New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — in just under 15 minutes. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join hosts Emily Kwong and Regina Barber for science on a different wavelength.If you're hooked, try Short Wave Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/shortwave
1425 episodes transcribedMeet the CubeSat: a miniaturized satellite that's been growing in sophistication. In the last 20 years, over 1,000 CubeSats have been launched into sp...
Fifteen-year-old Gitanjali Rao is a scientist, inventor, and TIME Magazine's first-ever 'Kid Of The Year.' She shares why she didn't initially think s...
Hair scientist Crystal Porter explains the science behind curly hair (hint: It involves mushy cells in teeny-tiny tunnels). Plus, a bit of listener ma...
Scientists think the world's oldest ice is hiding somewhere in Antarctica. NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce tells us how researchers pla...
By day, Jess Wade is an experimental physicist at Imperial College London. But at night, she's a contributor to Wikipedia — where she writes entries a...
2020 was a year like no other, especially for science. The pandemic has caused massive shifts in scientific research – how it's being done, what's bei...
For nearly forty years, the Guam Rail bird (locally known as the Ko'Ko') has been extinct in the wild — decimated by the invasive brown tree snake. Bu...
To kick off the new year right, Maddie fills out a Short Wave mad lib crafted by Emily. It's a little tribute to you, our awesome listeners. We're ba...
Today, something special...an episode of The NPR Politics Podcast we think you might appreciate. Our colleagues take a look at Joe Biden's approach to...
Dr. Syed Moin Hassan was riled up. "I don't know who needs to hear this," he posted on Twitter, "BUT YOU ARE NOT LAZY IF YOU ARE WAKING UP AT NOON." H...
Between the pandemic, protests, the recession — the list goes on — there was big space news in 2020. And there was a lot of it! To round it up, Maddi...
Maddie and Emily play a quick game of "Fact or Fiction?" with help from Ariela Zebede, our resident fact-checker. Plus, a little reminder that you can...
It's a listener questions episode! Josh Smith wrote in to tell us that as a teenager, he was plagued by sleep paralysis. Now he's afraid his kid might...
Nearly tied with 2016 for the hottest year on record, 2020 was hot, hot, hot! NPR climate reporters Rebecca Hersher and Lauren Sommer explain why more...
Physicists have done the math and there should be as much antimatter as matter in the universe — but that hasn't been the case so far. NPR corresponde...
The mirror self-recognition test has been around for decades. Only a few species have what it takes to recognize themselves, while others learn to use...
Millions of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, just days ago granted emergency use authorization by the FDA, are being distributed across the count...
In 2015, Steffanie Strathdee's husband nearly died from a superbug, an antibiotic resistant bacteria he contracted in Egypt. Desperate to save him, sh...
What is flavor? Is it merely what your nose and tongue tell you? For cookbook author and recipe developer Nik Sharma, flavor is a full-body experience...
It's been more than 40 years since rocks from the moon have come back to Earth. But in late November, a Chinese craft landed on the moon's surface--it...
