6 weeks of age, the pup will have to hunt for itself under closed sea ice., Credit: Copyright Regina Eisert
Weddell seal pups survive infancy with the help of surprisingly large brains.

  • Added: Jun 03, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Obese and diabetic mice have less of a certain gut bacteria, and replenishing the bacteria helps them lose weight.

  • Added: Jun 03, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Researchers have found a gene that gives the malaria parasite safe harbor in mosquitoes.

  • Added: Jun 03, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Some of the most useful medicines come from dangerous toxins found in nature.

  • Added: May 25, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
An invasive ladybird beetle kills off native species with microorganisms in its body.

  • Added: May 25, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Scientists have identified an enzyme that could be responsible for one of the rarest childhood diseases of all.

  • Added: May 25, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Scientists have identified the genetic variant of the fungus-like organism responsible for setting off the Irish Potato Famine.

  • Added: May 25, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Greater wax moths have evolved the ability to hear sounds at frequencies even their predators can't detect.

  • Added: May 20, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Fluoride protects teeth in surprising ways.

  • Added: May 20, 2013
  • Length: 01:00
Piece image
Seabirds and their eggs help scientists track global pollution.

  • Added: May 20, 2013
  • Length: 01:00