Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
This Week In Science: Spiders, TV Pixels And Storytelling
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Halloween, Short Wavers! In today’s news round-up, we’ve got only treats. Hosts Regina Bar...
Like Being Scared? Here’s Why
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Like haunted houses? Scientists do! That’s because they’re an excellent place to study how human...
Nature Quest: Rebuild Or Relocate Post-Disaster?
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the face of floods, wildfires and other natural disasters, when should a community relocate to av...
What Works – And Doesn’t – For Hair Loss?
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
People may think of hair loss as a guy thing. But by some estimates, half of all women experience ha...
Parasites Have Haunted Us For Millions Of Years
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Parasites have roamed the Earth for a long time. They were here before the dinosaurs: The oldest fos...
Migrating Birds Have a Big, Clear Problem
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Around this time of year, every night, a quiet exodus is occurring. Hundreds of millions of birds ar...
We Have the Cure. Why is Tuberculosis Still Around?
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tuberculosis – the world’s deadliest infectious disease – could be dormant in your system for ...
Should Scientists Genetically Engineer Wild Species?
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some scientists looking to preserve vulnerable species have turned to a controversial technique: syn...
Science Says Quitting Smoking At Any Age Is Good For The Brain
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The rate of smoking cigarettes has steadily declined since the 1960s – when Congress required warn...
What Happens When You're Under Anesthesia?
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's World Anesthesia Day tomorrow! So, we invite you to take a deep breathe. Picture a relaxing ...
Why Legal Weed Isn’t Always Safe
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Marijuana is decriminalized or legal in some form in multiple states. But, because it’s illegal on...
Synthetic Cells: The Next Bioengineering Frontier
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There are more human cells in your body than there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy! Cells are the ...
Why The Tropics Have A Weather Forecasting Problem
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Weather in the tropics is decidedly different than it is in the middle latitudes. It turns out, so a...
Doing Science at the Edge of the Earth
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some scientific discoveries take place in a lab. Others are made deep in the rainforest, along the o...
Solved: The Potato Origin Mystery
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Usually, when two different species mate, it’s a disaster. At least, that’s what scientists had ...
The Science Of Fear And Horror Movies
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Creepy crawly season is upon us, Short Wavers! We're welcoming fall with a contemplation of fear and...
What Are Flies Doing In The Middle Of The Ocean?
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the North Sea — between the United Kingdom, Norway and Denmark — thousands of flies swarmed a...
Why Animal Scavengers Protect Your Health
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Worldwide, populations of scavenging animals that feed on rotting carcasses are declining. Scientist...
Nature Quest: How High Will Sea Levels Rise?
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How high will the ocean rise under climate change? By 2050, scientists have a pretty good idea. But ...
Why Do Some Hurricane Survivors Thrive After Disaster?
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve probably heard of PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. But what about its counterpart, pos...
A Surprising Cause Of Endometriosis Could Lead To Cure
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since the age of nine or ten, Katie Burns has had debilitating pain from endometriosis, a condition ...
Tylenol and Autism: What’s True and What Isn’t
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Monday, the Trump administration linked the use of Tylenol with rising autism rates, but science ...
A Surprising Culprit of Food Allergies
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Food allergies have risen in the United States over the last few decades. Research suggests that 40 ...
Should You Try Red-Light Therapy?
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The anti-aging product market was worth roughly 53 BILLION dollars in 2024. One of the latest big tr...
Untangling The Science of Octopus Arms
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Octopuses and their arms are a bit of a mystery. Not because scientists don’t know how they work...
What Does a Black Hole Collision Sound Like?
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For centuries, the primary way that astronomers studied outer space was through sight. But just ten ...
What Do Stem Cells Mean For The Future Of Parkinson's?
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Parkinson’s Disease affects around a million people in the United States. And that number is on th...
The Surprisingly Long History Of Nose Jobs
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rhinoplasty is one of the most common facial plastic surgeries performed today. And it turns out, th...
The Most Convincing Evidence Yet Of Life On Mars
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Was there ever life on Mars? Planetary scientists think there could have been but there hasn’t bee...
Brain Implants Are Here — And Getting Better
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are surgically implanted devices that link the brain to a computer....
'Interstellar': Time Dilation And Wormholes Explained
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar was a phenomenon in 2014. Set in the future, Earth has been str...
Sip or Skip? The Truth About Electrolytes
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
U.S. consumers spend more than $10 billion a year on sports drinks, according to Beverage Industry, ...
What Marsquakes Reveal About The Planet's Habitability
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mars is known for its barren desert landscape and dry climate. But two recent studies in the journal...
Have a Stutter? It Could Be Inherited
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For a long time, scientists have suspected that stuttering — a common speech condition that affec...
Stopping SSRIs Can Be Hard. Researchers Are Unsure Why
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
More than 1 in 10 people in the United States take an antidepressant. And the most commonly prescri...
A (Monday Night) Football Mystery
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Monday night football is back! What better way to celebrate than a close look at some of the physics...
Why U.S. Sunscreens Don't Measure Up
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The United Nations estimates that there were over 1.5 million new cases of skin cancer in 2022. That...
A Lock of Hair Could Rewrite Knowledge Of The Inca Empire
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Inca Empire in South America was one of the most powerful pre-Columbian societies. It was known ...
Nature Quest: What Does Climate Change Sound Like?
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Feel like summers are hotter than they used to be? It’s not just your imagination. Climate researc...
Sea Camp: To Mine Or Not To Mine
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Deep sea mining for rare earth elements could start as early as 2026, even as 38 countries have call...
Could labs replace your natural chocolate?
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chocolate may fill grocery store shelves around the world, but the raw product that powers chocolate...
The Yellowstone Wolf Controversy
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Thirty years ago, park rangers reintroduced grey wolves into Yellowstone National Park. They wanted ...
Toxic? These Animals Don't Care
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine, you’re a toxic toad hanging around South America. No other animals are gonna mess with yo...
Sea Camp: Why Scientists Want To Map The Entire Seafloor
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have mapped less than 30% of the world's seafloor. Experts say that getting that number u...
Alive Or Not Alive... Is A Tricky Question
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this Back To School episode we consider the "List of Life": the criteria that define what it is t...
The Trait That Makes Robots More 'Human'
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Neurotic, anxious robots like C-3P0 from Star Wars' C-3P0 and Marvin from The Hitchhiker's Guide to ...
Why Gene-Edited Babies May Be Closer Than Ever
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, made a shocking announcement to the world in 2018: He had secretly ...
Sea Camp: Did Life Start In Hydrothermal Vents?
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How did life start on Earth? The answer is a big scientific mystery scientists are actively investig...
Why Do Some 80 Year-Olds Have Extraordinary Memories?
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The human brain tends to slow down as we age — even healthy brains shrink. That can make learning ...
Climate Change Could Alter Spidey Love
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every September, the small town of La Junta, Colorado puts on a whole festival to celebrate a belove...
'Zombie' Cells Could Explain Aging — And Help Scientists Slow It
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no secret that stress isn’t good for you. But just how bad is it? Well, in the last few dec...
The Giants Lurking In The Deep Sea
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The bathypelagic zone of the ocean is 1,000 to 4,000 meters below the surface. Sometimes it's called...
Climate Change Is Here For Your Chocolate
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last year, we reported how extreme weather events may be dwindling the future of chocolate. Just las...
Why Illusions Are A Brain Feature, Not A Bug
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A grayscale ballerina who appears to be moving. A human who can fit in a doll box. A black-and-white...
Nature Quest: Are Summers Getting Hotter?
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Much of the country is deep in the middle of a heat wave right now. And every summer, Duane Stilwell...
Sea Camp: The Largest Daily Migration On Earth
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The twilight zone of the ocean is a mysterious place. At 200-1000 meters below the surface, it's a t...
Did Spiders' Ancestors Come From The Ocean?
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you love spiders or can't be within 10 feet of them, you probably think of them crawling aro...
Eating Disorder Recovery In A Diet Culture World
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Eating disorders are complicated illnesses that skyrocketed among teenagers during the COVID-19 pand...
Will Federal Budget Cuts Affect Space Science?
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this year, the White House proposed a nearly 24% cut to NASA's 2026 fiscal year budget — t...
Sea Camp: Is Better Human Health Hidden In The Sea?
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For this week's Sea Camp, we're diving below the ocean's surface to explore the sunlight zone, the p...
Congress has voted to eliminate government funding for public media
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Act now to ensure public media remains free and accessible to all. Your donation will help this esse...
These Scientists Are Using AI To Listen To Frogs
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you were a miner in California during the Gold Rush, you might have dined on a California red-leg...
Who Is Using The 988 Crisis Line?
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — 988 — launched on this day exactly three years ago. P...
How Realistic Are Movie Dinosaurs?
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jurassic Park: Rebirth is the latest installment in the Jurassic World series. And while dinosaur pa...
Sea Camp: These Critters Call The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Home
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For this second installment of the Sea Camp series, we explore the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It's...
Meet The Third Ever (!!) Interstellar Comet
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A rare visitor from another star system has been spotted: the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS! It was de...
Evolution Went On Trial 100 Years Ago. Where Are We Now?
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the Scopes "Monkey Trial" — where a teacher was charged w...
Itchy? Air Pollution May Be Making It Worse
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Short Wave producer Hannah Chinn has adult-onset eczema. They're not the only one. Up to ten percent...
Sea Camp: Why Are Ocean Currents Shifting?
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A warming climate doesn't just affect dry land — it affects the ocean, too. For years, Earth's oce...
Why Dew Point Is This Summer's 'It Girl'
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Independence Day, Short Wavers! Do you have plans outdoors this weekend and want to figure out...
Is The Milky Way On A Collision Course?
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Andromeda galaxy lies just beyond (...OK, about 2.5 million light-years beyond) our galaxy, the ...
On July 4th, Are You A Thrill- Or Chill-Seeker?
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Independence Day is approaching! Imagine in a few days, someone has procured illegal fireworks from ...
RFK Jr.'s New Vaccine Advisors Signal Big Changes
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Policy, an influential CDC committee that shapes U.S. vaccine...
Aha! The Power Of A Short Rest
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since 2004, scientific research has shown that a full night of sleep may lend itself to a burst of i...
When Eavesdropping Pays Off
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why did the ornithologist strap a taxidermy badger to a remote controlled car and drive it around th...
Does It Feel Like Mosquitoes Are Getting Worse?
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mosquitoes are the deadliest animal on the planet, and some of them may be on the rise. At least in ...
The Power Grid Problem
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The U.S.'s power grid — a nearly 100-year-old network of electrical circuits — is facing increa...
What Makes South Korea's 'Super Divers' Special?
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For generations, the all-female Haenyeo divers have routinely dove into frigid waters off the coast ...
Why Emotions Run High For Sports Fans
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We are in the thick of multiple sports seasons: the NBA finals are happening, and baseball and socce...
Trump Wants A Missile Defense System Like Israel's
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since last week, Israel has been attacking Iran's nuclear facilities, along with many other targets ...
Why Weed's Signature Scent Has Changed Over Time
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The skunky smell of cannabis may be going out of style. NPR's science correspondent Pien Huang visit...
Your Breathing Pattern Is Like A Fingerprint
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Take a big inhale through your nose. Now, exhale. Breathing may seem simple, but it's controlled by ...
Wanna Save Money? Climate-Proof Your Home
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Homeowners' insurance isn't just getting more expensive ... it's also getting harder to secure in th...
Living With OCD
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Roughly 163 million people experience obsessive-compulsive disorder and its associated cycles of obs...
Helping Dogs and Their Pawrents Live Healthier, Longer
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Dog Aging Project is a long-term nationwide survey on the health and lifestyles of U.S. dogs tha...
Unveiling Olo — A Color Out of Oz!
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
"Olo" does not exist in nature, nor can it be found among paint cans. But for a very select few, olo...
Anglerfish Ancestors Once Roamed The Seafloor
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
There are over 200 species of deep-sea anglerfish; some are long and thin, some are squat and round,...
Can AI Crack The Biology Code?
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
As artificial intelligence seeps into some realms of society, it rushes into others. One area it's m...
Solving A Centuries Old Maritime Mystery
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
For hundreds of years sailors have told stories about miles of glowing ocean during moonless nights....
Why Daylight Boosts Immunity
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Depending on what time it is, your body responds differently to an injury or infection. During the d...
Unpacking Bipolar Disorder
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Around 40 million people around the world have bipolar disorder, which involves cyclical swings betw...
Nature Quest: The Climate-Kid Question
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Gen Z and younger millennials are the most climate literate generations the world has ever seen. The...
The Great Space Race ... With Clocks
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
It's Memorial Day, Short Wavers. This holiday, we bring you a meditation on time ... and clocks. The...
Flamingos: The Water-Bending Physics Masters
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Riddle us this: Which animal is pink, curved beaked and a master of the physics required to create w...
New Antivenom, Thanks To 200 Intentional Snake Bites
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What's it like to get bit by a venomous snake? "It's like a bee sting times a thousand," Tim Friede ...
Will Trump Unleash Energy Dominance Or Damage?
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The Trump administration is rewriting policies and reducing funding for multiple agencies that handl...
Could Wormholes Exist?
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
In science fiction, wormholes are hyperspace subway tubes linking one part of a galaxy directly to a...
Orange Cat Lovers, Rise Up!
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Approximately 80% of orange cats are males, including the four orange cats owned by the Short Wave t...
How Baby Bats Learn To Eavesdrop On Dinner
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Most bats use echolocation to navigate and hunt, but some use their ears for another trick: eavesdro...
Learning A Second Language As An Adult
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Becoming fluent in a second language is difficult. But for adults, is it impossible? Science says no...