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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
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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

Most Recent Episodes

Body Electric: How AI is changing our relationships
Daniel Hertzberg

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 can act as personalized therapists, companions and romantic partners. The apps offering these services have been downloaded millions of times. If these relationships relieve stress and make us feel better, does it matter that they're not "real"? On this episode of Body Electric, host Manoush Zomorodi talks to MIT sociologist and psychologist Sherry Turkle about her new research into what she calls "artificial intimacy" and its impact on our mental and physical health.

Body Electric: How AI is changing our relationships

Listen · 26:45
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How to get a haircut in space

Aboard the International Space Station, astronauts cut their hair using a pair of electrical sheers connected to a vacuum. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio says, "It's not a pretty haircut, for sure." Getty Images hide caption

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Getty Images

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 get a haircut in space

Listen · 5:48
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Ghost particles are blasting through you. Can they solve an antimatter mystery?

Matter and its weird, opposite antimatter annihilate each other "in a blaze of glory," says Jessica Esquivel, an experimental particle physicist at Fermilab. PeteDraper/Getty Images hide caption

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PeteDraper/Getty Images

Ghost particles are blasting through you. Can they solve an antimatter mystery?

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 question is: why? Scientists are probing the mysteries of a ghostly subatomic particle for answers. To do it, they'll need to shoot a beam of them 800 miles underground.

Ghost particles are blasting through you. Can they solve an antimatter mystery?

Listen · 12:18
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Why Astronomy 101 is 'perfect' for teaching climate change

Astronomy professors across the country are integrating climate change lessons into one of their most wide-reaching and popular courses: Introduction to Astronomy. Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty Images hide caption

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Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

Why Astronomy 101 is 'perfect' for teaching climate change

Years ago, astronomy professors started noticing something that troubled them: Many of their students didn't understand climate change and the science supporting it. So a small group of professors decided to do something about it — teach climate change in their introductory astronomy courses.

Why Astronomy 101 is 'perfect' for teaching climate change

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Here are the high schoolers tracking the bird flu virus in New York City

Student researchers Mayisha Alam (L) and Swazi Tshabalala (R) collect samples as part of their work with the nonprofit BioBus. Christine Marizzi/BioBus hide caption

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Christine Marizzi/BioBus

Here are the high schoolers tracking the bird flu virus in New York City

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 concerned about another disease that could do something similar: bird flu, or H5N1. Over the past year, the virus has spilled into cows and other animals — even infecting some people working closely with the animals. Some scientists hope to build a more resilient public health system by finding ways to detect and to track viruses as they spread in animals.

Here are the high schoolers tracking the bird flu virus in New York City

Listen · 10:56
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These scientists are trying to build a fungal-resistant future

Samples of yeast collected around Baltimore, that are being stress-tested at the Casadevall lab at Johns Hopkins University. Casadevall Lab hide caption

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Casadevall Lab

These scientists are trying to build a fungal-resistant future

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 book, co-authored with journalist Stephanie Desmon. In this episode, Emily and Regina take a trip to Arturo's lab at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and meet a group of scientists thinking about the fungal consequences of climate change, urban heat islands, and scooping up microbes with candy.

These scientists are trying to build a fungal-resistant future

Listen · 12:00
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Here's how Hurricane Helene turned into a major storm

Hurricane Helene became a major hurricane before landfall, reaching a Category 4 Thursday. Forecasters have been warning communities hundreds of miles inland to prepare for its powerful winds and flooding rains. CIRA/NOAA hide caption

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CIRA/NOAA

Here's how Hurricane Helene turned into a major storm

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 escalated from a tropical storm, then to a cyclone, and finally to a Category 4 hurricane by the time it made landfall late Thursday night. We talk to hurricane climatologist Jill Trepanier about how a storm tropical storm system rapidly intensifies into a major hurricane, the impact of a changing climate on future storms — and why the devastation doesn't stop at the shore.

Here's how Hurricane Helene turned into a major storm

Listen · 11:55
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This researcher wants to expand treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder
Kudryavtsev Pavel/Getty Images

This researcher wants to expand treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder

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 urges – and compulsions, or behaviors to decrease the distress caused by these thoughts. In movies and TV, characters with OCD are often depicted washing their hands or obsessing about symmetry. Dr. Carolyn Rodriguez says these are often symptoms of OCD, but they're not the only ways it manifests – and there's still a lot of basics we have yet to understand. That's why Carolyn looks to include more populations in research and find new ways to treat OCD.

This researcher wants to expand treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder

Listen · 14:25
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The complex, colorful puzzle of recycling EV batteries
xia yuan/Getty Images

The complex, colorful puzzle of recycling EV batteries

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 close to home? Today, business correspondent Camila Domonoske takes us on a tour of one company trying to crack the EV battery recycling puzzle — to learn what this case study can tell us about the larger battery picture. Plus, why recycling is kind of like wresting with Lego bricks.

The complex, colorful puzzle of recycling EV batteries

Listen · 14:12
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Meet the scuba diving lizards breathing by bubble

This semi-aquatic lizard produces a bubble over its nostrils to continue breathing underwater. Lindsey Swierk hide caption

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Lindsey Swierk

Meet 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 of southern Costa Rica.

Meet the scuba diving lizards breathing by bubble

Listen · 8:42
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