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
CDC Employees Call Out A 'Toxic Culture Of Racial Aggressions'
Over 1,400 current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) employees are demanding that the organization "clean its own house" of what they're calling a "culture of toxic racial aggression, …
00:15:53 |
Thu 23 Jul 2020
America's 'Never-Ending Battle Against Flesh-Eating Screw Worms'
Sarah Zhang wrote about it for the Atlantic: a decades-long scientific operation in Central America that keeps flesh-eating screw worms effectively eradicated from every country north of Panama. Sara…
00:11:30 |
Wed 22 Jul 2020
Fat Phobia And Its Racist Past And Present
Where does our preference for thinness really come from? As Sabrina Strings explains in her book, Fearing the Black Body, the answer is much more complicated than health or aesthetics. She argues the…
00:12:40 |
Tue 21 Jul 2020
The Troubling Link Between Deforestation and Disease
There's evidence deforestation has gotten worse under the pandemic. It's especially troubling news. Scientists are discovering a strong correlation between deforestation and disease outbreaks. NPR co…
00:11:33 |
Mon 20 Jul 2020
Micro Wave: The Science Of Microwave Ovens + Listener Mail
Introducing Micro Waves: low-calorie episodes featuring bite-sized science, mail from our listeners, and...maybe other stuff in the future? We'll figure it out.
Write to us at [email protected].
Learn…
Write to us at [email protected].
Learn…
00:08:58 |
Fri 17 Jul 2020
Why The Pandemic Is Getting Worse... And How To Think About The Future
Rising cases, not enough testing, and not enough people taking the virus seriously. NPR science correspondent Richard Harris explains why the virus is surging again, what's causing lower fatality rat…
00:13:52 |
Thu 16 Jul 2020
Understanding Unconscious Bias
The human brain can process 11 million bits of information every second. But our conscious minds can handle only 40 to 50 bits of information a second. So our brains sometimes take cognitive shortcut…
00:12:40 |
Wed 15 Jul 2020
Why Do Flying Snakes Wiggle In The Air?
Some snakes can fly, and we don't mean on a plane. Certain snakes that live in South and Southeast Asia can leap off branches, undulating through the air, onto another tree. But why do they wiggle? N…
00:12:11 |
Tue 14 Jul 2020
How Record Heat In Siberia Is Messing With...Everything
Climate change and this year's weather patterns are behind the record-breaking heat in Siberia. NPR Climate Reporter Rebecca Hersher tells us how it's contributed to all sorts of problems there — mos…
00:14:00 |
Mon 13 Jul 2020
Lightbulbs Strike Back
Encore episode. Humans have a long history of inventions that shape the world around us: electricity, telephones, computers, music — the list goes on. But as Ainissa Ramirez explains in her new book,…
00:12:56 |
Fri 10 Jul 2020
The Congolese Doctor Who Discovered Ebola
Encore episode. Jean-Jacques Muyembe is a Congolese doctor who headed up the response to the recent Ebola outbreak in Congo. Back in 1976, he was the first doctor to collect a sample of the virus. Bu…
00:14:11 |
Thu 09 Jul 2020
This NASA Engineer Is Bringing Math And Science To Hip-Hop
Encore episode. NASA engineer Dajae Williams is using hip hop to make math and science more accessible to young people of color. We talk with Dajae about her path to NASA, and how music helped her fa…
00:13:19 |
Wed 08 Jul 2020
Honeybees Need Your Help
Encore episode. A deadly triangle of factors is killing off U.S. honeybees. Last year, forty percent of honeybee colonies died in the U.S., continuing an alarming trend. Entomologist Sammy Ramsey tel…
00:12:00 |
Tue 07 Jul 2020
The Importance Of Black Doctors
Though Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population, they represent only 5% of physicians. How does that lack of diversity in the physician workforce impact Black patients' health and well-bein…
00:14:31 |
Mon 06 Jul 2020
Typhoid Mary: Lessons From An Infamous Quarantine
A special episode from our colleagues at NPR's history podcast Throughline.
When a cook who carried typhoid fever showed no symptoms and refused to stop working, authorities forcibly quarantined her …
When a cook who carried typhoid fever showed no symptoms and refused to stop working, authorities forcibly quarantined her …
00:43:30 |
Fri 03 Jul 2020
Backyard Birding 101
If you pay attention to what's going on in your own backyard, ornithologist Viviana Ruiz Gutierrez says the birds among us have been putting on a great show. Gutierrez explains migration, mating danc…
00:09:51 |
Thu 02 Jul 2020
One Way To Slow Coronavirus Outbreaks At Meatpacking Plants? A Lot Of Testing
Meatpacking plants have been some of the biggest COVID-19 hot spots in the country. Thousands of workers have been infected, dozens have died. As plants reopen, one strategy has helped slow the virus…
00:12:14 |
Wed 01 Jul 2020
Octocopter Set to Explore Titan, Saturn's Very Cool Moon
NASA is on a mission to explore Titan — the largest moon of Saturn. To do that, scientists are building a nuclear-powered, self-driving drone (technically an octocopter) called Dragonfly. Scheduled t…
00:12:59 |
Tue 30 Jun 2020
Meet The Climate Scientist Trying to Fly Less for Work
A few years ago, climate scientist Kim Cobb had a brutal realization about how much she was flying for conferences and meetings. Those flights were adding lots of climate-warming carbon dioxide into …
00:11:56 |
Mon 29 Jun 2020
A COVID-19 Vaccine: What You Need To Know
Approximately 200 COVID-19 vaccines are being actively developed, a process that health officials are expediting to help end the pandemic. Today on the show, NPR science correspondent Joe Palca walks…
00:11:26 |
Fri 26 Jun 2020
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