Scientific American

1 week ago | scientificamerican.com | Melissa Hobson

Humpback whales are known for their extensive use of bubbles—from powerful, aggressive bursts that prove their prowess during courtship to the bubble-net “curtains” they produce to round up prey in a spectacle that often draws tourists from around the world. Now a new study published in Marine Mammal Science explores rare instances when humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae) create dramatic, doughnut-shaped vortex bubbles that look like a rolling underwater smoke ring.

1 week ago | scientificamerican.com | Amanda Heidt

As the days heat up in the Northern Hemisphere, so do meats at summer barbecues. But the amount of heat you use to cook different meats matters—not only for taste but for health. Each type of protein—beef, pork, poultry and others—has to reach a recommended minimum temperature to be considered safe to eat. A chicken breast, for example, needs to be heated to at least 73.9 degrees Celsius (165 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout, while a steak or pork chop should reach 62.8 degrees C (145 degrees F).

1 week ago | scientificamerican.com | Rachel Feltman |Lydia Denworth |Fonda Mwangi |Alex Sugiura

This episode was made possible by the support of Yakult and produced independently by Scientific American's board of editors. Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. Over the last couple of decades, few science topics have made a bigger mainstream splash than the microbiome. Our growing understanding of the microbes that live on us, in us and around us has scientists analyzing—and trying to tweak—colonies from our armpits to our genitals.

1 week ago | scientificamerican.com | Stephanie Pappas

Officials in nine countries are trying to get a handle on the New World screwworm, a fly whose larvae eat the living flesh of livestock. The pest is marching northward at an alarming rate and has now moved some 1,400 miles from southern Panama to southern Mexico in about two years. Screwworms are disastrous for ranchers, whose cattle can become infected when the flies lay eggs in cuts or wounds, after which their resulting larvae burrow, or screw, into that flesh.

1 week ago | scientificamerican.com | Benjamin Storrow

CLIMATEWIRE | Renewable energy doesn't need subsidies to compete with fossil fuels when it comes to building new power plants. That's a key takeaway in Lazard's annual report on electricity generation costs. The investment bank's report measures the levelized cost of energy for various forms of electricity generation. The report is closely watched, and often criticized, in the energy industry, where it helps guide investment decisions.