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Welcome to Science Talk, the podcast of Scientific American Magazine.

For the seven days starting April 5th, I'm Steve Merski.

This week on the podcast, the first of a two-part interview with anthropologist Carl Van Schaich on animal intelligence.

Historian and writer William Lanowet discusses an upcoming TV program about the beginnings of the nuclear era,

and scientific American editor-in-chief John Rennie reports on a recent sustainable development conference.

Plus, test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

First up, Carl Van Scheich.

He's the director of the Anthropological Institute and Museum at the University of Zurich,

and he wrote the article, Why Are Some Animals So Smart in the April issue of Scientific American Magazine?

I cleverly used a telephone to call him at his office in

Switzerland. Professor von Schenck, thanks for talking to us today.

Ah, glad to be here. I read your very interesting, very entertaining article in the April

issue of Scientific American about intelligence among animals. Why are some animals so smart is what it's

called? And you talk right up front about how traditional explanations for what drives intellectual

...