60-second Science

The hormone irisin encourages bone remodeling, in part by first triggering another substance that encourages some bone breakdown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bahia's broad-snout casque-headed tree frog needs a pool to raise its young that's just right. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A particular set of brain neurons may be behind registering itch and inducing us to scratch.

Starting December 16, ocean scientists will live-tweet the BBC documentary series Blue Planet II, available via Netflix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Millions of years from now, the geologic record of the "Anthropocene" will be littered with plastics, yes, but also chicken bones. Christopher Intagliata reports. 

Ichthyosaurs had traits in common with turtles and modern marine mammals, like blubber and countershading camouflage. Christopher Intagliata reports.

When trouble lurks, juvenile aphids drop off of the plants they're eating and hitch a ride on bigger aphid escapees.

The Trump administration is shrinking Utah's desert monuments, stripping some federal protections for wild pollinators. Christopher Intagliata reports. 

An estimate of dog intelligence requires looking at non-dogs as well to understand what's special to canines and what is just typical of the taxonomic groups they're in.

By analyzing the network connections between 47,000 films on IMDb, researchers found the most influential films ever made. Christopher Intagliata reports. 

In the last few decades blue whale calls have been getting lower in pitch—and a rebound in their numbers may be the reason. Christopher Intagliata reports. 

Smart meters on showerheads encouraged hotel guests to conserve—even though they personally saved no money. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The sounds of the Mars InSight Mission control room during the tense minutes leading to the landing on the surface. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taking a swig of red wine before eating Brussels sprouts appears to moderate Brussels sprouts' polarizing flavor. Christopher Intagliata reports

Freak heavy rainstorms in 2015 and 2017 wiped out many dry-adapted microbes in the Atacama Desert, useful info in the search for life off Earth. Christopher Intagliata reports.

People who had a conflict in a given day but also got hugged were not as affected by the negative interaction as were their unhugged counterparts.  

The single organism that is the Utah aspen grove known as Pando is on the decline due to herbivores wiping out its youngest tree outgrowths

Immigrants to the U.S. lose their native mix of gut microbes almost immediately after arriving in the U.S.—which researchers can't quite explain. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few very brief reports about international science and technology from Alaska to Indonesia, including one on offshore dairy farming from the Netherlands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adult humans laugh primarily on the exhale, but human babies laugh on the inhale and the exhale—as do chimps. Christopher Intagliata reports.