Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. You know that feeling when you just can’t get a song out of your head—just a short part of it playing over and over?

You’re reading a report and trying to concentrate. The room is silent. But despite your best efforts to focus, a little snatch of melody – an “earworm” – keeps circling inside your head. Research ...

If you’ve watched the movie KPop Demon Hunters and see the word “golden”, what happens? Pause and think about it for a moment. For those unfamiliar, nothing will come to mind. But if you’ve heard the ...