Science Quickly

Peptides are everywhere right now—from weight-loss drugs to TikTok wellness hacks—but the science hasn’t caught up with the hype. Journalist Victoria Song joins Science Quickly host Rachel Feltman to break down what peptides actually are, why influencers are promoting “research-only” versions you can buy and inject yourself, and what risks are posed by this growing gray-market trend. From misleading marketing to real safety concerns, we unpack the Internet’s latest wellness obsession. 

Recommended Reading:

“Influencers are pushing suspicious peptides. How much are you willing to risk?” by Victoria Song in the Verge. Published online January 23, 2026

“I don’t think Gwyneth Paltrow knows what a peptide is,” by Victoria Song in the Verge. Published online April 24, 2026

Peptides promise longevity and healing. Does the science back them up?

Where do you stand on the use of peptides for health and wellness?

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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, 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

In this episode of Science Quickly, journalist Evan Ratliff joins Kendra Pierre-Louis to discuss his audacious experiment: launching a start‑up staffed entirely by autonomous artificial intelligence agents. Ratliff shares what happened when these agents tried to build a product, manage a human intern, pitch investors and even operate on LinkedIn—sometimes with surprising competence and sometimes with outright fabrication.

Recommended Reading:

Listen to Evan Ratliff’s podcast Shell Game

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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Kendra Pierre-Louis and 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

In this week’s Science Quickly news roundup, we look at promising results from a new study about preeclampsia. We also cover the latest news about the Trump administration’s push against clean energy. Plus, we remember pioneering geneticist J. Craig Venter, who died last week, and Scientific American’s chief newsletter editor Andrea Gawrylewski shares an interesting defense technology story from the magazine’s May issue. We then dig into a fascinating new study about scorpion stingers and claws. Finally, we ask a strange question: Where was your backyard 320 million years ago?

Recommended Reading:

Could blood filtering help treat one of pregnancy’s most deadly conditions?

Human genome decoder J. Craig Venter dies at age 79

DARPA’s AI is built to call BS on wild weapons claims

See where your backyard was millions of years ago at Paleolaltitude.org

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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, 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

In this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel Feltman and science journalist Jane C. Hu trace the surprising journey of psychedelics in the U.S.—from symbolizing the hippie movement of the 1960s to being seen as a panacea for mental illness. But where does science stand on psychedelic therapy? And what does the renewed political push for psychedelics mean for research?

Recommended Reading:

The Microdose, a newsletter supported by the University of California, Berkeley, Center for the Science of Psychedelics

RFK, Jr., says ibogaine holds unprecedented promise for treating depression. Here’s what the science says

RFK, Jr., puts psychedelics on fast track to FDA review and approval

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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, 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

Physics can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. In this episode, theoretical physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein joins Science Quickly to explore how poetry, pop culture and imagination can help us grapple with some of the universe’s biggest questions. From spacetime and dark matter to Star Trek, Missy Elliott and queer theory, the conversation traces how physics is shaped by history, culture and creativity—and why struggling with complex ideas can be intellectually and even politically meaningful.

Recommended Reading:

The Edge of Space-Time. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein. Pantheon, 2026

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 Today in Science, our daily newsletter.

Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, 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