Short Wave

The Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a case brought by the city of Baltimore against more than a dozen major oil and gas companies including BP, ExxonMobil and Shell. In the lawsuit, BP P.L.C. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore , the city government argues that the fossil fuel giants must help pay for the costs of climate change because they knew that their products cause potentially...

President-elect Joe Biden has spoken publicly about his childhood stutter. An estimated 1% of the world's adults stutter, yet the condition — which likely has a genetic component — remains misunderstood. NPR Short Wave reporter Emily Kwong speaks with speech pathologist Naomi Rodgers about her research on adolescent stuttering and why the medical model of stuttering is problematic. See pcm.adswizz...

In 1962, the first spacecraft humans ever sent to another planet — Mariner 2 — went to Venus. The first planet on which humans ever landed a probe — also Venus! But since then, Mars has been the focus of planetary missions. NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel makes the case for why humans should reconsider visiting to Venus. For more science reporting and stories, follow Geoff on twitter @gbr...

Many folks eat an apple and then throw out the core. It turns out, the core is perfectly ok to eat - despite apple seeds' association with the poison cyanide. In today's episode, host Maddie Sofia talks to producer Thomas Lu about how apple seeds could potentially be toxic to humans but why, ultimately, most people don't have to worry about eating the whole apple. And they go through some listener...

Many patients who are hospitalized for COVID-19 continue to have symptoms of brain injury after they are discharged. For many, brain function improves as they recover, but some are likely to face long-term disability. As NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton explains, research into all the ways the coronavirus affects the brain is ongoing but research shows it can affect everything from loss of s...

As the U.S. continues to grapple with systemic racism, some in the medical community are questioning whether the diagnostic tools they use may be contributing to racial health disparities. As NPR science correspondent Maria Godoy reports, that debate is playing out prominently in the world of kidney medicine — specifically, in the use of estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR. The diagnosti...

Meet the CubeSat: a miniaturized satellite that's been growing in sophistication. In the last 20 years, over 1,000 CubeSats have been launched into space for research and exploration. We talk about three CubesSat missions, and how this satellite technology ventured from college campuses to deep space. (Encore) Tweet to Emily Kwong at @emilykwong1234 and talk #scicomm with Joe on @joesbigidea . And...

Fifteen-year-old Gitanjali Rao is a scientist, inventor, and TIME Magazine's first-ever 'Kid Of The Year.' She shares why she didn't initially think science was for her, what motivates her now, and a bit of advice for other budding innovators. Email the show at shortwave@npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your po...

Hair scientist Crystal Porter explains the science behind curly hair (hint: It involves mushy cells in teeny-tiny tunnels). Plus, a bit of listener mail from you! Which you can always send by emailing shortwave@npr.org . 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

Scientists think the world's oldest ice is hiding somewhere in Antarctica. NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce tells us how researchers plan to find it — and why. For more, you can also read Nell's story, " Scientists Have Found Some Truly Ancient Ice, But Now They Want Ice That's Even Older ." Email the show at shortwave@npr.org . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collectio...

By day, Jess Wade is an experimental physicist at Imperial College London. But at night, she's a contributor to Wikipedia — where she writes entries about women and POC scientists. She chats with Emily Kwong about how Wikipedia can influence the direction of scientific research and why it's important to have entries about scientists from under-represented communities. Here are the Wikipedia entrie...

2020 was a year like no other, especially for science. The pandemic has caused massive shifts in scientific research – how it's being done, what's being focused on, and who's doing it. Ed Yong of The Atlantic explains some of the ways, both good and bad, that COVID-19 has changed science. Read Ed's full reporting on these changes here . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and...

For nearly forty years, the Guam Rail bird (locally known as the Ko'Ko') has been extinct in the wild — decimated by the invasive brown tree snake. But the Ko'Ko' has been successfully re-introduced. It is the second bird in history to recover from extinction in the wild. Wildlife biologist Suzanne Medina tells us the story of how the Guam Department of Agriculture brought the Ko'Ko' back, with a...

To kick off the new year right, Maddie fills out a Short Wave mad lib crafted by Emily. It's a little tribute to you, our awesome listeners. We're back with new episodes next week. Hope you had a safe and happy orbit around the sun! 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 Polic...

Today, something special...an episode of The NPR Politics Podcast we think you might appreciate. Our colleagues take a look at Joe Biden's approach to climate and health policy. His climate agenda will look very different than President Trump's and even President Obama's. And, on top of responding to the pandemic, the president-elect will also have to wrangle all of the other problems in the Ameri...

Dr. Syed Moin Hassan was riled up. "I don't know who needs to hear this," he posted on Twitter , "BUT YOU ARE NOT LAZY IF YOU ARE WAKING UP AT NOON." Hassan speaks to Short Wave's Emily Kwong about de-stigmatizing sleeping in late, and why a good night's rest is so important for your immune system. (Encore episode) Email the show at shortwave@npr.org . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our...

Between the pandemic, protests, the recession — the list goes on — there was big space news in 2020. And there was a lot of it! To round it up, Maddie chats with NPR science correspondents Nell Greenfieldboyce and Geoff Brumfiel . Check out our list of Nell and Geoff's reporting on all of the events they talk about. For even more space and other science content, follow Nell and Geoff on Twitter at...

Maddie and Emily play a quick game of "Fact or Fiction?" with help from Ariela Zebede, our resident fact-checker. Plus, a little reminder that you can support the show by donating to your local public radio station at donate.npr.org/short . (If you're outside of the U.S., choose a lucky member station!) Follow Maddie and Emily on Twitter, @maddie_sofia and @emilykwong1234 . Email the show at short...

It's a listener questions episode! Josh Smith wrote in to tell us that as a teenager, he was plagued by sleep paralysis. Now he's afraid his kid might be experiencing it too. Josh asks what the science says about this sleep disorder and what he can do to help his son. (Encore episode) For more interesting science tidbits, follow Maddie and Emily on Twitter @maddie_sofia and @emilykwong1234 . Email...

Nearly tied with 2016 for the hottest year on record, 2020 was hot, hot, hot! NPR climate reporters Rebecca Hersher and Lauren Sommer explain why more heat trapped in the atmosphere means longer heat waves, less ice in the Arctic, bigger wildfires, and more powerful hurricanes. For more reporting on the hottest decade, check out this story . You can follow Rebecca on twitter @rhersher and Lauren @...

Physicists have done the math and there should be as much antimatter as matter in the universe — but that hasn't been the case so far. NPR correspondent Geoff Brumfiel explains what's up with matter's "evil twin," antimatter. (Encore episode) See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Pri...

The mirror self-recognition test has been around for decades. Only a few species have what it takes to recognize themselves, while others learn to use mirrors as tools. NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce talks us through mirror self-recognition and why Maddie's dog is staring at her. For more science reporting and stories, follow Nell on twitter @nell_sci_NPR . And, as always, email us...

Millions of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, just days ago granted emergency use authorization by the FDA, are being distributed across the country. It's the first widely-available vaccine to use something called mRNA technology. So, with the help of epidemiologist Rene Najera , Maddie explains the science behind this vaccine and how it was developed so quickly. Email the show at shortwave@np...

In 2015, Steffanie Strathdee's husband nearly died from a superbug, an antibiotic resistant bacteria he contracted in Egypt. Desperate to save him, she reached out to the scientific community for help. What she got back? A 100-year-old treatment that's considered experimental in the U.S. Strathdee, an infectious disease epidemiologist, tells us how it works, its drawbacks, and its potential role i...

What is flavor? Is it merely what your nose and tongue tell you? For cookbook author and recipe developer Nik Sharma, flavor is a full-body experience. Drawing upon his background in molecular biology, Nik brings scientific inquiry to the kitchen in his new cookbook, The Flavor Equation . In today's episode, Short Wave reporter Emily Kwong and producer Rebecca Ramirez cook two recipes from Nik's b...