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.
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- Update frequency
- every 2 days
- Average duration
- 12 minutes
- Episodes
- 1345
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
Who Should Control Earth's Thermostat?
Solar geoengineering--the human attempt to cool the planet by reflecting sunlight away from Earth--is fraught with technological and ethical challenges. Maddie discusses some of these with contributo…
00:14:20 |
Fri 21 May 2021
Biden Proposes A 'Civilian Corps' To Address Climate Change
During the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps to improve the country's public lands, forests, and parks. Now, nearly a hundred years later, …
00:09:14 |
Thu 20 May 2021
Pandemic Could Roll Back Advancements For Women in STEMM
In general, there are more men in STEMM fields than women. Representation in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine is even lower for women of color — facing racial discrimination on t…
00:13:17 |
Wed 19 May 2021
Too soon? The CDC Relaxes Mask Guidance For Fully Vaccinated
Many Americans are baring their faces in public again, following new CDC recommendations that fully vaccinated people don't need them in most settings. But there are critics who question the CDC's de…
00:11:19 |
Tue 18 May 2021
Racism, Opioids And COVID-19: A Deadly Trifecta
(Encore.) Drug overdose deaths are on the rise all around the country, including in Chicago, Illinois. ProPublica Illinois reporter Duaa Eldeib explains how the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated t…
00:13:27 |
Mon 17 May 2021
Animal Slander! The Origins Of "Badgering" Will Bum You Out
It's the latest installment of our series, "Animal Slander," where we take a common saying about animals and see what truth there is to it. The case before the Short Wave court today: "badgering." We…
00:13:50 |
Fri 14 May 2021
In The Pandemic, Children Face A Mental Health Crisis
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the proportion of emergency department visits by children in mental health crises went up significantly during the pandemic — about …
00:13:56 |
Thu 13 May 2021
SCOOP: There's A Dirt Shortage
Mud and dirt have often been treated as waste products from excavation or dredging sites. But these days, coastal communities need massive amounts of mud and dirt to protect their shorelines from ris…
00:13:05 |
Wed 12 May 2021
Pediatricians Work To Persuade Parents And Teens To Get COVID-19 Vaccine
Some colleges and universities have announced that COVID vaccination will be mandatory (with some exemptions) and the FDA has authorized the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15. While coro…
00:11:14 |
Tue 11 May 2021
The Past, Present and Future of mRNA Vaccines
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are the first authorized vaccines in history to use mRNA technology. The pandemic might've set the stage for their debut, but mRNA vaccines have been…
00:12:14 |
Mon 10 May 2021
'Everyone I Know Has Lost Someone': An Update From India
The numbers are staggering. India has been reporting more than 300,000 COVID-19 cases each day for the past two weeks, and recently topped more than 400,000 cases in a single day, a global record. Ma…
00:13:31 |
Fri 07 May 2021
A Fragile X Treatment May Be On The Horizon
Katie Clapp and Michael Tranfaglia's son was born with a genetic disorder that affects brain development. It makes it hard to learn language and basic daily tasks and often is accompanied by a host o…
00:11:23 |
Thu 06 May 2021
Why Some Countries Have Low Vaccination Rates
We've been talking a lot about COVID in the US. Now, we want to look at how things are going in some other countries. NPR's correspondents — Jason Beaubien, Phil Reeves, and Anthony Kuhn — talk with …
00:08:12 |
Wed 05 May 2021
A Vaccination Update And The CDC's Latest Guidance On Masks
The rate of vaccination in the U.S. continues to slow. Maddie Sofia talks with NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey about that and what can be done to get more people vaccinated. Also, making sens…
00:12:53 |
Tue 04 May 2021
Burnout: The Crisis Plaguing Health Care Workers
Today, NPR's mental health correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee guests hosts Short Wave. She talks to Dr. Arghavan Salles about burnout among health care workers — what it looks like, what it's doing to th…
00:13:38 |
Mon 03 May 2021
The Viral TikTok Explaining mRNA Vaccines With ... Forks!
We at Short Wave are sometimes a little too aware of how difficult it can be to explain science to a general audience. So when we came across Vick Krishna's viral TikTok breaking down how the mRNA va…
00:09:26 |
Fri 30 Apr 2021
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster: 10 Years Later
In 2011, villages and towns around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant in Japan were evacuated because of a series of meltdowns caused by a tsunami. Ten years later, some of the villages and towns ar…
00:13:56 |
Thu 29 Apr 2021
5 Ways To Cut Carbon Emissions At Home
Feeling green? If you'd like to do something to slow down climate change, even if it's just a small thing, you can get started in your own apartment or house. With the help of our friends over at Lif…
00:16:59 |
Wed 28 Apr 2021
The U.S. Vaccination Rate Continues To Slow
Short Wave's Emily Kwong talks with NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey about some of the latest coronavirus news, including the return of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the U.S. and vaccine ou…
00:11:15 |
Tue 27 Apr 2021
A 142-Year-Old Science Seed Caper
On April 15, at four o'clock in the morning, a small group of scientists found their way to a secret location. A light wintry mix of rain and snow was falling. The lousy weather was a relief because …
00:11:35 |
Mon 26 Apr 2021
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