Science Quickly

In this episode of Science Quickly, we dig into a brewing shake-up inside psychiatry as the American Psychiatric Association considers sweeping changes to the way mental illness is defined and diagnosed. Scientific American’s associate editor Allison Parshall breaks down what the potential changes are, why long-standing diagnostic categories may no longer reflect scientific reality and what these revisions could ultimately mean for patients.

Recommended Reading:

Psychiatrists plan to overhaul the mental health bible—and change how we define ‘disorder’

E-mail us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!

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Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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Can you imagine not being able to burp at all? In this episode of Science Quickly, we dive into the little-known but surprisingly serious “no burp” syndrome known as retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction (RCPD). Otolaryngologist Robert Bastian, who co-authored the paper that first defined RCPD in 2019, explains what causes this unusual condition and how it can make daily life miserable. But relief can come from an unexpected source: a Botox injection that gives patients the chance to “learn” how to burp—an experience many describe as life-changing.

Recommended Reading:

Explore a collection of articles and resources about RCPD by Robert Bastian

E-mail us at [email protected] 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 our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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In this episode of Science Quickly, we dive into Google DeepMind’s new artificial intelligence model AlphaGenome, which could help researchers better understand how noncoding DNA shapes gene expression. We also look at how doctors pulled off a medical marvel when they kept a man alive without lungs for two days. Plus, we learn how researchers cracked an evolutionary puzzle involving a peculiar flower.

Recommended Reading:

Google DeepMind unleashes new AI to investigate DNA’s ‘dark matter’

Doctors keep patient alive using ‘artificial lungs’ for two days

Babies who attend daycare share ‘good’ germs, too

E-mail us at [email protected] 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 our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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In this episode of Science Quickly, host Kendra Pierre-Louis talks with Katie Hafner of the podcast Lost Women of Science about the remarkable but often overlooked physicist and chemist Katharine Burr Blodgett, whose pioneering work in early nanotechnology led to nonreflective glass. Hafner shares why the Lost Women of Science team devoted nearly a year to uncovering Blodgett’s full story and reflects on the broader mission to restore women to the scientific record.

Recommended Reading:

The chemical genius of Katharine Burr Blodgett

Listen to more podcasts from the Lost Women of Science Initiative

E-mail us at [email protected] 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 our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many people turn to expensive perfumes to elevate their natural scent and smell more pleasant to others. But what if you could achieve that just by switching up your diet? In this episode of Science Quickly, host Kendra Pierre-Louis talks with freelance journalist Sofia Quaglia about the science behind how what we eat can subtly change how we smell—and how attractive others perceive us to be. The conversation explores surprising findings about garlic and armpit odor, counterintuitive effects of meat intake on body scent and the strange, smelly experiments behind this research.

Recommended Reading:

“The foods that make you smell more attractive,” by Sofia Quaglia, in BBC Future. Published online November 2, 2025

E-mail us at [email protected] 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 our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices