Science Quickly

Alexis Hall, novelist who reimagines Moby-Dick as a queer sci‑fi space opera, talks about space whales, AI navigators, and Jupiter’s wild physics. They explain balancing real science with playful silliness. Themes of endlessness, leviathan ecology, and a recast Captain A come up in lively, imaginative conversation.

Lauren Young, Associate Editor for Health and Medicine at Scientific American and health reporter, breaks down the recent U.S. measles surge. She traces where outbreaks began. She explains why vaccination rates are falling and how exemptions and social media spread misinformation. She outlines contagion risks, herd immunity needs, and public-health responses.

A lunar flyby update covers a bold plan to send a spacecraft far beyond previous ranges. Regulators approved Gulf oil and gas activity despite endangered wildlife concerns. A dramatic western snowpack collapse, driven by unusual warmth and rain, threatens water supplies, wildfires and reservoirs.

Lee Billings, Scientific American’s senior space and physics editor, breaks down NASA’s Artemis II moon mission. He explains the Orion spacecraft’s lunar flyby and reentry risks. He covers mission systems tests from life support to radiation shelter. He discusses the program roadmap, lunar science goals at the south pole, and even the upgraded onboard toilet.

Lauren Schroeder, a paleoanthropologist who studies craniofacial evolution, discusses why only humans have chins. She walks through competing ideas like function, sexual selection, and byproduct. She explains how jaw and face changes driven by diet, bipedalism, and brain size may have left the chin as a secondary outcome.

Lee Billings, senior space and physics editor who explains space policy and propulsion, breaks down NASA’s push for nuclear-powered Mars missions and the role of reactors for a long-term lunar base. He also covers how the Iran war’s strikes and reconstruction drive big carbon costs. Plus a look at promising phase‑three results from a new Lyme vaccine.

Rachel Zoffness, pain scientist and UCSF assistant clinical professor, explains why pain is a brain-driven warning system, not just a body problem. She discusses the biopsychosocial model, pain memory and central sensitization. Practical topics include hypnosis, brain plasticity, and a simple protocol of sleep, movement, nutrition, emotion regulation, and social support.

Joe Howlett, a Science and Technology reporter covering mathematics, discusses whether AI can handle real research-level proofs. He outlines a community challenge that tests models on unpublished lemmas. They compare early results, how AI proofs differ from human proofs, and what future rounds might reveal about AI’s role in advancing math.

Andrea Thompson, senior desk editor for life sciences at Scientific American and experienced science communicator. She breaks down a March heat dome and its health and wildfire risks. They cover a federal ruling that blocks changes to the childhood vaccine schedule. The conversation also looks at lead-contaminated kids' clothing and the surge to 10,000 Starlink satellites in orbit.

Andy Weir, sci-fi author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary, talks about producing the film and shaping its alien world. He explains designing Rocky’s ammonia-rich biosphere, imagines iridian anatomy and social behavior, and discusses where hard science stays true and where fiction takes playful leaps. He also reveals why he would not sign up for real space travel.