60-second Science

Mice infected with Lyme and the Babesia parasite are more likely to pass on babesiosis than mice infected with babesiosis alone. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Magnetic anomalies in rocks indicate that lightning may be a major player in weathering mountains. Julia Rosen reports  

Congress took advantage of the pressure to pass a budget bill by adding riders that change rules concerning the environment and energy. Josh Fischman reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The urine of a vast army of tiny fish, jellies and shrimpy things may play an important role in the ocean's nitrogen cycle. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Penicillin and its relatives have been in wide use since the 1940s, but researchers have only now discovered another way that it thwarts bacteria. Karen Hopkin reports  

Mice that ate their entire food for the day in an eight-to-12-hour window had better markers for health than did mice free to eat whenever they wanted. Steve Mirsky reports  

The way fruit reflects and absorbs laser light may be a good measure of its progression toward peak ripeness. Christopher Intagliata reports

In a massive first-of-its-kind whole-genome analysis involving 48 bird species, researchers have created a new avian evolutionary tree. Steve Mirsky reports  

By using tiny carbon nanotubes tuned electronically to particular gases, researchers turned smartphones into toxin sensors. Cynthia Graber reports  

Based on trawling samples and visual observations of plastic debris, computer models calculate that some 5.25 trillion particles of plastic—about 269,000 tons—may litter the world's oceans. Christopher Intagliata reports

Researchers estimated alcohol consumption at a senior center by putting out recycling bins and counting the bottle contents. Karen Hopkin reports  

A study following teens who had summer jobs found violent crime in that population almost cut in half, during and following the employment. Cynthia Graber reports  

Working-class kids ask for help from teachers less often and less aggressively than do their middle-class counterparts  

Researchers working in New York City found that hungry urban arthropods help dispose of tons of edible trash. Allie Wilkinson reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Wall Street Journal found in 2010 that an NFL game has just 11 minutes of actual action. Eight decades earlier, Scientific American found just about the same thing  

Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson's first glimpse of Lucy came on November 24, 1974 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Importation of a frost-resistant barley from the Fertile Crescent to Tibet some 3,600 years ago is associated with the advent of settlements at 3,000 meters and more above sea level. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new study suggests bed bugs can transmit Chagas disease to mice—but the same thing is unlikely to happen in humans. Christopher Intagliata reports

Microbicides that kill HIV in the lab often fail in clinical trials. A study finds that semen may be the culprit. Cynthia Graber reports  

Alcohol's supposed benefit to the heart may only be available to people with the right genes. Christopher Intagliata reports