Scienceline

Jan 13 2025 99 ep. 7 mins 23

Scienceline Podcast artwork

The Scienceline podcast is produced by the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program in the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University. For more information, e-mail us at [email protected].

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It’s a whale of a problem: Can we lower the volume from Arctic ships?

Jan 13 2025 11 mins

Have you ever wanted to take a trip to the Arctic? Every year, tourists from around the world make their way to the region. But the ships carrying these tourists bring an invisible pollutant with them — one that’s impossible to see and impossible to ignore: noise. How does this unseen phenomenon affect animals that call the Arctic home? And what role do even the most environme

When city rivers get wild

Jun 12 2024 11 mins

It’s no secret that rivers winding through major cities have been reshaped by human hands. Where wildlife and marshes once existed, gray sidewalks and bleak straight-lined tributaries have blossomed. Now, some cities are implementing floating wetlands — native plant life on a body of biodegradable materials that bobs on top of the water — to address a budding desire to see

What Was New York’s New Robocop?

Mar 28 2024 11 mins

Meet the newest robotic police officer in town: the Knightscope K5. This “Robocop” completed a two month trial period in New York City’s Times Square subway station from September to November of 2023, recording video and monitoring the station. But despite city officials promising its safety, people were understandably nervous about a robotic police officer. The robot’s t

(Math + Art) × Fun = Mathemalchemy!

Mar 13 2024 10 mins

Boredom under COVID quarantine led many to pursue some strange side hobby, but for 24 mathematicians and artists, it resulted in Mathemalchemy — a collective of mathematically (aesthetically, too) charming pieces of art — from cryptographic quilts, huge parabolas of embroidered spheres, crochet theta curves caught in fishing nets, and murals of OctoPi, seen generating various w

Restoring New York Harbor with a billion oysters

Feb 16 2023 10 mins

Oysters have been a New York City culinary staple for centuries. Hundreds of years ago, when the Indigenous Lenape people lived in the region prior to European colonization, the harbor teemed with shellfish. But by the early 20th century, pollution, urban development and overharvesting erased nearly 350 square miles of oyster beds. Fast forward to the present, and a nonprofit is n

On the hunt for hidden dams

Feb 09 2023 10 mins

When you imagine a dam, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s the hulking concrete wall of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River or the Grand Coulee on the Columbia. Large barriers on large rivers, looming large on the horizon. But colossal structures like these make up only a fraction of the dams that chop up waterways across the United States. The nation’s rivers, streams and brooks

Tracking hurricane-induced aging in our genetic primate relatives

Aug 22 2022 11 mins

Growing up in Houston, Marina Watowich was no stranger to hurricane seasons. This familiarity now drives Watowich’s research in genomics, where she seeks to understand how the environment affects the aging process. She isn’t studying aging in humans — but in a unique population of monkeys in Puerto Rico. These monkeys live on an isolated island off Puerto Rico and give rese

Yet another road to this great ape’s extinction

Apr 08 2022 7 mins

Chimpanzees are nearing extinction in many countries. Of the four subspecies of these great apes, western chimpanzees are the most endangered. Experts estimate that their distribution is now extremely patchy, with 80% of their numbers having declined in the last 20 years. The largest-remaining population is found in the Ivory Coast in Western Africa, with smaller populations in Gui

Climate change on the global stage

Mar 08 2022 8 mins

Thinking about climate change can be overwhelming, even paralyzing. Attempting to solve this global crisis will take enormous efforts by politicians, companies and local leaders to reverse the negative effects on our planet. On this global stage, where can artistic expression fit into our response and communication efforts? Enter climate change theater — an effort by playwright

Do stutterers always stutter? Not really

Mar 03 2022 7 mins

What do Tiger Woods, Michelle Williams and President Joe Biden all have in common? Like around 3 million people in the United States, they are all people who stutter. Stuttering commonly develops around childhood and most people stop stuttering by the time they reach adulthood. However, stuttering persists for some adults and researchers haven’t been able to figure out why. But