60-second Science

Engineers at Caltech discovered that for sand dunes to produce sound they need a dry layer on top that amplifies internal frequencies during sand movement. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The human brain's neurons fire in sync to music, and trained musicians are better at it than are amateurs  

Learning detailed navigation information causes the hippocampus to interact with other regions of the brain involved in location  

As Arctic sea ice melts, an underwater recording project reveals that the submerged ecology is undergoing change, with humpbacks and killer whales staying north later in the year. Christopher Intagliata reports

Researchers developed a call that effectively mimics the citrus psyllid's mating song, which could be a weapon against a devastating crop scourge. Christopher Intagliata reports

Researchers report a spike in the number of methane plumes along the Northwest coast emanating from depths of about 500 meters, a possible indication that submerged frozen methane is becoming available  

People exposed to incongruent situations, such as Halloween-themed plates at a Labor Day picnic, performed better on cognitive-reasoning tests and were less likely to make impulse purchases or overeat  

Whales fertilize ocean surface waters with key nutrients like phosphorus, which move through the food chain, and eventually, onto land. Christopher Intagliata reports

Researchers have found the first direct evidence that coho salmon near U.S. Northwest cities are being killed by chemical runoff from roads and parking lots that reach streams   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the “Innovation: An American Imperative” symposium October 20 on Capitol Hill, industry leaders and members of Congress talked about shoring up federal support for basic research and development  

College students who watched episodes of the various Law & Order episodes had a better understanding of sexual consent issues than those who watched two other crime procedural franchises  

Beet juice contains nitrates, which the body can convert to nitric oxide, a chemical that relaxes blood vessels and makes it easier to function in conditions of low oxygen. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers picked apart satellite imagery from two New England forest ecosystems to get a better handle on exactly what factors influence the timing of the color changes of the autumn leaves

The company’s moves to have iPhones be less dependent on the cloud and to be more encrypted could mean more user privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers built a physical model of the tail of the late Jurassic dinosaur Apatosaurus and found that its tail tip could have moved at supersonic speed to produce a whip-crack sound   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Infants seemed to be able to differentiate between two different "D" sounds in Hindi—but only when their tongue movements weren't blocked by a teething device. Christopher Intagliata reports

Alan Stern, principal investigator of NASA’s New Horizons Mission, explains that with Pluto in the rearview mirror, the spacecraft will continue on to a smaller Kuiper Belt body  

It's well known birds can use Earth's magnetic field as their compass, but they may also use magnetism as their map. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Human tourism—no matter how well-intentioned—might desensitize wild animals to poachers and predators, affecting their odds of survival. Christopher Intagliata reports

By studying the interactions of babies and their mothers, researchers determined that babies smile in hopes others will smile at them. Erika Beras reports