60-second Science

Recession lowers mortality in the population overall—even as the out-of-work individual’s risk of death rises. Karen Hopkin reports

When people with asthma think they’re smelling something noxious, their airways become inflamed—even when the odor is harmless. Karen Hopkin reports

To activate or loosen their grip on a surface, geckos extend and angle or retract tiny toe hairs that create contact points. Clara Moskowitz reports   

Guys would rather zap themselves with electricity than be left alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. Karen Hopkin reports

When Web searches related to business and politics go up, the market tends to take a dive—although that connection may already be fading. Christopher Intagliata reports

A new estimate finds that the Milky Way, once thought to be twice as massive as Andromeda, may actually only have half our neighbor galaxy's mass. Christopher Intagliata reports   

Masquerading as a bird turd appears to protect certain arachnids from getting eaten by wasps. Karen Hopkin reports   

A graphite disk resting on carbon foam collects sunlight to heat water directly to steam with 85 percent efficiency. Cynthia Graber reports   

Raising beef uses 28 times more land, 11 times more water and six times more fertilizer than the average expenditures for other livestock. Cynthia Graber reports   

Pack rats given the right gut bacteria via a fecal transplant from other pack rats can then digest foods that they formerly could not, but the donors could. Karen Hopkin reports   

A survey of the tanagers reveals that birds do not have to choose between colorful plumage and a melodious song. Karen Hopkin reports   

Small changes in the protein sequence of sodium channels of American compared with German cockroaches leave the latter susceptible to a venom that has little effect on the former. Cynthia Graber reports   

Sea creatures eat plastic dumped in the ocean, but they also might be accumulating plastic by sucking up tiny particles with their siphons and gills. Christopher Intagliata reports  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Salmonella's primary fuel source is the molecule fructose-asparagine. Starving it of that fuel in an infected person could kill it without harming beneficial gut bacteria. Karen Hopkin reports   

In a German study, half of those with a university degree were myopic compared with less than a quarter of folks who quit after high school or secondary school. Karen Hopkin reports  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A preliminary map of the bread wheat genome includes the locations of more than 75,000 genes. Cynthia Graber reports   

Liver transplant time from human donor to patient is limited to 12 hours, but rats that got livers specially stored for three days were going strong three months later. Cynthia Graber reports   

Satellite data can help geologists predict major floods up to 11 months in advance in areas where snow melt or groundwater is a significant contributor. Cynthia Graber reports   

The bacteria found on someone's mobile phone is a good match for the most common kinds of bacteria that live on their hands. Christopher Intagliata reports  

Mice infected with the parasites that cause their type of malaria produce odorous compounds that attract mosquitoes, increasing the odds that the parasites will be spread to the next victims Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices