Short Wave
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
- Update frequency
- every 2 days
- Average duration
- 12 minutes
- Episodes
- 1344
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
If Fungi Win, Will We Be Ready?
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 boo…
00:12:00 |
Tue 01 Oct 2024
Do NYC Birds Hold The Clues To The Next Pandemic?
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 c…
00:10:56 |
Mon 30 Sep 2024
Hurricane Helene Is Here And Powerful
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 e…
00:11:55 |
Fri 27 Sep 2024
The Reality Of OCD
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…
00:14:25 |
Wed 25 Sep 2024
Harnessing The Ghost Particles Blasting Through You
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 qu…
00:12:18 |
Tue 24 Sep 2024
Solving The EV Battery Recycling Puzzle
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 clo…
00:14:12 |
Mon 23 Sep 2024
How To Get A Haircut In Space
Hey, Short Wavers! Today we're sharing an excerpt of the new NPR podcast How To Do Everything.
How To Do Everything is half advice show, half survival guide, and half absurdity-fest — and it's not ma…
How To Do Everything is half advice show, half survival guide, and half absurdity-fest — and it's not ma…
00:05:48 |
Sat 21 Sep 2024
The Scuba Diving Lizards Breathing By Bubble
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 …
00:08:42 |
Fri 20 Sep 2024
Are Crabs The Final Form?
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? Whe…
00:13:55 |
Wed 18 Sep 2024
The physics of wheelchair basketball, from a Paralympian
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 silve…
00:12:11 |
Tue 17 Sep 2024
What's Up With The Hot Ocean Temperatures?
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.
A big f…
A big f…
00:12:55 |
Mon 16 Sep 2024
Solutions Week: Reducing The Food Waste Problem
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 cha…
00:14:13 |
Fri 13 Sep 2024
Solutions Week: Reinventing Chocolate
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 dwi…
00:14:39 |
Wed 11 Sep 2024
Solutions Week: The Cost Of Food Delivery
Since the height of the pandemic, there has been a boom in the use of food delivery services. Day 2 of NPR's Climate Solutions Week is all about the environmental impacts of how we shop for our food.…
00:14:12 |
Tue 10 Sep 2024
Solutions Week: Climate Change Is Coming For Your Wine
In California's Napa Valley, the nation's unofficial wine capital, one varietal reigns supreme: cabernet sauvignon. But climate change is threatening the small blue-black grapes for which cabernet sa…
00:13:03 |
Mon 09 Sep 2024
Body Electric: How AI Is Changing Our Relationships
Hey, Short Wavers! Today, we have a special present for all of you: An episode from our good friends at NPR's Body Electric podcast all a bout artificial intimacy! Thanks to advances in AI, chatbots …
00:26:45 |
Sat 07 Sep 2024
Dogs Go Viral For 'Talking' To Humans — But Can They?
Last year, a dog named Bunny went viral on TikTok for pressing buttons with words on them to "communicate" with her owner. But can dogs even understand those words on a soundboard in the first place?…
00:09:06 |
Fri 06 Sep 2024
Feeling Itchy? Air Pollution Might Be Making It Worse
Short Wave producer Hannah Chinn has adult-onset eczema. They're not the only one. Up to ten percent of people in the United States have it, according to the National Eczema Association — and its pre…
00:13:11 |
Wed 04 Sep 2024
Are You Overestimating The Algorithm?
Humans hallucinate. Algorithms lie.
At least, that's one difference that Joy Buolamwini and Kyle Chayka want to make clear. When ChatGPT tells you that a book exists when it doesn't – or professes it…
At least, that's one difference that Joy Buolamwini and Kyle Chayka want to make clear. When ChatGPT tells you that a book exists when it doesn't – or professes it…
00:13:43 |
Tue 03 Sep 2024
Batteries: The Lemonade Of Life
Just in time for the return of the school year, we're going "Back To School" by revisiting a classic at-home experiment that turns lemons into batteries — powerful enough to turn on a clock or a smal…
00:10:22 |
Mon 02 Sep 2024
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