Science Quickly

In this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel Feltman interviews NASA astrophysicist Erini Lambrides about her unconventional journey from pursuing the performing arts to studying supermassive black holes. Lambrides reflects on how curiosity, persistence through early struggles in physics and a background in acting shaped her scientific approach and mentoring philosophy. 

Recommended Reading:

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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 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.

This episode is part of “The Young American Scientists,” an editorially independent project that was produced with financial support from Regeneron.
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In the new movie Disclosure Day, aliens communicate through a series of strange clicks and pops. But what could an alien language actually be like? In this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel Feltman puts that question to linguist Jeffrey Punske. We explore why fictional aliens in Hollywood and beyond tend to sound the way they do, what real human languages can teach us about communication and why math could be humanity’s best shot at first contact.

Recommended Reading:

Steven Spielberg shares his favorite sci-fi story ever

What Disclosure Day gets wrong about the search for aliens

Join our Summer Reading Challenge 

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 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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In this episode of Science Quickly, we explore the science behind preparing natural grass for the 2026 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup, a project in which researchers have worked to transform stadiums that typically use artificial turf into sites with elite playing surfaces. Turf experts have spent years testing grass species, refining growing methods and solving the logistical challenges of transporting and installing fields across North America. Their goal is to create consistent, high-performance pitches that can withstand intense play—and that are so seamless that the world’s best soccer players never have to think about the grass beneath their feet.

Recommended Reading:

The Surprising Math and Physics behind the 2026 World Cup Soccer Ball

2026 FIFA World Cup players and fans at risk of extreme heat, climate scientists warn

Join our Summer Reading Challenge

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 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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In this episode of Science Quickly, we look at how World Cup host cities are tracking potential disease outbreaks with wastewater surveillance, discuss the loss of NASA’s long-running MAVEN orbiter at Mars, unpack a new order pushing AI companies to share models with the government and explore a striking new map that reveals just how vast ancient Rome’s road network really was.

Recommended Reading:

NASA’s Mars mission MAVEN is lost forever

Trump’s new AI executive order drastically shifts the administration’s stance on the tech

New map reveals lost roads of the Roman Empire

Join our Summer Reading Challenge

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 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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In this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel Feltman interviews physician Anuja Dokras about the long road to changing the name of the condition PCOS, or polycystic ovary syndrome, to polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS. The conversation covers why “PCOS” was misleading, what the common condition actually involves and how an international group of researchers, including Dokras, landed on a more accurate name. 

Recommended Reading:

‘PCOS is inaccurate’—why scientists renamed polycystic ovary syndrome

“Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, the new name for polycystic ovary syndrome: a multistep global consensus process,” by Helena J. Teede et al, in Lancet. Published online May 12, 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, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Emily Makowski and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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