SURPRISE! It's A...Babbling Baby Bat?

The era of AI-generated viruses is here. Some scientists are using AI to design viruses that can attack bacteria. The hope is that these tailor-made viruses can fight drug-resistant bacterial infections in people. And longer-term, Brian Hie, the Stanford researcher spearheading t ...  Show more

Ever wish you could have been part of the Lewis and Clark expedition? Us too. The Corps of Discovery came across scores of plants and animals that were new to Western science: Grizzly bears, ponderosa pines, a “barking squirrel” that William Clark would later call the prairie dog ...  Show more

The greater sac-winged bat develops its own language in much the way we do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

New research has discovered the first case of acoustic mimicry between a mammal and an insect—an acquired skill that could just save certain bats’ skin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

Bats live in a sonic universe. They call out into the night and construct the world from their song. They listen to the sounds of prey, predator and the social squeaking of other bats. In this episode, Robert and Julie listen in on the song of the bat.

Bababa, dadada, ahgaga. Got that? Babies are speaking to us all the time, but most of us have no clue what they're saying. To us non-babies, it all sounds like charming, mysterious gobbledegook. To researchers, though, babbling conveys important information about a baby's read ...