Short Wave
Episodes
What Chimpanzee Gestures Reveal About Human Communication
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Chimpanzees are humans' closest living relatives. But does much of their communication resembles ours? According to a new study published earlier this...
Dancing Yeti Crabs, Morphing Cuttlefish, Other Stories From The Deep Sea
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As a kid, Sabrina Imbler loved the ocean. They'd swim and snorkel, following around parrotfish in the water. Later, they tried to learn everything the...
Outer Space Changes You, Literally. Here's What It Does To The Human Body
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lower gravity. Higher radiation. No ER access. These are just a few of the challenges that humans face in outer space. Emily and Regina talk to a NASA...
The Brain Makes A Lot Of Waste. Here's How It Cleans Itself Up
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have long studied the relationship between sleep and the brain, and why poor sleep is linked to neurological diseases like Alzheimer's. NPR...
How An Ambitious River Rerouting Plan Could Change India's Weather
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
More than a hundred years ago, a British engineer proposed linking two rivers in India to better irrigate the area and cheaply move goods. The link ne...
The Magic — And Science — Of Synchronous Firefly Displays
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Every year for two weeks between mid-May and mid-June, Congaree National Park in South Carolina is home to a fairy-tale-like display of flashing light...
This Mysterious Energy Is Everywhere. Scientists Still Don't Know What It Is
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The universe — everything in existence — is expanding every second! It's only been about a hundred years that humanity has known this, too — tha...
The Dubious Consent Question At The Heart Of The Human Genome Project
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Human Genome Project was a massive undertaking that took more than a decade and billions of dollars to complete. For it, scientists collected DNA ...
Teens Are Following Skincare Trends On TikTok. Some Dermatologists Are Wary
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TikTok is fuel for many trends, including a skin care craze among teens, pre-teens — okay, and us. The "glass skin" trend calls for a multi-step rou...
Like Humans, These Ants Can Perform Leg Amputations To Save Lives
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some ants herd aphids. Some farm fungi. And now, scientists have realized that when an ant injures its leg, it sometimes will turn to a buddy to perfo...
The Invisible Substance That Structures Our Universe
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The universe is so much bigger than what people can see. Visible matter — the ground, the Sun, the screen you're reading this on — makes up only a...
Sharks Often Get A Bad Rap, But Oceans Need Them
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's that time of the year again: Shark Week. The TV program is so long-running that if you're under 37, you've never known a life without it. In hono...
From Cars To Leaf Blowers: Noise Pollution's Toll On Human Health
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When's the last time you were in a place that was quiet — really quiet? No roadway noise, construction work or even the hum of a refrigerator. Our w...
Researchers Are Figuring Out How African Ancestry Can Affect Certain Brain Disorders
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Black Americans have been underrepresented in most genomic studies of neurological disorders. As a result, scientists don't know much about whether Af...
Could '3 Body Problem's Aliens Exist? The Science Behind Netflix's New Hit
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Before the '3 Body Problem' became a bestselling book and a smash TV show ... it was a physics concept, with big implications for how we understand pl...
Want Juicy Barbecue This Fourth Of July? Cook Low And Slow
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Perfecting your grilling technique ahead of the Fourth of July? Chefs will tell you that cooking is not just an art — it's a science. And the spirit...
Move Over Norse Mythology, There's A New Loki In Town — A Dinosaur
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A brand new species of ceratops, or horned dinosaur, was recently discovered in northern Montana. The dinosaur is called Lokiceratops rangiformis, aft...
The Human Brain Is Hardwired To Recognize Faces. But What If You Can't?
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Humans are hardwired to see faces — even in inanimate objects. We have a lima bean-shaped part of our brains dedicated to facial recognition. But th...
Some Stars Explode As They Die. We Look At Their Life Cycle
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This summer, scientists have their eyes and telescopes trained on the small constellation system T Coronae Borealis. They think it will explode as par...
Earth Is More Than A Planet With Life On It. It's A "Living Planet"
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
About ten years ago, science writer Ferris Jabr started contemplating Earth as a living planet rather than a planet with life on it. It began when he ...
We're In For A Brutal Hurricane Season, According To Predictions
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting a record number of hurricanes this season, which began on June 1 and runs through No...
What 'Inside Out 2' Got Right About Anxiety, Per A Psychologist
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pixar's new movie, Inside Out 2 came out Friday. It's the sequel to the 2015 movie Inside Out, which follows the life of 11-year-old Riley and her fam...
Pluto Isn't A Planet — But It Gives Us Clues For How The Solar System Formed
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pluto hasn't been a planet for almost 20 years. In the early 2000s, scientists discovered several objects of a similar size to Pluto. So, during the s...
How Millions Of Mosquitoes Could Save Hawaii's Endangered Birds
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To a lot of people, mosquito bites are annoying. But to the rare Hawaiian honeycreepers, they're deadly. Scientists in Maui are racing against time to...
Inheriting: Leah & Japanese American Incarceration
15 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hey, Short Wavers! Today, we're sharing a portion of Inheriting, an 8-part limited series hosted by Emily Kwong about Asian American and Pacific Islan...
Why You Shouldn't Worry About Invasive Joro Spiders
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Joro spiders are spreading across the east coast. They are an invasive species that most likely arrived in shipping containers from eastern Asia. Toda...
How The Current Heat Dome Can Affect Human Health
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Right now, there's a "heat dome" lingering over the southwestern U.S. – a high pressure system that pushes hot air down and traps it, raising the te...
From The Physics Of G-Force To Weightlessness: How It Feels To Launch Into Space
11 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It feels like this is the summer of space launches. So, it's only appropriate that we kick off our new series Space Camp with a look at space launches...
Illegal Wildlife Trade Is Booming. What Does That Mean For The Confiscated Animals?
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wildlife trafficking is one of the largest and most profitable crime sectors in the world. The illegal trade estimated to be a multi-billion dollar in...
'Math In Drag' Explores The Creativity And Beauty In Numbers
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kyne Santos was a student at the University of Waterloo when she began her math and her drag careers. She compares her double life to Hannah Montana, ...
Why The Science Of Tides Was Crucial For D-Day
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
June 6, 1944 the Allied Forces stormed the beaches of Normandy and took the Nazis by surprise in the largest sea-to-land invasion in history. This wou...
Psychedelic Treatment For PTSD Faces Misconduct Hurdle
03 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may soon have a new treatment option: MDMA, the chemical found in ecstasy. In August, the Food and D...
A Silky Shark Named Genie Swam 17,000 Miles, a Record-Breaking Migration
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A silky shark named Genie traveled from the Galapagos Islands out to the open ocean and back – over 17,000 miles – over the course of a year and a...
A Vaginal Microbiome Transplant Could Help People With BV
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Humans rely on our symbiotic relationship with good microbes—in the gut, the skin and ... the vagina. Fatima Aysha Hussain studies what makes a heal...
With Summer Approaching, Here's A Smarter Way To Use Sunscreen
27 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Each year 84,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with melanoma. About 90% of these skin cancers are linked to the ultraviolet radiation from the sun....
How Israel Is Using Facial Recognition In Gaza
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 triggered Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began fleeing from the North of ...
Who's At Risk For Uterine Fibroids? Most Women
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fibroids are benign uterine tumors. So why does it matter that the majority of people with a uterus will have one before they are 50 years old? Physic...
What Are Sperm Whales Saying? Researchers Find A Complex 'Alphabet'
20 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists are testing the limits of artificial intelligence when it comes to language learning. One recent challenge? Learning ... whale! Researchers...
Scientists Reveal Mysterious Origin of Baobab Trees, Rafiki's Home in 'The Lion King'
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Baobabs are sometimes called the "tree of life" with their thick trunks, crown of branches and flowers that only open at twilight. But theories about ...
Climate Change Is Coming For Your Chocolate
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Chocolate may never be the same. The majority of chocolate is made in just two countries and erratic weather from climate change is decreasing cocoa p...
How AI Is Cracking The Biology Code
13 May 2024
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...
NEWS: NOAA Issues First Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch Since 2005
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observed a cluster of sunspots on the surface of the sun this week. With them came s...
How Autism Can Look Very Different, Even In Identical Twins
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sam and John Fetters, 19, are identical twins on different ends of the autism spectrum. Sam is a sophomore at Amherst College and runs marathons in hi...
The Wonderous World Of Nudibranchs
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Emily gets super nerdy with former host Maddie Sofia get as they dive into the incredible world of nudibranchs in this encore episode. Not only are th...
'Stealing The Past': A Spat Between Twins Leads To A Theory Of Disputed Memories
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's not unusual for siblings to quibble over ownership of something — a cherished toy, a coveted seat in the car — or whose fault something is. I...
Deer Are Expanding North. That Could Hurt Some Species Like Boreal Caribou
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wildlife ecologists have seen white-tailed deer expanding their range in North America over many decades. And since the early-2000s these deer have mo...
The Mysterious "Great Attractor" Pulling Our Galaxy Off Course
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
No matter what you're doing right now – sitting, standing, walking – you're moving. First, because Earth is spinning around on its axis. This rota...
How The New Catan Board Game Can Spark Conversations On Climate Change
29 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we're going full nerd to talk about a new board game — Catan: New Energies. The game's goal is simple: Build and develop a modern-day island ...
10 Years After Flint, The Fight To Replace Lead Pipes Continues
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ten years ago, Flint, Mich. switched water sources to the Flint River. The lack of corrosion control in the pipes caused lead to leach into the water ...
Beavers Can Help With Climate Change. So How Do We Get Along?
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
NPR's Tom Dreisbach is back in the host chair for a day. This time, he reports on a story very close to home: The years-long battle his parents have b...
Sustainable Seafood Is All Around You — If You Know Where To Look
22 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Roughly 196 million tons of fish were harvested in 2020, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The organization al...
An 11-Year-old Unearthed Fossils Of The Largest Known Marine Reptile
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When the dinosaurs walked the Earth, massive marine reptiles swam. Among them, a species of Ichthyosaur that measured over 80 feet long. Today, we loo...
The Nightmarish Worm That Lived 25 Million Years Longer Than Researchers Thought
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
500 million years ago, the world was a very different place. During this period of time, known as the Cambrian period, basically all life was in the w...
How The Brain Experiences Pleasure — Even The Kind That Makes Us Feel Guilty
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We've all been there: You sit down for one episode of a reality TV show, and six hours later you're sitting guiltily on the couch, blinking the screen...
What To Know About The New EPA Rule Limiting 'Forever Chemicals' In Tap Water
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wednesday the Environmental Protection Agency announced new drinking water standards to limit people's exposure to some PFAS chemicals. For decades, P...
The Order Your Siblings Were Born In May Play A Role In Identity And Sexuality
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's National Siblings Day! To mark the occasion, guest host Selena Simmons-Duffin is exploring a detail very personal to her: How the number of older...
How Climate Change And Physics Affect Baseball
07 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's baseball season! And when we here at Short Wave think of baseball, we naturally think of physics. To get the inside scoop on the physics of baseb...
The "Barcodes" Powering These Tiny Songbirds' Memories May Also Help Human Memory
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tiny, black-capped chickadees have big memories. They stash food in hundreds to thousands of locations in the wild – and then come back to these sta...
How To Make The Most Of Next Week's Solar Eclipse
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On April 8, the moon will slip in front of the sun, blocking its light and creating an eerie twilight in the middle of the day. Stars will come out, t...
The Two Sides Of Guyana: A Green Champion And An Oil Producer
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For Guyana the potential wealth from oil development was irresistible — even as the country faces rising seas. Today on the show, host Emily Kwong t...
The Shy Rodents Lost To Science
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Historic numbers of animals across the globe have become endangered or pushed to extinction. But some of these species sit in limbo — not definitive...
Shots Are Scary. But They Don't Have To Be.
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
According to the CDC, about one in four adults has a fear of needles. Many of those people say the phobia started when they were kids. For some people...
What's It Like To Live In Space? One Astronaut Says It Changes Her Dreams
25 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Few humans have had the opportunity to see Earth from space, much less live in space. We got to talk to one of these lucky people — NASA astronaut L...
The Evolutionary Mystery Of Menopause ... In Whales
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Across the animal kingdom, menopause is something of an evolutionary blip. We humans are one of the few animals to experience it. But Sam Ellis, a res...
Syphilis Cases Are Rising In Babies. Illinois Has A Potential Solution
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The number of newborns born with syphilis – a serious sexually transmitted infection – has skyrocketed 755% from 2012 to 2021. These babies have c...
A Tale Of Two Bengali Physicists
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When Shohini Ghose was studying physics as a kid, she heard certain names repeated over and over. "Einstein, Newton, Schrodinger ... they're all men."...
Are We On The Brink Of A Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough?
15 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nuclear fusion could one day change the world by producing energy at lower costs than we generate it now — without greenhouse gas emissions or long-...
What We Know About Long COVID, From Brain Fog to Fatigue
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"Long COVID has affected every part of my life," said Virginia resident Rachel Beale said at a recent Senate hearing. "I wake up every day feeling tir...
The Science Of Atomic Bombs At The Heart Of 'Oppenheimer'
11 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Coming down from the buzz of the Oscars, we're taking a look at Christopher Nolan's award-winning film 'Oppenheimer.' It chronicles the life and legac...
The "Shocking" Tactic Electric Fish Use to Collectively Sense the World
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Neuroscientist Nathan Sawtell has spent a lot of time studying the electric elephantnose fish. These fish send and decipher weak electric signals, whi...
The Recent Glitch Threatening Voyager 1
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Voyager 1 space probe is the farthest human-made object in space. It launched in 1977 with a golden record on board that carried assorted sounds o...
The Evolution Of Cancer Treatment
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a first-of-its-kind cancer therapy to treat aggresive forms of skin cancer. It has us thinking ...
Could Dune Really Exist? What Scientists Think of Our Favorite Sci-Fi Worlds
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The sci-fi film Dune: Part Two is out in theaters now. The movie takes place on the harsh desert planet, Arrakis, where water is scarce and giant, kil...
Is It Possible To Feed The World Sustainably?
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
According to the United Nations, about ten percent of the world is undernourished. It's a daunting statistic — unless your name is Hannah Ritchie. S...
In Light of The Alabama Court Ruling, A Look At The Science Of IVF
26 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos can be considered "extrauterine children" under state law has major implications for how in vitro ...
Didn't Get A Valentine's Love Song? These Skywalker Gibbons Sing Love Duets
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the green tree canopies of forested areas in Myanmar, you might wake up to the sounds of gibbons singing love songs. Gibbons start their day with p...
When The Sun Erupts
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We are at the height of the Sun's activity in its eleven year cycle, known to astronomers as the solar maximum. This means that over the next several ...
The Life And Death Of A Woolly Mammoth
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lately, paleoecologist Audrey Rowe has been a bit preoccupied with a girl named Elma. That's because Elma is ... a woolly mammoth. And 14,000 years ag...
The U.N.'s First-Ever Analysis Of World's Migratory Species Just Dropped
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Every year, billions of animals across the globe embark on journeys. They fly, crawl, walk or slither – often across thousands of miles of land or w...
Celebrate Valentine's Day With These Queer Animals
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a Valentine's Day exclusive report, NPR has learned there is currently a gay anteater couple at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology...
The Shared History Of The Chinese And Gregorian Calendars
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Lunar New Year! According to the Chinese lunisolar calendar, the new year began Saturday. For many, like our host Regina G. Barber, this calenda...
Clownfish Might Be Counting Their Potential Enemies' Stripes
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At least, that's what a group of researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University thinks. The team recently publishe...
After 20 Years, This Scientist Uncovered The Physics Behind The Spiral Pass
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever watched part of a professional football game, you've probably seen a tight spiral pass. Those perfect throws where the football leaves ...
Wolves Are Thriving In The Radioactive Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
05 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1986 the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, releasing radioactive material into northern Ukraine and Belarus. It was the most serious nuclear ...
This Scientist Figured Out Why Your Appendix Isn't Useless
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Back in the day, many of us heard that the appendix is a vestigial organ — at best, a body part that lost its purpose all those many years ago. At w...
Murder, Mayhem At The Zoo: A Naked Mole Rat Succession War
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An all-out "naked mole rat war" has broken out at Smithsonian's National Zoo, after the queen of the colony was mortally wounded by one of her own chi...
Choose Your Lightning Protection: Lasers, Rockets or Rods?
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Every year, lightning is estimated to cause up to 24,000 deaths globally. It starts forest fires, burns buildings and crops, and causes disruptive pow...
Lessons on the limits of ecosystem restoration from the Everglades
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When the U.S. government and state of Florida unveiled a new plan to save the Everglades in 2000, the sprawling blueprint to restore the wetlands beca...
When Tiny, Invasive Ants Go Marching In...And Alter An Ecosystem
26 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, a wildlife preserve in central Kenya, lions and cheetahs mingle with zebras and elephants across many miles of savannah ...
Experiencing Racism May Physically Change Your Brain
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists know that Black people are at a greater risk for health problems like heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease than white people. A ...
This Wild Bird Will Lead You To Honey On Command
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Honeyguides are wild birds that team up with humans and then lead them to honey. Researchers recently found that the calls these birds respond to are ...
After Domestic Abuse Ends, the Effects of Brain Injuries Can Persist
19 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At least one in four women — and a much smaller proportion of men — experiences intimate partner violence in their lifetime. For people in violent...
What You Need To Know About The Current Tripledemic
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Winter is upon us – and with the holiday travel and time spent indoors comes a triple threat of respiratory diseases: RSV, flu and COVID-19. Most of...
Our Lives Are Ruled By The Illusion Of Time
15 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Time is a concept so central to our daily lives. Yet, the closer scientists look at it, the more it seems to fall apart. Time ticks by differently at ...
Body Electric: The Body Across The Ages
13 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you work at home or in an office, you might spend a lot of your day sitting down and staring at a computer screen. That can have lots of negative e...
Odd Radio Circles Are glowing Around Some Galaxies. Now We Know Why
12 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Since they were discovered in 2019, strange, glowing circles of light in space have mystified researchers. Now called odd radio circles, or ORCs, thes...
Preserving Our Humanity In The Age Of Robots
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Human beings are hardwired for social connection – so much so that we think of even the most basic objects as having feelings or experiences. (Yup, ...
The Record For World's Largest Snowflake Might Not Count
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A winter storm brought heavy rain and snow to parts of the East Coast this weekend, which got us thinking about snowflakes. Those intricate, whimsical...
Snow Flies Pay An Arm And A Leg For Love
05 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The winter is usually when insects die or go into a state of paused development, but for tiny specks on the white snow called snow flies, it's time to...
Why Big Numbers Break Our Brains
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In celebration of our 1000th episode, we're wrapping our heads around big numbers. Educational neuroscientist Elizabeth Toomarian talks about why huma...