News stories on magnetic waste in the brain, the top deal breakers in online dating, and wolves that are willing to “risk it for the biscuit,” with David Grimm. From the magazine How do we track where we are going and where we have been? Do you pay attention to your path? Look for landmarks? Leave a scent trail? The problem of navigation has been solved a number of different ways by animals. The desert-dwelling Cataglyphis ant was thought to rely on stride integration, basically counting their steps. But it turns out they have a separate method of keeping track of their whereabouts called “optic flow.” Matthias Wittlinger joins Sarah Crespi to talk about his work with these amazing creatures. Read the research. [Image: Rooobert Bayer /Music: Jeffrey Cook]
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wissenschaft & Technik
Science Magazine Podcast Folgen
Weekly podcasts from Science Magazine, the world's leading journal of original scientific research, global news, and commentary.
Folgen von Science Magazine Podcast
596 Folgen
-
Folge vom 08.09.2016Podcast: Double navigation in desert ants, pollution in the brain, and dating deal breakers
-
Folge vom 01.09.2016Podcast: Ceres’s close-up, how dogs listen, and a new RNA therapyNews stories on what words dogs know, an RNA therapy for psoriasis, and how Lucy may have fallen from the sky, with Catherine Matacic. From the magazine In early 2015, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. Over the last year and a half, scientists have studied the mysterious dwarf planet using data collected by Dawn, including detailed images of its surface. Julia Rosen talks with Debra Buczkowski about Ceres’s close-up. See the full Ceres package. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
Folge vom 25.08.2016Podcast: Quantum dots in consumer electronics and a faceoff with the quiz masterSarah Crespi takes a pop quiz on literal life hacking, spotting poverty from outer space, and the size of the average American vocabulary with Catherine Matacic. From the magazine You can already buy a quantum dot television, but it’s really just the beginning of the infiltration of quantum dots into our everyday lives. Cherie Kagan is here to talk about her in depth review of the technology published in this week’s issue. [Image: Public domain; Music: Jeffrey Cook] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
Folge vom 18.08.2016Podcast: How mice mess up reproducibility, new support for an RNA world, and giving cash away wiselyNews stories on a humanmade RNA copier that bolsters ideas about early life on Earth, the downfall of a pre-Columbian empire, and how a bit of cash at the right time can keep you off the streets, with Jessica Boddy. From the magazine This story combines two things we seem to talk about a lot on the podcast: reproducibility and the microbiome. The big question we’re going to take on is how reproducible are mouse studies when their microbiomes aren’t taken into account? Staff writer Kelly Servick is here to talk about what promises to be a long battle with mouse-dwelling bugs. [Image: Annedde/iStockphoto; Music: Jeffrey Cook] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices