Short Wave

Why Scientists Are Reanimating Spider Corpses For Research

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

That spider you squished? It could have been used for science! Today, we're bringing you Halloween a little early – Short Wave style! Host Regina G....

How AI Is Speeding Up Scientific Discoveries

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial intelligence can code computer programs, draw pictures and even take notes for doctors. Now, researchers are excited about the possibility ...

The Microbiologist Studying The Giant Floating Petri Dish In Space

13 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Microbiologist Monsi Roman joined NASA in 1989 to help design the International Space Station. As the chief microbiologist for life support systems on...

Florida Corals Are Dying. Can A 'Coral Gym' Help Them Survive?

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Coral reefs in Florida have lost an estimated 90% of their corals in the last 40 years. And this summer, a record hot marine heat wave hit Florida's c...

Choose Your Own Adventure — But Make It Math

09 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ever read those Choose Your Own Adventure books of the '80s and '90s? As a kid, mathematician Pamela Harris was hooked on them. Years later she realiz...

Body Electric: The Body Through The Ages

07 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Being inside, hunching in front of a computer screen for hours at a time – these things take a toll on our minds and our bodies. Today on the show,...

It's Fat Bear Week!

06 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Y'all, it's the most wonderful time of the year: Fat Bear Week! Brown bears in Katmai National Park and Preserve are putting on the pounds before the...

Why Chilean Mummies Are Decomposing After 7,000 Years

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Here on Short Wave, we're getting into the Halloween spirit a little early with a look at the world's oldest mummies. They're found in modern-day nort...

Seaweed is piling up on beaches. This robot might be its match

02 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A new robot is designed to sink sargassum before the stinky seaweed comes ashore. Blooms of sargassum, a leafy brown seaweed, have increased in size a...

The Tiny Worm At The Heart Of Regeneration Science

29 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A tiny worm that regenerates entire organs. A South American snail that can regrow its eyes. A killifish that suspends animation in dry weather and re...

Osiris-REx and the quest to understand the solar system's origin

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2016, NASA launched a spacecraft to do something rarely attempted before: Collect space rocks from a potentially dangerous asteroid. The mission, n...

Itchy? Here's why

25 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ever had an itch you can't scratch? It can be maddening. And even though itch has a purpose — it's one of our bodies' alert systems — it can also ...

Can't Match The Beat? Then You Can't Woo A Cockatoo

22 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today on the show, All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly joins Regina G. Barber and Maria Godoy for our bi-weekly science roundup. They talk...

Why Sustainable Seafood Is A Data Problem

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The last several decades have taken a toll on the oceans: Some fish populations are collapsing, plastic is an increasing problem and climate change is...

The James Webb Space Telescope Is Fueling Galactic Controversy

18 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We're entering a new era of astrophysics. The James Webb Space Telescope is helping scientists test existing ideas and models of how the universe was ...

The Latest COVID Booster Is Here. Should You Get It?

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the Food and Drug Administration approved new COVID vaccines this week. It comes at a time when COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths ar...

Animal Crossing: The Destructive Nature of Roads

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

40 million miles of road unite us. They also cause mass destruction for many species. Today, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb and host Aaron Scot...

Why A Proposed Marine Sanctuary Could Make History

11 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

More than 5,000 square miles of central California coast could soon become the newest national marine sanctuary in the United States. It could also ma...

Air Pollution May Be Increasing Superbugs

08 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today on the show, All Things Considered co-host Ari Shapiro joins Aaron Scott and Regina G. Barber for our science roundup. They talk about how antib...

Recurring UTIs: The Infection We Keep Secretly Getting

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Have frequent, burning pee? Cramping or the urge to pee even though you just went? If you haven't yet, you probably will eventually—along with an es...

The Deadly Toll Heat Can Take On Humans

04 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This year, the hottest July ever was recorded — and parts of the country were hit with heat waves that lasted for weeks. Heat is becoming increasing...

Food Allergies Are On The Rise. Are You Affected?

01 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Food allergies have risen in the United States over the last few decades. Research suggests that 40 years ago the actual prevalence of food allergies ...

'Speedboat Epidemiology': Eradicating Disease One Person At A Time

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Smallpox is a deadly virus. At one point, it killed almost 1 in 3 people who had it. Almost 300 million of those deaths were in the 20th century alone...

What Do We Do With Radioactive Wastewater?

28 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Workers in Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday. Reacto...

A Tale Of Two Lunar Landing Attempts

25 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A journey through some of the latest science stories catching our eyes. This time, we consider the Russian and Indian lunar landing attempts, how scie...

What Made Hilary Such A Weird Storm

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

One name has been on millions of minds — and all over the news — in the past week: Hilary.It's been decades since a storm like this has hit Southe...

Fixing Our Failing Electric Grid... On A Budget

21 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's no secret that our electric grid is a flaming hot mess — and in order to reduce emissions, the U.S. needs to get a lot more renewables onto the...

The Key To Uncovering An Ancient Maya City? Lasers

18 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today we enter into the plot of a summer blockbuster adventure movie. Regina talks to NPR reporter Emily Olson about the recently uncovered ancient Ma...

Is Math Real?

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kids ask, "Why?" all the time. Why does 1+1=2? Why do we memorize multiplication tables? Many of us eventually stop asking these questions. But mathem...

Sperm Can't Really Swim And Other Surprising Pregnancy Facts

14 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There's the birds and the bees. And then there's what happens after. The process that leads to the beginning of pregnancy has a lot more twists and tu...

The Fish That Conceal Themselves To Hunt

11 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

All Things Considered host Juana Summers joins Regina G. Barber and Berly McCoy to nerd-out on some of the latest science news buzzing around in our b...

The Science Of Happiness Sounds Great. But Is The Research Solid?

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do we really get happier? In a new review in the journal Nature Human Behavior, researchers Elizabeth Dunn and Dunigan Folk found that many common...

Black Metallurgists, Iron And The Industrial Revolution

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The ability to create wrought iron cheaply has been called one of the most significant innovations in the British Industrial Revolution. It's known to...

This Sausage-Shaped Part Of Your Brain Causes Out-Of-Body Experiences

04 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ever felt like you were watching yourself and the rest of the world from outside of your body? Or floating above yourself? Well, scientists finally kn...

The Secrecy Of The Horseshoe Crab Blood Harvest

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, humans have harvested the blood of horseshoe crabs, which is used to test whether many of our vaccines and medicines are contaminated wit...

Christmas in July! Celebrate With Hilarious Research

31 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Would you survive as a doctor in The Sims 4? What's the appropriate amount of free food to take from a public sample station before it's considered gr...

The Jackson Water Crisis Through A Student Journalist's Eyes

29 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this special episode, we hear from the high school grand prize winner of NPR's Student Podcast Challenge: Georgianna McKenny. A rising senior at th...

Peanuts, Pets And Poopy Shores

28 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For most infants, introducing peanuts early can help prevent allergies later on — but a new study reveals most caregivers don't know that. Why? Plus...

Why Babies Babble And What It Can Teach Adults About Language

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In which we metaphorically enter the UCLA Language Acquisistion Lab's recording castle, guided by linguistics researcher Dr. Megha Sundara. NPR scienc...

The Scorpion Renaissance Has Arrived

24 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Scorpions: They're found pretty much everywhere, and new species are being identified all the time. Arachnologist Lauren Esposito says there's a lot t...

'Oppenheimer' And The Science Of Atomic Bombs

21 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Christopher Nolan's new film 'Oppenheimer' chronicles the life and legacy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the first director of Los Alamos National Laborato...

This Cellular Atlas Could Lead To Breakthroughs For Endometriosis Patients

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For people with endometriosis—a mysterious disease where endometrial tissue grows outside of the uterus—medical visits can be especially frustrati...

Meet The Residents Of The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Trash from humans is constantly spilling into the ocean — so much so that there are five gigantic garbage patches in the seas. They hang out at the ...

Sea squirts and 'skeeters in our science news roundup

14 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Science in the headlines: An amazingly preserved sea squirt fossil that could tell us something about human evolution, a new effort to fight malaria b...

This Is Canada's Worst Fire Season In Modern History. It's Not New

12 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Canada is having its worst fire season in modern history. The fires have burnt more than 20 million acres, casting hazardous smoke over parts of the U...

The Only Nuclear-Powered Passenger Ship EVER

10 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the Port of Baltimore, a ship is docked that hasn't transported passengers for more than 50 years. It's the NS Savannah and it's designated a Natio...

What Geologists Love — And Lament — About Cult Classic 'The Core'

07 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

20 years ago, the cult classic movie 'The Core' was released in theaters. From the start, it's clear that science is more a plot device than anything ...

Tick Check! Meet Your Backyard Bloodsuckers

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We hope you had a restful holiday! Maybe even got outside for some relaxing fresh air. If so, you might've come across cute and not-so-cute critters l...

The Chemistry Behind A Perfect Barbeque

03 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Chefs will tell you, cooking is not just an art — it's a science. And the spirit of summer barbecues, NPR science correspondent Sydney Lupkin brings...

Why This Gravitational Waves News Is A Big Deal

30 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

New gravitational waves, why orcas might be attacking boats and a new robot prototype inspired by animals: it's all in our latest roundup of science n...

An unexpected forest in the ocean

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Salomé Buglass discovered an unexpected kelp forest while studying underwater mountains in the Galapagos. Kelp—a type of seaweed—usually grows in...

A Smarter Way To Use Sunscreen

26 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sunscreen: we should all be using it, but we might not all be using it the right way. In fact, the type of sunscreen you use may not be nearly as impo...

Rethinking The Lab Rat

23 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For generations, scientists have leaned on seven key species, including rats and mice, for research. They're called model organisms and they've been s...

This Satellite Could Help Clean Up The Air

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In pockets across the U.S., communities are struggling with polluted air — often in neighborhoods where working class people and people of color liv...

New Star Trek Season, Same Ol' Sci-Fi

19 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Season 2 of the critically acclaimed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiered June 15 (streaming on Paramount+). So today, Short Wave Scientist in Resi...

A Newly-Discovered Asteroid And What's Beneath The Ice On Enceladus

16 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro returns to nerd-our with Short Wave hosts Emily Kwong and Regina G. Barber on three science headlines from spac...

Give Rivers Space: The Simple Flood Risk Fix

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With much of California's massive snowpack yet to melt, downstream communities remain on high alert for flooding. Hundreds of homes were destroyed or ...

Life Lessons From Supernovae

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For many scientists, science isn't something they check in and out of — it permeates their whole lives. That's true for Sarafina El-Badry Nance, an ...

How To Stay Safe Amid Wildfire Smoke

09 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Smoke from Canadian wildfires is causing poor air quality in parts of the U.S. This smoke can have dangerous health effects because it carries fine pa...

Behold! The Dulcet Tones Of Cosmic Rays

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Teppei Katori loves two things: particle physics and music. Naturally, he combined the two. Today on Short Wave, Teppei talks to host Regina G. Barber...

The Rise Of The Dinosaurs

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for many millions of years, but only after a mass extinction took out most of their rivals. Just how that happened remains a...

Helping A Man Walk Again With Science

02 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week's science news roundup reunites All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang with Short Wave hosts Emily Kwong and Regina G. Barber to dig into th...

Why Melting Ice In Antarctica Is Making Hurricanes Worse In Texas

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ice in Antarctica is melting really quickly because of climate change. That's driving sea level rise around the world, and the water is rising especia...

What Happens When An Infant Loses Half Their Brain?

29 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Mora Leeb was 9 months old when surgeons removed half her brain. Now 15, she plays soccer and tells jokes. Scientists say Mora is an extreme example o...

Galaxies Are Older Than We Thought — That's A Big Deal

26 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you ask a physicist or cosmologist about the beginnings of the universe, they'll probably point you to some math and tell you about the Big Bang th...

When Your Body Rejects The Kidney It Needs

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In February 2021, pandemic restrictions were just starting to ease in Hawaii, and Leila Mirhaydari was finally able to see her kidney doctor. Transpla...

Two Squirrely Responses To Climate Change

22 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kwasi Wrensford studies two related species: the Alpine chipmunk and the Lodgepole chipmunk. The two have very different ways of coping with climate c...

The Physics Behind The Perfect Gummy Candy

19 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week for our science news roundup, superstar host of All Things Considered Ari Shapiro joins Short Wave hosts Emily Kwong and Regina G. Barber to...

Why You Can't Tell Your Race From A DNA Test

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Race is a social construct — so why are DNA test kits like the ones from 23andMe coded like they reveal biological fact about the user's racial make...

Long COVID Scientists Try To Unravel Blood Clot Mystery

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The COVID-19 public health emergency has ended, but millions across the globe continue to deal with Long COVID. Researchers are still pursuing basic q...

Move over, humans—lemurs have rhythm, too

12 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There's a lot for scientists to learn about the origins of humans' musical abilities. In the last few years, though, they've discovered homo sapiens h...

We Need To Talk About Teens, Social Media And Mental Health

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the American Psychological Association issued its first-of-kind guidelines for parents to increase protection for children online. It comes...

What Could We Do With A Third Thumb?

08 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today on the show, we meet a prosthetic designer and a neuroscientist fascinated with understanding how the brain and body might adapt to something we...

Some people get sick from VR. Why?

05 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Another week comes by, and luckily so does our roundup of science news. This time, we've got some questions about better understanding our health: Why...

Will Artificial Intelligence Help — Or Hurt — Medicine?

02 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A doctor's job is to help patients. With that help, often comes lots and lots of paperwork. That's where some startups are betting artificial intellig...

Shoring Up The Future With Greener Batteries

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today on the show, next-generation energy innovators Bill David and Serena Cussen challenged us to think about the future of clean energy storage. The...

SUPERBLOOM: An Upside To The California Downpours

28 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

California's wet winter has devastated many local communities. It has also benefited some of the state's endangered ecosystems. Those benefits are on ...

Worm Blobs In The Bowels Of The Earth

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the toxic waters of Sulphur Cave in Steamboat Springs, Colo. live blood-red worm blobs that have attracted international scientific interest. We do...

The News Roundup Goes Intergalactic

24 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's our latest roundup of science news! This time, with Ailsa Chang of NPR's All Things Considered, who joins us to discuss three stories that take u...

Fire And Ice: Linking Intense Wildfire And The Melting Arctic

21 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the Arctic Ocean, sea ice is shrinking as the climate heats up. In the Western U.S., wildfires are getting increasingly destructive. Those two phen...

The Race To Protect Millions Of People From Melting Glaciers

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Melting glaciers are leaving behind large, unstable lakes that can cause dangerous flash floods. Millions of people downstream are threatened. In toda...

Where are the whales? Scientists find clues thousands of miles away

17 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Endangered North Atlantic right whales are disappearing from their native waters, a serious danger for a species with only 340 animals left. The myste...

Are Rats Running This Podcast?

14 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, New York City crowned Kathleen Corradi its first rat czar. The new position is part of a multipronged approach from city officials. Reporte...

Peep The Delightful Science Of Chickens

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Tove Danovich decided to dabble in backyard chicken keeping, she embraced a tried and true journalistic practice — reading everything there is...

Launching Into Space — Sustainably!

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1957, the Space Age began with the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. Since then, the number of objects humans have hurled toward t...

News Round Up: Mammoth Meatballs, Stressed Plants And Apologetic Robots

07 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this Friday round up of science news we can't let go, not everything is as it seems. Meatballs are not made of fresh meat from the cattle range. Ro...

Allergies Are Weird. So Are Cats

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Katie Wu is a bona fide cat person. She has two of them: twin boys named Calvin and Hobbes. Every night, they curl up in bed with her, bonking their l...

Why We Should Care About Viruses Jumping From Animals To People

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The phenomenon of zoonotic spillover — of viruses jumping from animals to people — is incredibly common. The question is: which one will start th...

Eunice Foote: The Hidden Grandmother Of Climate Science

31 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today, most climate science is done with satellites, sensors and complicated computer models. But it all started with a pioneering female physicist an...

Why Scientists Just Mapped Every Synapse In A Fly Brain

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

To really understand the human brain, scientists say you'd have to map its wiring. The only problem: there are more than 100 trillion different connec...

Perennial Rice: Plant Once, Harvest Again And Again

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rice is arguably the world's most important staple crop. About half of the global population depends on it for sustenance. But, like other staples suc...

News Round Up: Algal Threats, An Asteroid With Life's Building Blocks And Bee Maps

24 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After reading the science headlines this week, we have A LOT of questions. Why did the Virgin Islands declare a state of emergency over a large blob o...

Why Pandemic Researchers Are Talking About Raccoon Dogs

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A few weeks ago, raw data gathered in Janaury 2020 from Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China — the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandem...

If ChatGPT Designed A Rocket — Would It Get To Space?

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From text churned out by ChatGPT to the artistic renderings of Midjourney, people have been taking notice of new, bot-produced creative works. But how...

What we lose if the Great Salt Lake dries up

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dotted across the Great Basin of the American West are salty, smelly lakes. The largest of these, by far, is the Great Salt Lake in Utah.But a recent ...

Venus And Earth: A Tale Of Two 'Twins'

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Planetary scientists announced some big news this week about our next-door neighbor, Venus. For the first time, they had found direct evidence that Ve...

Tweeting Directly From Your Brain (And What's Next)

18 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our friends at NPR's TED Radio Hour podcast have been pondering some BIG things — specifically, the connection between our physical, mental, and spi...

Flying Into Snowstorms ... For Science!

17 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For the past few winters, researchers have been intentionally flying into snowstorms. And high in those icy clouds, the team collected all the informa...

Could de-extincting the dodo help struggling species?

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As a leading expert on paleogenomics, Beth Shapiro has been hearing the same question ever since she started working on ancient DNA: "The only questio...

It's Boom Times In Ancient DNA

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Research into very, very old DNA has made huge leaps forward over the last two decades. That has allowed scientists like Beth Shapiro to push the fron...