Artificial intelligence can code computer programs, draw pictures and even take notes for doctors. Now, researchers are excited about the possibility that AI speeds up the scientific process — from quicker drug design to someday developing new hypotheses. Science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel talks about his visit to one protein lab already seeing promising results. Have an AI query? Send us your questions to shortwave@npr.org . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoic...
Oct 16, 2023•13 min•Ep 966•Transcript available on Metacast Microbiologist Monsi Roman joined NASA in 1989 to help design the International Space Station. As the chief microbiologist for life support systems on the ISS, Roman was tasked with building air and water systems to support crews in space. That meant predicting how microbes would behave and preventing them from disrupting missions. And so, on today's show, host Aaron Scott talks to Roman about microbes in space: the risks they pose and where they might take us in the future of space travel. Ques...
Oct 13, 2023•11 min•Ep 965•Transcript available on Metacast Coral reefs in Florida have lost an estimated 90% of their corals in the last 40 years. And this summer, a record hot marine heat wave hit Florida's coral reefs, exacerbating that problem. Scientists are still assessing the damage as water temperatures cool. And one researcher is taking coral survival a step further: Buffing up corals in a "gym" in his lab. Reporter Kate Furby went to South Florida to see the coral reefs up close and talk to the innovative scientists working to save them. Questi...
Oct 11, 2023•13 min•Ep 964•Transcript available on Metacast Ever read those Choose Your Own Adventure books of the '80s and '90s? As a kid, mathematician Pamela Harris was hooked on them. Years later she realized how much those books have in common with her field, combinatorics, the branch of math concerned with counting. It, too, depends on thinking through endless, branching possibilities. So, she and several of her students set out to write a scholarly paper in the style of Choose Your Own Adventure books. In this encore episode, Dr. Harris tells host...
Oct 09, 2023•12 min•Ep 963•Transcript available on Metacast Being inside, hunching in front of a computer screen for hours at a time – these things take a toll on our minds and our bodies. Today on the show, TED Radio Hour's Manoush Zomorodi brings their new series Body Electric to Short Wave 's Regina G. Barber . We learn about the negative side effects of our sedentary lifestyles and ask what scientifically-backed steps (and how many) it may take to combat them. Join NPR's study with Columbia University here . Movement hacks? Ways to sit less? We want ...
Oct 07, 2023•15 min•Ep 962•Transcript available on Metacast Y'all, it's the most wonderful time of the year: Fat Bear Week! Brown bears in Katmai National Park and Preserve are putting on the pounds before they hibernate. During this time, their metabolism, heart and breathing rate slow way down and they recycle their waste internally. Today, we look at the cool (and peculiar) biological processes taking place during hibernation. Plus, we talk through some other science headlines we're obsessing over, including the light pollution from satellites and how...
Oct 06, 2023•9 min•Ep 961•Transcript available on Metacast Here on Short Wave , we're getting into the Halloween spirit a little early with a look at the world's oldest mummies. They're found in modern-day northern Chile. The mummies are well-preserved, so over the past 7,000 years, some have been exhumed for scientific study. But recently, something startling happened: Some of the mummies started to decompose. Today on the show, Regina G. Barber talks to archeologist Marcela Sepulveda about the civilization that made these mummies: the Chinchorro peopl...
Oct 04, 2023•12 min•Ep 960•Transcript available on Metacast A new robot is designed to sink sargassum before the stinky seaweed comes ashore. Blooms of sargassum, a leafy brown seaweed, have increased in size and number over the past decade. As the blooms have grown, so too has their impact on coastal communities. The stinky seaweed can wreck local economies and ecosystems — and even threaten human health, some research suggests. But the creators of the AlgaRay say that their robot might do more than halt this damage. It could also fight climate change. ...
Oct 02, 2023•13 min•Ep 959•Transcript available on Metacast A tiny worm that regenerates entire organs. A South American snail that can regrow its eyes. A killifish that suspends animation in dry weather and reanimates in water. These are the organisms at the heart of regeneration science. But exactly how they do these things is still a mystery to scientists. Today on the show, Regina G. Barber talks to microbiologist Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado about this mystery. They get into what regeneration looks like, why humans can't do it (yet) and where the scie...
Sep 29, 2023•15 min•Ep 958•Transcript available on Metacast In 2016, NASA launched a spacecraft to do something rarely attempted before: Collect space rocks from a potentially dangerous asteroid. The mission, named OSIRIS-REx, was successful. Tuesday, scientists opened a sealed canister containing the samples from the asteroid Bennu. Science correspondent Nell Greenfieledboyce talks to host Regina G. Barber about the mission's close calls and what NASA might learn from these space rocks that are older than our planet. Listen to Short Wave on Spotify , Ap...
Sep 27, 2023•12 min•Ep 957•Transcript available on Metacast Ever had an itch you can't scratch? It can be maddening . And even though itch has a purpose — it's one of our bodies' alert systems — it can also go very wrong. Dermatologist Dr. Shawn Kwatra talks to host Regina G. Barber about the science of why and how we get itchy, the mysteries behind chronic itch and how his own experience with eczema, hives and seasonal allergies helps him connect with his patients. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Sep 25, 2023•13 min•Ep 956•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the show, All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly joins Regina G. Barber and Maria Godoy for our bi-weekly science roundup. They talk through some of the latest eye-catching science news, including the percussion-intensive mating life of cockatoos, what pink diamonds today tell us about the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Nuna and the latest on the Nipah outbreak in India. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Sep 22, 2023•9 min•Ep 955•Transcript available on Metacast The last several decades have taken a toll on the oceans: Some fish populations are collapsing, plastic is an increasing problem and climate change is leading to coral bleaching — as well as a host of other problems. But marine biologist and World Economic Forum programme lead Alfredo Giron says there's room to hope for the seas. He works to create systems that governments and the fishing industry can use to make sure fishing is legal and sustainable so oceans thrive for years to come. In this e...
Sep 20, 2023•14 min•Ep 954•Transcript available on Metacast We're entering a new era of astrophysics. The James Webb Space Telescope is helping scientists test existing ideas and models of how the universe was created—on a whole new level. This telescope is sending back images of galaxies forming under a billion years after the Big Bang—way earlier than astronomers had previously expected. Not only that, scientists had anticipated that later—but still very early—galaxies would be small, barely formed blobs; instead, the galaxies in these images have spir...
Sep 18, 2023•13 min•Ep 953•Transcript available on Metacast This week, the Food and Drug Administration approved new COVID vaccines this week. It comes at a time when COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise. It's also the first time that the federal government is not paying for the vaccines. Given this confluence of events, we huddled with our colleagues, intrepid health correspondents Maria Godoy and Rob Stein . They gave us the lowdown on the CDC's recommendations for who should get it, how protective the booster is, how to access it r...
Sep 15, 2023•13 min•Ep 952•Transcript available on Metacast 40 million miles of road unite us. They also cause mass destruction for many species. Today, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb and host Aaron Scott go on a tour of that destruction — the subject of Ben's new book Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet . But don't worry, it's not all grim! Along the way, we learn why fewer insects are hitting our windshields, talk about the breakthrough that is highway overpasses, and how at least one bird has adapted to avoid 18-whee...
Sep 13, 2023•13 min•Ep 951•Transcript available on Metacast More than 5,000 square miles of central California coast could soon become the newest national marine sanctuary in the United States. It could also make history as one of the first federal sanctuaries to be initiated by a Native American tribe—the Chumash—and become part of a growing movement to give tribes a say over the lands and waters that were once theirs. NPR climate reporter Lauren Sommer dives into the details with host Regina G. Barber , touching on ocean science, heritage and what's in...
Sep 11, 2023•11 min•Ep 950•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the show, All Things Considered co-host Ari Shapiro joins Aaron Scott and Regina G. Barber for our science roundup. They talk about how antibiotic resistance may spread through particulate air pollution, magnetically halted black holes and how diversified farms are boosting biodiversity in Costa Rica. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Sep 08, 2023•10 min•Ep 949•Transcript available on Metacast Have frequent, burning pee? Cramping or the urge to pee even though you just went? If you haven't yet, you probably will eventually—along with an estimated 60% of women and 10% of men. That's the large slice of the population that experiences a urinary tract infections (UTI) at least once. Many people avoid talking about these infections, but about one in four women experience recurring UTIs. No matter what they do, the infections come back, again and again. So today on the show, Regina G. Barbe...
Sep 06, 2023•14 min•Ep 948•Transcript available on Metacast This year, the hottest July ever was recorded — and parts of the country were hit with heat waves that lasted for weeks. Heat is becoming increasingly lethal as climate change causes more extreme heat. So in today's encore episode, we're exploring heat. NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer talks with Short Wave host Regina G. Barber about how the human body copes with extended extreme heat and how today's heat warning systems could better protect the public. If you can, stay cool out there th...
Sep 04, 2023•11 min•Ep 947•Transcript available on Metacast Food allergies have risen in the United States over the last few decades. Research suggests that 40 years ago the actual prevalence of food allergies was less than 1% . But this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released data showing that almost 6% of U.S. adults and children have a food allergy. But this trend is not present in all countries — and what people are allergic to varies globally. Today, we dive into the complex world of food allergies with Dr. Waheeda Samady...
Sep 01, 2023•13 min•Ep 946•Transcript available on Metacast Smallpox is a deadly virus. At one point, it killed almost 1 in 3 people who had it. Almost 300 million of those deaths were in the 20th century alone. It was extremely painful, highly contagious and many people thought it would be impossible to wipe out—until it was. On May 8, 1980. the 33rd World Health Assembly declared the world free of smallpox. This marked the first—and only—time a human disease was eradicated globally. Epidemiologist and host of the podcast Epidemic: Eradicating Smallpox ...
Aug 30, 2023•13 min•Ep 945•Transcript available on Metacast Workers in Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday. Reactors at the plant began melting down after a 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit the area. To stop the meltdown, plant workers flooded the reactors with water. But even now, when the plant is offline, the reactors need to be cooled. All that water—about 350 million gallons—is being stored on-site in over 1,000 tanks. And now, these tanks are almost ...
Aug 28, 2023•12 min•Ep 944•Transcript available on Metacast A journey through some of the latest science stories catching our eyes. This time, we consider the Russian and Indian lunar landing attempts, how scientists are reconstructing music from people's brains and lessons from wildfires that contributed to a mass extinction of North American land mammals 13,000 years ago. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Aug 25, 2023•10 min•Ep 943•Transcript available on Metacast One name has been on millions of minds — and all over the news — in the past week: Hilary. It's been decades since a storm like this has hit Southern California, so even some scientists were shocked when they heard it was coming. In today's episode, Regina Barber talks to Jill Trepanier , who studies extreme climatic events — like hurricanes and climate change — at Louisiana State University. She tells us how we use science to predict events like this, and what Hilary and future storms may or ma...
Aug 23, 2023•12 min•Ep 942•Transcript available on Metacast It's no secret that our electric grid is a flaming hot mess — and in order to reduce emissions, the U.S. needs to get a lot more renewables onto the grid. But there's a problem: Our electric grid is too old and outdated to handle this new technology. In fact, many of the copper wires on transmission lines are using technology from as far back as the early 1900s! Because of this, thousands of wind and solar projects are waiting for years to get online. The Inflation Reduction Act is incentivizing...
Aug 21, 2023•11 min•Ep 941•Transcript available on Metacast Today we enter into the plot of a summer blockbuster adventure movie. Regina talks to NPR reporter Emily Olson about the recently uncovered ancient Maya city, Ocomtun. The large site, which researchers found using LiDAR technology, even seems to have "suburbs," flipping their expectations about how robust the Maya civilization was — and where it was. Read Emily's full story here. Have a science mystery to share? Email us at shortwave@npr.org . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastcho...
Aug 18, 2023•14 min•Ep 940•Transcript available on Metacast Kids ask, "Why?" all the time. Why does 1+1=2? Why do we memorize multiplication tables? Many of us eventually stop asking these questions. But mathematician Dr. Eugenia Cheng says they're key to uncovering the beauty behind math. So today, we celebrate endless curiosity and creativity — the driving forces of mathematicians. Regina G. Barber and Eugenia talk imaginary numbers, how to go beyond simply right and wrong and yes, Eugenia answers the question, "Is math real?" Eugenia's new book Is Mat...
Aug 16, 2023•13 min•Ep 939•Transcript available on Metacast There's the birds and the bees. And then there's what happens after . The process that leads to the beginning of pregnancy has a lot more twists and turns than a happenstance meeting. Today on Short Wave , NPR health reporter Selena Simmons-Duffin talks about the science of the very first week of pregnancy. Read Selena's full explainer by clicking this link . Or download and print it here . Have an incredible science story to share? Email us at shortwave@npr.org . Learn more about sponsor messag...
Aug 14, 2023•14 min•Ep 938•Transcript available on Metacast All Things Considered host Juana Summers joins Regina G. Barber and Berly McCoy to nerd-out on some of the latest science news buzzing around in our brains. They talk NASA shouting across billions of miles of space to reconnect with Voyager 2, the sneaky tactics trumpetfish use to catch their prey and how climate change is fueling big waves along California's coast. What science story do you want to hear next on Short Wave? Email us at shortwave@npr.org . Learn more about sponsor message choices...
Aug 11, 2023•9 min•Ep 937•Transcript available on Metacast 
