Science Update

Series produced by Science Update

Series image

Science Update is a daily, 60-second feature covering the latest science news in a fun, accessible style. This multi-award winning show has been on the air nationally since January of 1988.

Science Update is a 60-second news feature that provides your listeners with their minimum daily requirement of science every weekday. Science Update covers science, engineering, medicine-- everything from aardarks to zygotes and, on rare occasions, aardvark zygotes. We post the five shows for each week on the Thursday afternoon of the week before so you can get them in your system, ready to go. Every package, including a short tease, is exactly 60 seconds, so you can wrap it around a 30 second station id or funder blurb and have it fit nicely into your clock. In addition to news, we also answer listeners' questions, phoned into our toll-free line 1-800-WHY-ISIT (4748) or emailed to us from our website, www.scienceupdate.com


117 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Piece image
Tiny orange frogs called pumpkin toadlets can’t hear their own calls.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, and KENW


  • Added: Oct 01, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 4
Piece image
Being the “right-size” helps protect species from extinction.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, and KENW


  • Added: Sep 19, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 4
Piece image
What predicts a puppy’s later success as a guide dog?

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KENW, and WLPR


  • Added: Aug 11, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 5
Piece image
A genetic difference between the two types of whales that could partially explain why some became so gigantic.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KENW, and WLPR


  • Added: Jul 29, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 5
Piece image
A social upbringing can offset the activity of a mouse’s attack circuit.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KENW, and WLPR


  • Added: Jul 29, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 5
Piece image
Water for the world’s most arid regions could come right out of the air.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, and WTIP


  • Added: Dec 23, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: Researcher Jorg Massen with hand-raised ravens., Credit:  (Photo courtesy of Jorg Massen)
Ravens, like humans, remember who has treated them fairly.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, and WTIP


  • Added: Dec 23, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 3
Piece image
Studying tardigrades’ DNA to learn what makes them so tough.

Bought by WMMT, WTIP, and KENW


  • Added: Jul 29, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 3
Piece image
An animal welfare researcher calls the study of the biological basis of boredom in animals.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KENW, and WLPR


  • Added: Jul 29, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 5
Piece image
Communicating about science through comics.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, Spokane Public Radio, KENW and more


  • Added: Jul 02, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 6
Piece image
Researchers discover that cockatoos use sticks and seed pods to drum out rhythms on tree limbs.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KENW, and WLPR


  • Added: Jul 02, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 5
Piece image
Songbirds, like people, may need to warm up their voices before they sing.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KSFR, WLPR and more


  • Added: Feb 06, 2017
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 7
Piece image
The brain architecture for processing sound is the same in deaf people as in hearing people.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KSFR, KENW and more


  • Added: Nov 27, 2016
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Huntington Beach, 1926, Credit:  Photo Courtesy of the Orange County Archives Barbara K. Milkovich Collection CC BY 2.0, via flickr
Did early 20th century oil wells in southern California trigger major earthquakes?

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KSFR, KENW and more


  • Added: Nov 05, 2016
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 7
Piece image
Domestic goats learn to do a challenging task by watching humans do it first.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KSFR, WLPR and more


  • Added: Oct 17, 2016
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 6
Piece image
Female house wrens sing to defend their nest sites from intruders.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KSFR, Radio Baha'i, WLGI and more


  • Added: Feb 19, 2016
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 7
Piece image
You can thank fruit flies for your favorite wine’s fruity “nose”.

Bought by WNED Buffalo, WMMT, WTIP, KSFR, Radio Baha'i, WLGI and more


  • Added: Nov 23, 2015
  • Length: 01:00
  • Purchases: 7