Short Wave

July is National Ice Cream Month — and Sunday, July 18 is National Ice Cream Day (in the US)! Flavors range from the classics — vanilla and chocolate — to the adventurous — jalapeño and cicada. But for some people, including ice cream scientist Dr. Maya Warren , flavor is only one part of the ice cream allure. So in today's episode, Emily Kwong talks with Short Wave producer Thomas Lu about some o...

Delta is quickly becoming the dominant coronavirus variant in multiple countries. The variant has spread so fast because it is more contagious than the variants that came before it. At the same time, the U.S. is equipped with highly effective vaccines. Ed Yong , science writer for The Atlantic, talks with Maddie about the interaction between the variants and the vaccines and how that will be cruci...

Contrary to sci-fi depictions in shows like Iron Man and Star Wars, getting from point A to point B in space is a tough engineering problem. NPR Science Correspondent Geoff Brumfiel explains how space propulsion actually works, and why some new technologies might be needed to get humans to Mars and beyond. Follow Geoff Brumfiel and Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong on Twitter. Email the show at short...

At the height of the pandemic, routine cancer screenings declined by 90 percent. Screenings are resuming and doctors are diagnosing later-stage cancers — cancers that might have been caught earlier. NPR science correspondent Yuki Noguchi of talks about whom this affects most, and about the ripple effects that missing cancer screening may have for years to come. See pcm.adswizz.com for information...

On the mountaintop glaciers of the Pacific Northwest lives a mysterious, and often, overlooked creature. They're small, thread-like worms that wiggle through snow and ice. That's right, ice worms! NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce talks to Emily about how they survive in an extreme environment and why scientists don't understand some of the most basic facts about them. For more of Nel...

Summer's here. Time for a cool treat. So, you grab a popsicle from the freezer. Ahh ... that's better. Until, out of nowhere, a sharp sudden pain rushes to your forehead. You've got brain freeze! We talk with neuroscientist Caroline Palavicino-Maggio about the science behind these short-lived cold-induced headaches. Plus, some listener mail. What are your daily science curiosities? Email the show...

FEMA acknowledges that the way it distributes aid often benefits some people more than others--and those who receive less aid are those people with the fewest resources to begin with. Rhitu Chatterjee talks with NPR climate correspondent Rebecca Hersher about her investigation into FEMA and why the federal government's response to disasters may disproportionately hurt people of color and their com...

People between the ages of 12 and 17 are now eligible to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and health officials expect this age group will soon be able to receive the Moderna one. So, health reporter Pien Huang and Short Wave producer Rebecca Ramirez talked to teens about their questions about the vaccine and what a strange year the pandemic has been for them. Do you have questions about the coronav...

With the help of ecologist Rodrigo Medellín , the "Bat Man of Mexico," Rasha Aridi (former Short Waver) presents the case for why bats are the best and coolest flying creatures out there! Are you a scientist who thinks Rodrigo is wrong and that the animal you study is superior? Let us know! You can email us at shortwave@npr.org . We'd love to hear the case for your critter. See pcm.adswizz.com for...

(Encore episode) The 2016 movie Arrival , an adaptation of Ted Chiang's novella Story of Your Life , captured the imaginations of science fiction fans worldwide. Field linguist Jessica Coon, who consulted on the film, breaks down what the movie gets right — and wrong — about linguistics. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage...

When a disaster like a hurricane or wildfire destroys a house, the clock starts ticking. It gets harder for sick people to take their medications, medical devices may stop working without electricity, excessive temperatures, mold, or other factors may threaten someone's health. Every day without stable shelter puts people in danger. The federal government is supposed to help prevent that cascade o...

A recent study published in Nature found that 37 percent of heat-related deaths are due to climate change. Dr. Renee Salas is seeing this in the emergency room of Massachusetts General Hospital. She's treating more and more patients for heat-related illnesses like heat stroke and intensified allergies. Today, she gives us a view into her work at the intersection of human health and climate change;...

As a kid, Ariana Remmel had a hard time figuring out where they fit in. So they found comfort in the certainty and understanding of what the world was made of: atoms and molecules and the periodic table of elements. Years later, they went on to become a chemist and science writer. On today's show, Ari talks with host Maddie Sofia about how chemistry has helped them embrace their mixed identities....

Early in the pandemic, contact tracing was viewed as one of the best options to quell the spread of coronavirus infections. The idea was to have public health workers track down people who tested positive, figure out whom they'd been in touch with and quickly get those people to quarantine. Places like Hong Kong and Singapore made headlines for their success stories. The U.S. aimed to replicate th...

The FDA has approved a new drug for Alzheimer's. But a lot of experts are skeptical about whether the drug works. Rhitu Chatterjee talks with science correspondent Jon Hamilton about the controversial drug aducanumab and why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it. For more of Jon's reporting, read " For Those Facing Alzheimer's, A Controversial Drug Offers Hope ." You can email Short Wa...

The past year has been the driest or second driest in most Southwestern U.S. states since record-keeping began in 1895. Climate Correspondent Lauren Sommer reports that farms and cities have begun imposing water restrictions, but the water supply will shrink no matter what the weather brings. The supply spans tens of millions of people and the farmland that produces most of the country's fruits an...

Tam O'Shaughnessy and Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, shared a passion for getting girls involved in STEM. It led them to co-found Sally Ride Science, a company focused on equity and inclusion in science education. But, there was much more to Tam and Sally's relationship. Tam gives us an intimate look at their decades-long partnership: how they met and fell in love, the press...

Health Correspondent Allison Aubrey updates us on the Biden Administration's goal to have 70 percent of U.S. adults vaccinated by the July 4. Plus, as vaccine makers plan for the possibility that COVID-19 vaccine boosters will be needed, they're pushing ahead with research into new-generation flu shots and mRNA cancer vaccines. Questions? Existential dread? Optimism? We'd love to hear it — write u...

The anus is an evolutionary marvel. But how and when did this organ evolve into what it is today? Today on Short Wave, Maddie gets to the bottom of these questions with The Atlantic's science writer Katherine Wu . For more of Katherine's reporting, check out 'The Body's Most Embarrassing Organ Is an Evolutionary Marvel' from The Atlantic. If you have stories ideas or comments — email us at ShortWa...

Nearly 1 billion people speak Mandarin Chinese. But Short Wave host Emily Kwong is not among them. As a third generation Chinese American, Emily's heritage language was lost through the years when her father, Christopher Kwong, stopped speaking the language at a young age in order to adjust to life in the U.S. Now, at age 30, Emily's trying to reclaim Chinese by attending virtual Mandarin classes...

Hey, Nerd! NPR takes Juneteenth off. We'll be back Sunday with a special episode from NPR's Where We Come From series. It focuses on Emily Kwong's relationship to her heritage language and journey to learn Mandarin as an adult. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

#BlackBirdersWeek emerged last year from a groundswell of support for Christian Cooper, a Black man and avid birder, who was harassed by a white woman while birding in Central Park. This year is all about celebrating Black joy. Co-organizer Deja Perkins talks about how the week went and why it's important to observe nature wherever you live. Send us your birding highlights! We're at shortwave@npr....

Becoming fluent in a second language is difficult. But for adults, is it impossible? Short Wave hosts Maddie Sofia and Emily Kwong dissect the "critical period hypothesis," a theory which linguists have been debating for decades — with the help of Sarah Frances Phillips , a Ph. D. student in the linguistics department at New York University. You can watch a related video about Emily learning Manda...

Maddie talks with physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein about her new book, The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred . In the episode, we talk quarks (one of the building blocks of the universe), intersectionality and access to the night sky as a fundamental right. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorshi...

It is one of the Earth's great migrations : each year, millions of monarch butterflies fly some 3,000 miles , from their summer breeding grounds as far north as Canada to their overwintering sites in the central Mexico. It's one of the best-studied migrations and in recent years, ecologists like Sonia Altizer have been able to better answer how and why these intrepid butterflies make the journey....