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The Ambitious Quest To Genetically Map All Known Vertebrates
4 december 2024 · 14 min
The Vertebrate Genomes Project: It's an ambitious effort by an international group of scientists to create a "Genome Ark" by sequencing the genomes of about 70,000 animal species. The hope is that through all of this gene sequencing, scientists will be able to answer some basic but important questions like: What makes a bird, well, a bird? What makes a mammal a mammal? Plus, with so many species on the verge of extinction, can scientists record their genetic information before they go extinct – or better yet, maybe help save the population from going extinct? Guest host Jon Hamilton, one of our favorite science correspondents, talks to Erich Jarvis, the chair of this project, to learn what this ark of animal genomes could mean for our future – and why a platypus qualified for early boarding. Lees meer
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These Rats Can Drive. What's Happening In Their Brains?
3 december 2024 · 15 min
In neuroscientist Kelly Lambert's lab at the University of Richmond, rats hop into cars, rev their engines and skid across the floor of an arena. Researchers taught these tiny rodents to drive — and turns out, they really like it. But why?
Host Regina G. Barber talks with Kelly about her driving rats, and what they tell us about anticipation, neuroplasticity, and decision making. Plus, why optimism might be good for rats, and for humans too. Lees meerWant to hear more fun animal stories? Let us know at shortwave@npr.org — we read every email.
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Why Your Brain Loves Sales
2 december 2024 · 14 min
This Cyber Monday, a meditation on holiday sales. A quick trip to pick up presents can turn into an hours-long shopping spree thanks to all the ways stores use research from fields like consumer neuroscience and neuromarketing to entice you. Retailers create urgency and scarcity to push you to give into the emotional part of your brain, motivated by the release of dopamine. Lees meer
But with the help of NPR business correspondent Alina Selyukh, we get into the psychology of sales and discounts: Why it's SO hard to resist the tricks stores use — and some tips to outsmart them.
Read Alina's full story here.
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This Hazelnut May Help The Land Back Movement In Canada
29 november 2024 · 10 min
Beaked hazelnuts are a wild food native to North America. Indigenous peoples in British Columbia have passed down stories of these hazelnuts as a vital food source their ancestors planted and cultivated. These stories motivated Chelsea Geralda Armstrong of Simon Fraser University to look more deeply at the genetics of the beaked hazelnut and determine just how widely it was cultivated. Indigenous rights attorney Jack Woodward hopes research like this can make a difference in the Land Back movement, providing evidence that land once considered wilderness by European settler colonists was actually being carefully managed by tribes. Lees meer
Another science story in the news catch your eye? Let us know by emailing shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
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This COP29, It's All About The Numbers
27 november 2024 · 14 min
This year's United Nations climate talks, COP29, wrapped Saturday. Throughout the talks, it was all about the numbers. With the help of NPR climate reporters Julia Simon and Alejandra Borunda, we home in on two. First, $300 billion. That's the amount of money wealthy countries agreed to give developing countries to help them adapt to climate change and reduce pollution. Second, 1.5C. That's a warming limit countries agreed to try not to breach, but that is creeping closer every year. Lees meer
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How Do You Preserve An Endangered Language?
26 november 2024 · 13 min
By the end of the century, more than 40% of the world's estimated 7,000 languages are in danger of disappearing. Those include indigenous languages in the Amazon. The United Nations also estimates that an Indigenous language dies every two weeks. Today, we focus on two endangered languages spoken in the Vaupés region of northwest Amazonia: Desano and Siriano. Linguist Wilson de Lima Silva at the University of Arizona has been working with the community for a decade in an effort to document the language for future generations. Lees meer
Check out the book Global Language Justice, co-edited by Professor Lydia Liu.
Editor's note: We have updated the headline to more accurately reflect the liguists' efforts.
Want to hear more Indigenous or linguistics stories? Make your opinion heard by emailing us at shortwave@npr.org!
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The Battle To Save Monarch Butterflies
25 november 2024 · 15 min
Monarch butterfly populations have plummeted due to habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change. In early December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is going to decide whether the monarch should be listed under the Endangered Species Act. If that comes to pass, the migratory butterfly would be one of the most widespread species to receive this listing. Lees meer
Want to hear more on the animals that surround us? Email us your ideas to shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
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Are Starship Launches Trashing Texas?
22 november 2024 · 14 min
SpaceX's Starship rocket took off again Tuesday for its sixth test flight. Crowds, including President-elect Donald Trump, gathered at the launch site in Texas to watch it fly part way around the world to the Indian Ocean. Lees meer
Starship – the largest rocket ever built – is the dream of Elon Musk, who hopes to make humans a multiplanetary species. But building the rocket is having a real impact on Earth. The launch site is located in the middle of one of Texas' largest wildlife sanctuaries and environmentalists say every launch is causing damage.
Plus, how government regulation of launches may change in a second Trump administration.
Want to hear more on the future of space exploration? Email us your ideas to shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
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The Mystery of the Dead Coho Salmon
20 november 2024 · 12 min
For decades, Coho salmon were turning up dead in urban streams the Pacific Northwest. The salmon would stop swimming straight, and then die before they had a chance to spawn. Researchers worried that unless they figured out the cause, the species would eventually go extinct. Enter a formidable crew of biologists, modelers, community scientists, environmental chemists. After eventually ruling out the obvious suspects — things like temperature, oxygen levels and known toxins — researchers eventually zeroed in on a prime suspect: chemicals in tires. But the question remained: Which one? Lees meer
If you liked this episode, check out our other episodes on satellites monitoring emissions and how air pollution could create superbugs.
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How To Have Hard Conversations
19 november 2024 · 15 min
Many people are gearing up for holiday conversations with loved ones who may disagree with them — on everything from politics to religion and lifestyle choices. As the conversations unfold, these divisions are visible in our brains too. These conversations can get personal and come to a halt fast. But today on the show we get into research in neuroscience and psychology showing that as much as we disagree, there are ways to bridge these divides – and people who are actively using these strategies in their daily lives. Lees meer
Want to hear more neuroscience and psychology? Email us your ideas to shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
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Don't Let Jet Lag Ruin Your Holiday Plans
18 november 2024 · 14 min
Getting enough sleep regularly can be tough — and even harder when you're traveling for the holidays. "We need sleep like we need water," says Jade Wu, a behavioral sleep medicine psychologist and author of the book Hello Sleep. She and host Regina G. Barber discuss what's happening to our bodies when we get jet lag and the clocks in our body get out of whack. They also get into the science of the circadian rhythm and how to prepare for a long flight across time zones. Lees meer
Check out CDC's website for tips on minimizing jet lag.
Want to hear more science of holiday living? Email us your ideas to shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
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The Mystery Mollusk Roaming The Midnight Zone
15 november 2024 · 9 min
This critter lurks in the ocean's midnight zone, has a voluminous hood, is completely see through and is bioluminescent. It's unlike any nudibranchs deep sea experts have ever seen before — and now, the researchers who spent twenty years studying them have finally published their findings. Lees meer
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Should Humans Live On Mars?
13 november 2024 · 14 min
As global warming continues and space technology improves, there is more and more talk about the growing possibility of a sci-fi future in which humans become a multiplanetary species. Specifically, that we could live on Mars. Biologist Kelly Weinersmith and cartoonist Zach Weinersmith have spent the last four years researching what this would look like if we did this anytime soon. In their new book A City On Mars, they get into all sorts of questions: How would we have babies in space? How would we have enough food? They join host Regina G. Barber and explain why it might be best to stay on Earth. Lees meer
Kelly and Zach Weinersmith's book A City On Mars is out now.
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These Drones Could Help Keep Your Lights On
12 november 2024 · 13 min
One in four U.S. households experiences a power outage each year. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working on technology they hope will help fix electric grids: drones. They're betting that 2-ft. large drones connected to "smart" electric grids are a cost-effective step to a more electrified future. Lees meer
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Eating Breakfast? You Can Thank Fermentation
11 november 2024 · 13 min
In this episode, you're invited to the fermentation party! Join us as we learn about the funk-filled process behind making sauerkraut, sourdough and sour beer. Plus, no fermentation episode is complete without a lil history of our boy, yeast. Lees meer
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Picking Up Cosmic Vibrations
8 november 2024 · 14 min
A pivotal week in Corey Gray's life began with a powwow in Alberta and culminated with a piece of history: The first-ever detection of gravitational waves from the collision of two neutron stars. Corey was on the graveyard shift at LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in Hanford, Washington, when the historic signal came. This episode, Corey talks about the discovery, the "Gravitational Wave Grass Dance Special" that preceded it and how he got his Blackfoot name. (encore) Lees meer
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A Better Life For Trafficked Turtles
6 november 2024 · 12 min
In North-Central New Jersey, there is a backyard teeming with around 200 turtles. Many of these shelled creatures have been rescued from the smuggling trade and are now being nursed back to health in order to hopefully be returned to the wild. Science reporter Ari Daniel joins host Regina G. Barber to tell the story behind one man's efforts to care for these turtles and to ensure they have a chance at another (better) life. Lees meer
Read more of Ari's reporting.
Have an idea for a future episode? We'd love to know — email us at shortwave@npr.org!
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Elections Are One Big Math Problem
5 november 2024 · 16 min
It's Election Day in the United States. Across the nation, millions of ballots are being cast. But what would happen if the rules of our electoral system were changed? Certain states are about to find out. This year, several places have alternative voting systems up for consideration on their ballots, and those systems could set an example for voting reform throughout the rest of the country. Short Wave producer Hannah Chinn and host Emily Kwong dive into three voting methods that are representative of those systems: Where they've been implemented, how they work, and what they might mean for elections in the future. Lees meer
What to hear more about the math powering our lives? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might cover your idea on a future episode!
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Did Life Start In Hydrothermal Vents?
4 november 2024 · 14 min
How did life start on Earth? The answer is a big scientific mystery scientists are actively investigating. After talking with many scientists, host Regina G. Barber found that an abundance of water on Earth is most likely key, in some way, to the origin of life — specifically, in either deep sea hydrothermal vents or in tide pools. It's for this reason some scientists are also exploring the potential for life in so-called "water worlds" elsewhere in the solar system, like some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. This episode, Regina digs into two water-related hypotheses for the origin on life on Earth — and what that might mean for possible alien life. Lees meer
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The Best (And Oldest) Tadpole Ever Discovered
1 november 2024 · 10 min
For years, we've been asking, "Which came first: the chicken or the egg?" Maybe what we should have been asking is, "Which came first: the frog or the tadpole?" A new paper in the journal Nature details the oldest known tadpole fossil. Ringing in 20 million years earlier than scientists previously had evidence of, this fossil might get us closer to an answer. Lees meer
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The Sound Of Fear: Why Do Animals Scream?
30 oktober 2024 · 14 min
NOTE: This episode contains multiple high-pitched noises (human and other animals) that some listeners might find startling or distressing. Lees meer
In this episode, host Regina G. Barber and NPR correspondent Nate Rott dive into the science behind the sound of fear. Along the way, they find out what marmot shrieks, baby cries and horror movie soundtracks have in common — and what all of this tells us about ourselves.
If you like this episode, check out our episode on fear and horror movies.
Curious about other science powering the human experience? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might cover your topic on a future episode!
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Embracing Death: Why We Age
29 oktober 2024 · 16 min
Humans have seen a significant increase in life expectancy over the past 200 years — but not in overall lifespan. Nobody on record has lived past 122 years. So, for this early Halloween episode, host Regina G. Barber asks: Why do we age and why do we die? Microbiologist Venki Ramakrishnan explains some of the mechanisms inside of our bodies that contribute to our decay — and tells us if it's possible to intervene in the process. Lees meer
Curious about other biology news? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might cover your topic on a future episode!
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Honey, They Cloned The Apples!
28 oktober 2024 · 16 min
What's your favorite apple? Maybe it's the crowd-pleasing Honeycrisp, the tart Granny Smith or the infamous Red Delicious. Either way, before that apple made it to your local grocery store or orchard it had to be invented — by a scientist. So today, we're going straight to the source: Talking to an apple breeder. Producer Hannah Chinn reports how apples are selected, bred, grown ... and the discoveries that could change that process. Plus, what's a "spitter"? Lees meer
Want to know how science impacts other food you eat? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might cover your food of choice on a future episode!
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Saving The Hawaiian Tree Snails
25 oktober 2024 · 16 min
More than a million species are at risk of extinction, many within decades, because of human actions. Among them? The kāhuli, Hawaii's native tree snails that are some of the most endangered animals on the planet. At one point, there used to be about 750 species of snails in Hawaii — almost all of them found nowhere else. Now, they are rapidly disappearing. NPR climate reporters Lauren Sommer and Ryan Kellman join host Emily Kwong to tell the story of the small team caring for the last of some of these snail species — and their fight against extinction. Lees meer
Read more of Lauren and Ryan's reporting.
Curious about other biodiversity news? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might cover your topic on a future episode!
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A Brand New Kind of Schizophrenia Treatment
23 oktober 2024 · 12 min
For the past 70 years, schizophrenia treatments all targeted the same chemical: dopamine. While that works for some, it causes brutal side effects for others. An antipsychotic drug approved last month by the FDA changes that. It triggers muscarinic receptors instead of dopamine receptors. The drug is the result of a chance scientific finding ... from a study that wasn't even focused on schizophrenia. Host Emily Kwong and NPR pharmaceutical correspondent Sydney Lupkin dive into where the drug originated, how it works and what it might shift for people with schizophrenia. Lees meer
Read more of Sydney's reporting.
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'Ghost Genes' Could Help Save The American Red Wolf
22 oktober 2024 · 14 min
Every American red wolf alive right now is descended from only 14 canids. In the 1970s, humans drove the red wolf to the brink of extinction. Because of that, red wolves today have low genetic diversity. But what if we could recover that diversity ... using "ghost genes"? Lees meer
That's right, today's episode is a ghost story. Along the way, we get into gene dictionaries, the possibilities of poo and how a photo of a common Texas coyote started it all.
Have another animal you want us to dig into for a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org!
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Game Night With 'Shrooms
21 oktober 2024 · 13 min
Calling all foragers! The new board game Undergrove, co-designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and Mark Wootton, is all about the symbiotic relationships between trees and fungi. Players assume the role of mature Douglas fir trees and partner with mushrooms, which represent the mycorrhizal network. Lees meer
P.S. If the name "Elizabeth Hargrave" sounds familiar — she also designed the bird-collecting game Wingspan.
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New Frogs Just Dropped
18 oktober 2024 · 8 min
In the humid rainforests of northern and eastern Madagascar reside seven newly described frog species. They often hang out near fast, flowing rivers. These treefrogs' high-pitched, "futuristic" sounds may help male frogs attract females over the sound of nearby rushing water. They also are what inspired their Star Trek-themed names. Lees meer
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Europa Clipper And The Search For Life In Space
16 oktober 2024 · 14 min
NASA's Europa Clipper mission launched Monday, beginning its years-long journey to the distant icy moon it's named after. This mission is designed to tell scientists more about the structure, the interior and the habitability of Europa, one of the four large moons of Jupiter. Host Regina G. Barber talks with astrobiologist and friend of the show Mike Wong about why their mutual love for this fascinating moon and what it means for the search for life outside of Earth. Plus, they talk about other icy moons that may also have the trifecta of ingredients needed to sustain life: liquid water, specific elements and an energy source. Lees meer
Want to hear more space science? Let your voice be heard by emailing shortwave@npr.org!
Also, if you liked this episode, check out our episodes on NASA's future missions to Uranus and our episode on whether Dune could really exist!
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5-Year-Olds Asked Us Science Questions. We Answer
15 oktober 2024 · 18 min
In honor of our show turning 5 (!!) today...
5 Short Wave staffers
answer 5(x2) questions
from some of our 5-year-old listeners
and explain the science ... like they're 5. Lees meerSPOILER ALERT: The questions are brilliant, delightful and span everything from how colors work to insects, the formation of Earth and space.
Want to know more about the science of the world? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might cover it on a future episode!
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Why Traditional Plant Knowledge Is Not A Quick Fix
14 oktober 2024 · 15 min
Host Regina G. Barber talks with Rosalyn LaPier about ethnobotany--what it is and how traditional plant knowledge is frequently misunderstood in the era of COVID and psychedelics. And, how it's relevant and important for reproductive health today. (encore) Lees meer
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What The Heck Is A Rock Glacier?
11 oktober 2024 · 13 min
Even though there are more than 10,000 rock glaciers in the western United States, most people would look at one without knowing it. Unlike the snowy glaciers we're more familiar with, rock glaciers are under-researched and hiding in plain sight. But inside these glaciers covered with rocks is a little bit of climate hope. Lees meer
Read more of science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce's reporting here.
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Anxious? Try Watching A Scary Movie
9 oktober 2024 · 14 min
In human history, fear kept us safe when running from predators and anxiety kept us from going back to that lion-infested area. But what happens when these feelings get out of hand in humans today? And why do some of us crave that feeling from scary movies or haunted houses? For answers, we turn to Arash Javanbakht, a psychiatrist from Wayne State University. He likes studying fear so much, he wrote a whole book called Afraid. This episode, he gets into the difference between fear and anxiety, many of the reasons people feel afraid and why things like scary movies could even be therapeutic. Lees meer
Want to know more about the science behind what keeps you up at night? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might cover it on a future episode!
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How Do You Spot A Liar?
8 oktober 2024 · 15 min
For over a century, we've been inventing technology to catch liars in the act. To this end, the polygraph was invented and became wildly popular in the mid-20th century. Then, there was an era of "micro-expression training," which claimed person could be caught lying through a skilled analysis of their face. Now, there's talk of using artificial intelligence to analyze the human voice. Lees meer
But do any of these methods even work? And if not ... what are the risks? Emily and Gina investigates how deception research has changed and why it matters.
Check out our episode page, where Emily linked to the experts she talked to and the papers she discussed.
Got another human behavior you want us to investigate using science? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
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Mapping The Entire Fruit Fly Brain
7 oktober 2024 · 12 min
Fruit fly brains are smaller than a poppy seed, but that doesn't mean they aren't complex. For the first time, researchers have published a complete diagram of 50 million connections in an adult fruit flies brain. The journal Nature simultaneously published nine papers related to this new brain map. Until now, only a roundworm and a fruit fly larva had been mapped in this way. Lees meer
Read more of science correspondent Jon Hamilton's reporting here.
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What Lightning And Black Holes Have In Common
4 oktober 2024 · 7 min
Lightning: It happens all the time, and yet the exact details of how it's made has long eluded scientists. That is, until now. New research out this week in the journal Nature holds new insights into the precursor to lightning. To figure it out, researchers flew a NASA ER-2 – essentially the research version of a spy plane – over several tropical thunderstorms. What they found: The same high energy radiation is found in places like neutron stars and around black holes. Lees meer
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Why Astronomers Are Teaching Climate Change
2 oktober 2024 · 14 min
Years ago, astronomy professors started noticing something that troubled them: Many of their students didn't understand climate change and the science supporting it. So a small group of professors decided to do something about it — teach climate change in their introductory astronomy courses. Lees meer
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If Fungi Win, Will We Be Ready?
1 oktober 2024 · 12 min
Over six million fungal species are believed to inhabit planet Earth. Outsmarting them is the work of Arturo Casadevall's lifetime. What If Fungi Win? is the question at the heart of Arturo's new book, co-authored with journalist Stephanie Desmon. In this episode, Emily and Regina take a trip to Arturo's lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and meet a group of scientists thinking about the fungal consequences of climate change, urban heat islands, and scooping up microbes with candy. Lees meer
Curious about fungi? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
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Do NYC Birds Hold The Clues To The Next Pandemic?
30 september 2024 · 11 min
Most viruses that become epidemics in humans begin in other animals. It's how scientists suspect COVID-19 emerged. And now, less than five years after the start of the pandemic, some scientists are concerned about another disease that could do something similar: bird flu, or H5N1. Over the past year, the virus has spilled into cows and other animals — even infecting some people working closely with the animals. Some scientists hope to build a more resilient public health system by finding ways to detect and to track viruses as they spread in animals. Lees meer
One team in New York City is doing this by tapping high school students from underrepresented backgrounds. Together, they create a more equitable field of biologists while they also sniff out what could be the next pandemic.
This story was produced with support from the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program.
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Hurricane Helene Is Here And Powerful
27 september 2024 · 12 min
Governors across the southeastern United States have declared statewide states of emergency as Hurricane Helene continues its ascent. After forming in the northwestern Caribbean Sea Tuesday, Helene escalated from a tropical storm, then to a cyclone, and finally to a Category 4 hurricane by the time it made landfall late Thursday night. We talk to hurricane climatologist Jill Trepanier about how a storm tropical storm system rapidly intensifies into a major hurricane, the impact of a changing climate on future storms — and why the devastation doesn't stop at the shore. Lees meer
Follow local updates on Hurricane Helene.
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The Reality Of OCD
25 september 2024 · 14 min
Around 2% of the global population struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. That's roughly 163 million people who go through cycles of obsessions – unwanted intrusive thoughts, images or urges – and compulsions, or behaviors to decrease the distress caused by these thoughts. In movies and TV, characters with OCD are often depicted washing their hands or obsessing about symmetry. Dr. Carolyn Rodriguez says these are often symptoms of OCD, but they're not the only ways it manifests – and there's still a lot of basics we have yet to understand. That's why Carolyn looks to include more populations in research and find new ways to treat OCD. Lees meer
Questions about the brain? Email us at shortwave@npr.org – we'd love to hear your ideas!
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Harnessing The Ghost Particles Blasting Through You
24 september 2024 · 12 min
At the beginning of the universe, annihilation reigned supreme. Equal amounts of matter and antimatter collided. There should have been nothing left. And, yet, here we all are. Matter won out. The question is: why? Scientists are probing the mysteries of a ghostly subatomic particle for answers. To do it, they'll need to shoot a beam of them 800 miles underground. Lees meer
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Solving The EV Battery Recycling Puzzle
23 september 2024 · 14 min
Electric vehicle batteries will all, eventually, reach the end of their lives. When that happens, they should be recycled. But what breakthroughs could make that happen cleanly, efficiently — and close to home? Today, business correspondent Camila Domonoske takes us on a tour of one company trying to crack the EV battery recycling puzzle — to learn what this case study can tell us about the larger battery picture. Plus, why recycling is kind of like wresting with Lego bricks. Lees meer
Read more of Camila's reporting on EV battery recycling.
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How To Get A Haircut In Space
21 september 2024 · 6 min
Hey, Short Wavers! Today we're sharing an excerpt of the new NPR podcast How To Do Everything. Lees meer
How To Do Everything is half advice show, half survival guide, and half absurdity-fest — and it's not made by anyone who understands math. In fact, it comes from the same team that brings you NPR's news quiz Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me!
We think you'll like their vibe, and we especially think you'll like this excerpt from their recent episode. It features astronaut Frank Rubio, who holds the record for the longest time spent in space. How To Do Everything hosts Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag ask what advice he has for two NASA astronauts whose mission to the International Space Station was recently extended by ... a lot of time. Listen to find out how astronauts do laundry in space, get a haircut and blow out birthday candles.
For more episodes of How To Do Everything, follow the show on Apple or Spotify.
How To Do Everything is available without sponsor messages for supporters of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me+, who also get bonus episodes of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me featuring exclusive games, behind-the-scenes content, and more. Sign up and support NPR at plus.npr.org.
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The Scuba Diving Lizards Breathing By Bubble
20 september 2024 · 9 min
What's scaly, striped and breathes underwater like a scuba diver? Water anoles! These lizards can form a bubble over their head to support breathing underwater. They're found in the tropical forests of southern Costa Rica. Lees meer
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Are Crabs The Final Form?
18 september 2024 · 14 min
Evolution keeps making crabs. In fact, it's happened so often that there's a special scientific term for an organism turning crab-like: carcinization. But how many times has it happened, and why? When did the very first crab originate? What about all the times crabs have been unmade? And does all this mean that we, too, will eventually become crabs? In this episode, host Emily Kwong chats with Javier Luque about crabs, carcinization and change. Lees meer
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The physics of wheelchair basketball, from a Paralympian
17 september 2024 · 12 min
Patrick Anderson is widely recognized as the greatest wheelchair basketball player of all time. He's represented Canada at the Paralympics six times and led his team to win three gold — and one silver — medals. But since he first started playing in the 1990s, the sport has changed dramatically. He says that's due in part to the technological innovations in wheelchair athletics. In this episode, guest host Andrew Mambo chats with Patrick about the reasons for these changes. They also cover the origin of the sport, how the innovations that have changed gameplay and the rising popularity of wheelchair basketball around the world. Plus, the commonality between sport wheelchairs and stance cars. Lees meer
Interested in hearing more about the science behind sports? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear your feedback!
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What's Up With The Hot Ocean Temperatures?
16 september 2024 · 13 min
Hurricane season is heating up: Hurricane Francine hit Louisiana last week and dumped rain across the South, and forecasters expect more stormy activity in the Atlantic in the next few weeks. Lees meer
A big factor in this stormy weather is our extremely warm oceans. Scientists know climate change is the main culprit, but NPR climate correspondent Rebecca Hersher has been following the quest to figure out the other reasons. Hint: They may involve volcanoes and the sun.
Read more of Rebecca's reporting on this topic.
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Solutions Week: Reducing The Food Waste Problem
13 september 2024 · 14 min
We close out Climate Solutions Week with a look at the final step in the food system: waste. Roughly 30-40% of all food produced globally gets thrown out — a huge problem when it comes to climate change. Shuggie's Trash Pie and Natural Wine has answers for what to do with all that waste – be it bruised fruit and wilted greens salad or meatballs made out of beef hearts. The San Francisco restaurant describes itself as a "climate-solutions restaurant" — and they're hoping you find these dishes appealing. Or at least, that you're willing to give them a try. Shuggie's is one of a growing number of eateries trying to address this problem. Lees meer
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Solutions Week: Reinventing Chocolate
11 september 2024 · 15 min
Climate change is contributing to erratic weather where cocoa beans are grown and threatening the global chocolate supply. Record rainfall last year led to fungal infections among cacao trees and dwindled supply of cocoa beans. Heat is also making it more difficult for cocoa beans to thrive. So, for day three of Climate Solutions Week, we look at one innovation in the food industry: chocolate substitutes. Lees meer
As big chocolate manufacturers rush to stockpile cocoa beans, some companies like Planet A Foods are looking for a more sustainable solution: an alternative that looks like chocolate, tastes like chocolate and feels like chocolate... without chocolate.
You can read more of international correspondent Rob Schmitz's reporting here.
Interested in hearing more climate solutions? Email us at shortwave@npr.org – we'd love to hear your ideas!
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