Short Wave

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 are migrating thousands of miles south for the winte...

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 years before you realize you have it. In the U.S.,...

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: synthetic biology. This catchall term often means gen...

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 warnings on cigarette boxes. Research shows that peopl...

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 scene. Maybe a beach in Tahiti, your toes in the s...

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 the federal level, states have had to build their...

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 fundamental building blocks of life but that doesn...

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 are the weather systems – the factors that create...

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 ocean floor or on the dark side of the moon. And st...

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 generally thought about hybrids, the offspring of ...

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 anxiety. In human history, fear kept us safe. It ...

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 an oil rig. Engineer Craig Hannah noticed they’d ...

Why Animal Scavengers Protect Your Health

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Worldwide, populations of scavenging animals that feed on rotting carcasses are declining. Scientists are finding that this can seriously hurt human h...

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 does it matter where you live? And what can hu...

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, post-traumatic growth?The term was coined in the 90s ...

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 where tissue resembling the uterine lining grows o...

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 doesn’t support that claim. Guest host Sydney Lu...

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 years ago the prevalence of food allergies was le...

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 trends: red light therapy. Social media is rampant w...

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; they’re boneless hydrostats, made up of groups...

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 years ago, scientists successfully established a w...

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 the rise, in part because our population is getting ...

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, the ability to reconstruct a nose with living tissue...

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 been any direct evidence. After years of roaming Mars...

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. They can be helpful for people who’ve lost the ...

'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 struck by a global crop blight. Former NASA pilot Coo...

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, a trade publication. And we can’t lie that somet...

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 journals Nature and Science go beneath the surface, explo...

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 affects an estimated 1 in every 100 people — could b...

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 prescribed type of antidepressant are SSRIs — or selec...

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 powering the sport? Specifically, the spiral pass...

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 number might have you reaching for the nearest tu...

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 for the architecture of Machu Picchu, an extensive...

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 researchers say that average annual temperatures around t...

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 called for a moratorium on it. The metals that compani...

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 is far more selective. The majority of 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 to restore the ecosystem and get the elk populatio...

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 you, right? After all, you’re ~toxic~! So if anyon...

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 up to 100% would improve everything from tsunami wa...

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 to be a living thing. Some are easy calls: A kitten...

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 the Galaxy are a staple of science fiction — but...

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 engineered the birth of the first gene-edited babi...

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 investigating. After talking with many scientists, host Re...

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 and memory harder as people age. But some people’...

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 beloved local animal: the tarantula! Around this time of...

'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 decades, scientists have linked psychological stress ...

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 the midnight zone because it's too deep for sunli...

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 last week, we saw an inkling of that: The Hershey Com...

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 prism that appears to change shape when viewed fr...

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's town in Arizona seems to get hotter. It has him...

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 tough place to study. That's why, during World War ...

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 around on land. Historically, most researchers would ...

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 pandemic. Pediatrician Eva Trujillo says they "literal...

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 — the largest in the agency's history. The trims are ...

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 portion of ocean that's 0-200 meters deep. Here, we...

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 essential American service survive and thrive. Visit d...

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-legged frog. The largest native frog in the western U...

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. People who call the line seeking support are connec...

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 paleontologist Matt Lamanna has loved dinos — and ...

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 the largest of five gigantic garbage patches in t...

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 detected July 1 by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestr...

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 with the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolu...

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 of people in the United States have it, according...

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 ocean has acted as a heat sink for climate change: A ...

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 just how swampy it's gonna feel? For that kind of...

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 Milky Way. For the past hundred years or so, scien...

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 a couple of states over. Are you:A) first in line ...

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 policy, has become a flashpoint in recent weeks. ...

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 insight in the morning. But what about the earlier ...

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 the prairie? To interrogate the secret world of anim...

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 listener Abigail Krich-Starr's area, that's due to...

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 increased demand and weather-related stress. What will i...

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 of South Korea, holding their breath for minutes a...

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 soccer are in full swing. For devoted fans, emotions ca...

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 around the country. Iran has fired hundreds of mis...

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 visited the grow facility for District Cannabis, which ...

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 a complex brain network. Each inhale gives the hum...

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 the first place. Across the country, an increase in ...

Living With OCD

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Roughly 163 million people experience obsessive-compulsive disorder and its associated cycles of obsessions and compulsions. They have unwanted intrus...

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 that launched in 2019. Today, the project has more th...

Unveiling Olo — A Color Out of Oz!

06 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Olo" does not exist in nature, nor can it be found among paint cans. But for a very select few, olo can be seen — through the intervention of caref...

Anglerfish Ancestors Once Roamed The Seafloor

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There are over 200 species of deep-sea anglerfish; some are long and thin, some are squat and round, some have fins that they use to "walk" along the ...

Can AI Crack The Biology Code?

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As artificial intelligence seeps into some realms of society, it rushes into others. One area it's making a big difference is protein science — as i...

Solving A Centuries Old Maritime Mystery

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For hundreds of years sailors have told stories about miles of glowing ocean during moonless nights. This phenomenon is known as "milky seas," but the...

Why Daylight Boosts Immunity

30 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Depending on what time it is, your body responds differently to an injury or infection. During the day, you're likely to heal faster and fight infecti...

Unpacking Bipolar Disorder

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Around 40 million people around the world have bipolar disorder, which involves cyclical swings between moods: from depression to mania. Kay Redfield ...

Nature Quest: The Climate-Kid Question

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gen Z and younger millennials are the most climate literate generations the world has ever seen. They learned about climate change in school; now, it'...

The Great Space Race ... With Clocks

26 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's Memorial Day, Short Wavers. This holiday, we bring you a meditation on time ... and clocks. There are hundreds of atomic clocks in orbit right no...

Flamingos: The Water-Bending Physics Masters

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Riddle us this: Which animal is pink, curved beaked and a master of the physics required to create water tornadoes? If you guessed flamingos, you're r...

New Antivenom, Thanks To 200 Intentional Snake Bites

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What's it like to get bit by a venomous snake? "It's like a bee sting times a thousand," Tim Friede says. Tim would know. Over the past few decades, h...

Will Trump Unleash Energy Dominance Or Damage?

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Trump administration is rewriting policies and reducing funding for multiple agencies that handle climate change, including NOAA, EPA and FEMA. We...

Could Wormholes Exist?

19 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In science fiction, wormholes are hyperspace subway tubes linking one part of a galaxy directly to another, distant point. But could they actually exi...

Orange Cat Lovers, Rise Up!

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Approximately 80% of orange cats are males, including the four orange cats owned by the Short Wave team. Scientists have long suspected that orange co...

How Baby Bats Learn To Eavesdrop On Dinner

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Most bats use echolocation to navigate and hunt, but some use their ears for another trick: eavesdropping. "And then these frog-eating bats, for examp...

Learning A Second Language As An Adult

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Becoming fluent in a second language is difficult. But for adults, is it impossible? Science says no. In this encore episode, Short Wave host Emily Kw...

The Indicator: American Science Brain Drain

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we're airing an episode of NPR's daily economics podcast, The Indicator from Planet Money. It's about a group of people we know well: scientist...

Could AI Go Green?

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Google, Microsoft and Meta have all pledged to reach at least net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. Amazon set their net-zero deadline for 2040. To under...

What's The Environmental Cost Of AI?

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

By 2028, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory forecasts that U.S. data centers could use as much as 12% of the nation's electricity. The reason: gene...

Science Can Make You More Creative!

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you consider yourself a creative person? If not, you may be holding yourself back. Psychologist Zorana Ivcevic Pringle says creativity isn't a trai...

Did Scientists Find Alien Life Or Just Controversy?

05 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Recently, a group of scientists claimed they found possible signs of life on a planet called K2-18b. The news made headlines. Researchers said they'd ...