Short Wave

NASA's Europa Clipper mission launched Monday, beginning its years-long journey to the distant icy moon it's named after. This mission is designed to tell scientists more about the structure, the interior and the habitability of Europa, one of the four large moons of Jupiter. Host Regina G. Barber talks with astrobiologist and friend of the show Mike Wong about why their mutual love for this fasci...

In honor of our show turning 5 (!!) today... 5 S hort Wave staffers answer 5(x2) questions from some of our 5-year-old listeners and explain the science ... like they're 5. SPOILER ALERT: The questions are brilliant, delightful and span everything from how colors work to insects, the formation of Earth and space. Want to know more about the science of the world? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we...

Host Regina G. Barber talks with Rosalyn LaPier about ethnobotany--what it is and how traditional plant knowledge is frequently misunderstood in the era of COVID and psychedelics. And, how it's relevant and important for reproductive health today. (encore) Have a topic you want us to cover on a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org ! See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection...

Even though there are more than 10,000 rock glaciers in the western United States, most people would look at one without knowing it. Unlike the snowy glaciers we're more familiar with, rock glaciers are under-researched and hiding in plain sight. But inside these glaciers covered with rocks is a little bit of climate hope. Read more of science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce's reporting here ....

In human history, fear kept us safe when running from predators and anxiety kept us from going back to that lion-infested area. But what happens when these feelings get out of hand in humans today? And why do some of us crave that feeling from scary movies or haunted houses? For answers, we turn to Arash Javanbakht , a psychiatrist from Wayne State University. He likes studying fear so much, he wr...

For over a century, we've been inventing technology to catch liars in the act. To this end, the polygraph was invented and became wildly popular in the mid-20th century. Then, there was an era of "micro-expression training," which claimed person could be caught lying through a skilled analysis of their face. Now, there's talk of using artificial intelligence to analyze the human voice. But do any...

Fruit fly brains are smaller than a poppy seed, but that doesn't mean they aren't complex. For the first time, researchers have published a complete diagram of 50 million connections in an adult fruit flies brain. The journal Nature simultaneously published nine papers related to this new brain map. Until now, only a roundworm and a fruit fly larva had been mapped in this way. Read more of science...

Lightning: It happens all the time, and yet the exact details of how it's made has long eluded scientists. That is, until now. New research out this week in the journal Nature holds new insights into the precursor to lightning. To figure it out, researchers flew a NASA ER-2 – essentially the research version of a spy plane – over several tropical thunderstorms. What they found: The same high energ...

Years ago, astronomy professors started noticing something that troubled them: Many of their students didn't understand climate change and the science supporting it. So a small group of professors decided to do something about it — teach climate change in their introductory astronomy courses. Want to hear more stories about climate change? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you...

Over six million fungal species are believed to inhabit planet Earth. Outsmarting them is the work of Arturo Casadevall 's lifetime. What If Fungi Win? is the question at the heart of Arturo's new book, co-authored with journalist Stephanie Desmon . In this episode, Emily and Regina take a trip to Arturo's lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and meet a group of scientists thinking about t...

Most viruses that become epidemics in humans begin in other animals. It's how scientists suspect COVID-19 emerged . And now, less than five years after the start of the pandemic, some scientists are concerned about another disease that could do something similar: bird flu, or H5N1. Over the past year, the virus has spilled into cows and other animals — even infecting some people working closely wi...

Governors across the southeastern United States have declared statewide states of emergency as Hurricane Helene continues its ascent. After forming in the northwestern Caribbean Sea Tuesday, Helene escalated from a tropical storm, then to a cyclone, and finally to a Category 4 hurricane by the time it made landfall late Thursday night. We talk to hurricane climatologist Jill Trepanier about how a...

Around 2% of the global population struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. That's roughly 163 million people who go through cycles of obsessions – unwanted intrusive thoughts, images or urges – and compulsions, or behaviors to decrease the distress caused by these thoughts. In movies and TV, characters with OCD are often depicted washing their hands or obsessing about symmetry. Dr. C...

At the beginning of the universe, annihilation reigned supreme. Equal amounts of matter and antimatter collided. There should have been nothing left. And, yet, here we all are. Matter won out. The question is: why? Scientists are probing the mysteries of a ghostly subatomic particle for answers. To do it, they'll need to shoot a beam of them 800 miles underground. Interested in more mysteries of t...

Electric vehicle batteries will all, eventually, reach the end of their lives. When that happens, they should be recycled. But what breakthroughs could make that happen cleanly, efficiently — and close to home? Today, business correspondent Camila Domonoske takes us on a tour of one company trying to crack the EV battery recycling puzzle — to learn what this case study can tell us about the larger...

Hey, Short Wavers! Today we're sharing an excerpt of the new NPR podcast How To Do Everything . How To Do Everything is half advice show, half survival guide, and half absurdity-fest — and it's not made by anyone who understands math. In fact, it comes from the same team that brings you NPR's news quiz Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me! We think you'll like their vibe, and we especially think you'll lik...

What's scaly, striped and breathes underwater like a scuba diver? Water anoles! These lizards can form a bubble over their head to support breathing underwater. They're found in the tropical forests of southern Costa Rica. Want more critter stories? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear your thoughts! See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for...

Evolution keeps making crabs. In fact, it's happened so often that there's a special scientific term for an organism turning crab-like: carcinization. But how many times has it happened, and why? When did the very first crab originate? What about all the times crabs have been unmade? And does all this mean that we, too, will eventually become crabs? In this episode, host Emily Kwong chats with Jav...

Patrick Anderson is widely recognized as the greatest wheelchair basketball player of all time. He's represented Canada at the Paralympics six times and led his team to win three gold — and one silver — medals. But since he first started playing in the 1990s, the sport has changed dramatically. He says that's due in part to the technological innovations in wheelchair athletics. In this episode, gu...

Hurricane season is heating up: Hurricane Francine hit Louisiana last week and dumped rain across the South, and forecasters expect more stormy activity in the Atlantic in the next few weeks. A big factor in this stormy weather is our extremely warm oceans. Scientists know climate change is the main culprit, but NPR climate correspondent Rebecca Hersher has been following the quest to figure out t...

We close out Climate Solutions Week with a look at the final step in the food system: waste. Roughly 30-40% of all food produced globally gets thrown out — a huge problem when it comes to climate change. Shuggie's Trash Pie and Natural Wine has answers for what to do with all that waste – be it bruised fruit and wilted greens salad or meatballs made out of beef hearts. The San Francisco restaurant...

Climate change is contributing to erratic weather where cocoa beans are grown and threatening the global chocolate supply. Record rainfall last year led to fungal infections among cacao trees and dwindled supply of cocoa beans. Heat is also making it more difficult for cocoa beans to thrive. So, for day three of Climate Solutions Week , we look at one innovation in the food industry: chocolate sub...

Since the height of the pandemic, there has been a boom in the use of food delivery services. Day 2 of NPR's Climate Solutions Week is all about the environmental impacts of how we shop for our food. So in this episode, NPR correspondent Scott Neuman reports on a question we've all wanted to know the answer to: What is the impact of getting food delivered on our carbon footprint? Interested in hea...

In California's Napa Valley, the nation's unofficial wine capital, one varietal reigns supreme: cabernet sauvignon. But climate change is threatening the small blue-black grapes for which cabernet sauvignon is named. Increasingly severe heat waves are taking a toll on the grape variety, especially in late summer during ripening. To kick off NPR's Climate Solutions Week , climate correspondent Laur...

Hey, Short Wavers! Today, we have a special present for all of you: An episode from our good friends at NPR's Body Electric podcast all a bout artificial intimacy! Thanks to advances in AI, chatbots can act as personalized therapists, companions and romantic partners. The apps offering these services have been downloaded millions of times. If these relationships relieve stress and make us feel bet...