Chikungunya Outbreak, Glacial Outbursts and a New Human Ancestor

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

The chikungunya virus is rapidly spreading in China. Could it make its way to the U.S.? Meanwhile in Alaska a glacial lake outburst flooded the nearby Mendenhall River to record levels. And in Ethiopia fossilized teeth reveal a new species of Australopithecus—one that possibly lived alongside one of our closer cousins in theHomo genus—shedding light on human evolution. Recommended reading: How the New Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in China Could Reach the U.S. Why Glacial Lake Outbursts like the One in Alaska May Happen More Often Entirely New Species of Human Ancestor Discovered Join the #SciAmInTheWild photography challenge for a chance to win a one-year Unlimited subscription to Scientific American—plus an exclusive bundle of gadgets and gear to level up your next adventure. See the rules for entry here. Email us at sciencequickly@sciam.com 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, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Emily Makowski, Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check this show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:40.0	For Scientific American Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feldman.
0:43.6	Let's kick off the week with a quick roundup of some of the latest science news.
0:52.4	First, a public health update from one of our colleagues at Scientific American, senior
0:56.8	health editor Josh Fishman.
0:58.9	He's here to fill us in on an ongoing outbreak of the chicken gunya virus in China.
1:04.7	So what has happened here is that in June, China started reporting a spike in cases of chicken guinea.
1:17.3	And China is having a fast rising outbreak in a place that has never had one before.
1:25.3	These are centered on the southern province of Guangdong and its city of Foshan,
1:31.7	that's near Hong Kong. And by the beginning of August, they were up to 7,000 cases. In 2025,
1:41.0	about 240,000 cases and 90 deaths have been reported in 16 different countries and territories,
1:48.4	and that's just through July.
1:51.2	The chicken gunia virus was first identified in Africa in 1952.
1:56.7	The name comes from a maconde word, that's a language spoken in Tanzania, that means
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