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 transcribedIt's the latest installment of our series, "Animal Slander," where we take a common phrase about animals and see what truth there is to it. The issue...
Meet 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...
Diabetes is a growing global problem, especially in low and middle income countries. Half of the 100 million in need of insulin lack reliable access....
How does the coronavirus spread? Does wearing a face mask actually help? And why is the virus getting so much media coverage? This episode, we answer...
Joey Ramp's service dog, Sampson, is with her at all times, even when she has to work in a laboratory. It wasn't always easy to have him at her side....
Seismologist Wenyuan Fan explains the accidental discovery — buried deep in seismic and meteorological data — that certain storms over ocean water can...
Every day, approximately 30,000 people die globally of sepsis. The condition comes about when your immune system overreacts to an infection, leading p...
The Trump Administration has rolled back dozens of environmental regulations, which it regards as a burden to industry. Today on Short Wave, NPR Natio...
Today we know that one of the easiest and most effective things you can do to protect yourself from the cold, flu, and other respiratory illnesses (in...
With the Iowa caucuses around the corner, we give you a Short Wave guide (with some help from our friends at NPR Politics) to where the top-tier Democ...
Mongolia has a many-thousand year history of herding livestock. But in the past two decades, tens of thousands have left the countryside because of a...
With the Iran nuclear deal in further jeopardy, we take a look at how the country's nuclear program began with NPR's Geoff Brumfiel. (The United State...
Sarah Parcak explains how she uses satellite imagery and data to solve one of the biggest challenges in archaeology: where to start digging. Her book...
A deadly virus believed to have originated in China was found in the US this week. NPR global health correspondent Jason Beaubien explains what we kno...
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...
Swarms of locusts can destroy crops and livelihoods. Right now, countries in East Africa are dealing with the threat. At a lab in Tempe, Arizona, rese...
Some very unusual mice with big muscles are back on Earth after a month on the International Space Station. NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton sha...
Already this year, natural disasters have wreaked havoc in Australia, Indonesia, and Puerto Rico. We look at some science behind the wildfires, floods...
In 2015, Steffanie Strathdee's husband nearly died from a superbug, an antibiotic resistant bacteria he contracted in Egypt. Desperate to save him, sh...
Accurate weather forecasting can be a matter of life or death. So countries with less money like Mozambique face a big challenge. They can't build and...
