Science Quickly

How much screen time is too much? In this episode of Science Quickly, Scientific American associate editor Allison Parshall reads her November cover story, “Escaping the Infinite Scroll.” In the story, she explores the growing debate over screen addiction and problematic social media use. From landmark lawsuits against tech companies to the psychology behind endless scrolling, she explains what researchers know about digital dependence, why social platforms are designed to keep us engaged and how some people are turning to addiction-style recovery programs for help.

Recommended Reading:

Meta to pay $18 billion and make sweeping app changes to settle social media harms lawsuit

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 Allison Rodgers. The article was fact-checked by Wudan Yan.
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In this episode of Science Quickly: a surprising discovery about postmenopausal ovaries, new evidence that microplastics may harm cells through their physical structure, the secret mechanics of honeybee stingers and a cyberattack that spoiled food in hundreds of supermarkets. Catch up on the latest science and tech news.

Recommended Reading:

Do women hit a biological ‘cliff’ at menopause?

Microplastics are linked to inflammation—scientists might have finally worked out why

Honeybees deemphasize potential ‘misinformation’ in their waggle dances

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

How much screen time is too much? In this episode of Science Quickly, Scientific American associate editor Allison Parshall explores the growing debate over screen addiction and problematic social media use. From landmark lawsuits against tech companies to the psychology behind endless scrolling, she explains what researchers know about digital dependence, why social platforms are designed to keep us engaged and how some people are turning to addiction-style recovery programs for help.

Recommended Reading:

Meta to pay $18 billion and make sweeping app changes to settle social media harms lawsuit

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

Longevity research has fueled books, documentaries and billion-dollar industries, but how much of it stands up to scrutiny? In this episode, researcher Saul Justin Newman explains why he believes that the evidence behind Blue Zones, antiaging interventions and some of the biggest claims in longevity science may be far weaker than advertised and what the debate reveals about our enduring quest to live longer.

Recommended Reading:

Morbid. Saul Justin Newman. MIT Press, 2026

‘Universal’ aging clocks offer new clues to longevity

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

From sensationalized health claims to AI-generated misinformation, misleading content can distort how people understand infectious disease. Epidemiologist and science communicator Jessica Malaty Rivera explores why fear spreads, how science evolves and what individuals can do to evaluate sources, recognize emotional manipulation and build trust in evidence.

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

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