Cartwheeling snakes, vocal vultures and a mysterious Martian moon

On this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel Feltman discusses Japan’s half-billion-dollar mission to land on Mars’s lumpy little moon Phobos and catches up on animal behavior, both big and small—from newly discovered cartwheeling snakes to the surprisingly complex vocal repertoire of social vultures. We also explore how Japanese macaques developed food caution after surviving a disease outbreak and why adults are actually more creative than preschoolers (they just need more confidence). 

See the cartwheeling snakes here!

Recommended Reading:

How did Mars get its moons? Japan’s MMX mission is about to find out

The Primal Pull of People Watching

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, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Emily Makowski, Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices