On this week’s show: The shadow of Milky Way’s giant black hole has been seen for the first time, and bottlenose dolphins recognize each other by signature whistles—and tastes
It’s been a few years since the first image of a black hole was published—that of the supermassive black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy came about in 2019. Now, we have a similar image of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way—our very own galaxy. Staff Writer Daniel Clery joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss why these images look so much alike, even though M87’s black hole is 1600 times larger than ours. We also discuss what’s next for the telescope that captured these shots.
Also this week, we take to the seas. Bottlenose dolphins are known to have a “signature whistle” they use to announce their identity to other dolphins. This week in Science Advances, Jason Bruck and colleagues write about how they may also recognize other dolphins through another sense: taste. Jason, an assistant professor in the department of biology at Stephen F. Austin State University, talks with Sarah about what this means for dolphin minds.
In a sponsored segment from the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office, Sean Sanders, director and senior editor, interviews Gary Michelson, founder and co-chair of Michelson Philanthropies, about the importance of supporting research in the field of immunology—and where that support should be directed. This segment is sponsored by Michelson Philanthropies.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
[Image: Dolphin Quest ; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: bottlenose dolphin peeking its head out of the water with podcast symbol overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Daniel Clery
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add0515
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why muon magnetism matters, and a count of all the Tyrannosaurus rex that ever lived
Magnetar mysteries, and when humans got big brains
Fighting outbreaks with museum collections, and making mice hallucinate
Social insects as models for aging, and crew conflict on long space missions
COVID-19 treatment at 1 year, and smarter materials for smarter cities
Next-generation gravitational wave detectors, and sponges that soak up frigid oil spills
The world’s oldest pet cemetery, and how eyeless worms can see color
Measuring Earth’s surface like never before, and the world’s fastest random number generator
All your COVID-19 vaccine questions answered, and a new theory on forming rocky planets
Building Africa’s Great Green Wall, and using whale songs as seismic probess
Looking back at 20 years of human genome sequencing
Calculating the social cost of carbon, and listening to mole-rat chirps
Counting research rodents, a possible cause for irritable bowel syndrome, and spitting cobras
An elegy for Arecibo, and how our environments may change our behavior
The uncertain future of North America’s ash trees, and organizing robot swarms
Areas to watch in 2021, and the living microbes in wildfire smoke
Breakthrough of the Year, top online news, and science book highlights
Making ecology studies replicable, and a turnaround for the Tasmanian devil
How the new COVID-19 vaccines work, and restoring vision with brain implants
Keeping coronavirus from spreading in schools, why leaves fall when they do, and a book on how nature deals with crisis
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
DNA Today: A Genetics Podcast
Museum of the Missing
Strange by Nature Podcast
Sasquatch Chronicles
Hidden Brain