Episodes

  • How Physics Could Make Big Crowds Safer

    How Physics Could Make Big Crowds Safer
    Feb 7 2025
    What do large crowds of people and water have in common? They both act like fluids. When crowds cheer, sway and clump together, the movements look like ripples of water. Researchers hope insights from physics like this one could help officials and engineers create safer crowds at festivals.

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    10 mins
  • Microbes: It's Complicated

    Microbes: It's Complicated
    Feb 5 2025
    For a long time, microbes like the ones in Yellowstone's hot springs were studied in isolation. Molecular ecologist Devaki Bhaya says we should be studying them in community. Here's why.

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    Plus, if you liked this episode, check out our episode on the last universal common ancestor in the tree of life.

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    14 mins
  • Why Black Holes Are More Than They Seem

    Why Black Holes Are More Than They Seem
    Feb 4 2025
    Black holes are notorious for gobbling up, well, everything. They're icons of destruction, ruthless voids, ambivalent abysses from which nothing can return — at least, according to pop culture. But black holes have another side: Astrophysicists have seen powerful jets, sometimes millions of light-years long, shooting out of supermassive black holes – including the one at the center of our own galaxy. So today, we're getting to know the other side of black holes, and the powerful role they may play in creating and shaping the cosmos.

    Read more about the Blandford-Znajek process.

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    13 mins
  • Not All Nature Comebacks Are Equal

    Not All Nature Comebacks Are Equal
    Feb 3 2025
    Ecologist Gergana Daskalova moved back to the small Bulgarian town of her childhood. It's a place many people have abandoned — and that's the very reason she returned. At the same time as land is being cleared around the world to make room for agriculture, elsewhere farmland is being abandoned for nature to reclaim. But what happens when people let the land return to nature? This episode, science reporter Dan Charles explains why abandoned land has conservationists and researchers asking: If we love nature, do we tend it or set it free?

    Read more of Dan's reporting for Science Magazine and NPR.

    Want us to cover other about ecology, biodiversity or land science stories? Let us know by emailing shortwave@npr.org!

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    12 mins
  • 10 Technologies To Watch

    10 Technologies To Watch
    Jan 31 2025
    In a world brimming with innovation and limited time, it can be hard to tell what technology has the potential to really shift life. Yet, every year, MIT Technology Review undertakes this very task and puts out an annual list to magazine readers of 10 Breakthrough Technologies. Today, host Regina G. Barber hops through highlights from the list with Amy Nordrum, an executive editor at the publication.

    Check out the full list here.

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    12 mins
  • Farts To The Rescue

    Farts To The Rescue
    Jan 29 2025
    Farts are funny and sometimes smelly. But are they a legitimate topic of research?

    More than 40% of people worldwide are estimated to suffer from some kind of functional gut disorder — from acid reflux, heartburn, indigestion, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome to inflammatory bowel disease. So, yes, freelance science writer Claire Ainsworth thinks so. Claire speaks with Emily about two teams of scientists studying intestinal gases, who she profiled in a recent New Scientist article — and why understanding people's gut microbiome through a fart-shaped window may help treat these conditions at the source.

    Read more of Claire's reporting for New Scientist.

    Have another bodily function you want us to explore or just want to report to us about a funny time you passed gas? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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    14 mins
  • The Latest On Bird Flu

    The Latest On Bird Flu
    Jan 28 2025
    Bird flu, or avian influenza, is spreading among livestock and other mammals in the United States, raising concerns that another pandemic may be looming. Last month, California declared a state of emergency due to rising cases in dairy cattle, and there have been over 65 human cases in the U.S. during this outbreak. While cases have been largely mild and risk to the public is still considered low, scientists warn it could evolve and become more dangerous.

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    13 mins
  • Moths, Owls And Fungi With Over 20,000 Sexes...Oh My!

    Moths, Owls And Fungi With Over 20,000 Sexes...Oh My!
    Jan 27 2025
    Put on your headphones. In today's episode, host Emily Kwong leads us on a night hike in Patuxent River State Park in Maryland. Alongside a group of naturalists led by Serenella Linares, we'll meet a variety of species with unique survival quirks and wintertime adaptations. We'll search out lichen that change color under UV light and flip over a wet log to track a salamander keeping warm under wet leaves. Emily may even meet the bioluminescent mushrooms of her dreams. Plus, we talk about community events to get outside, such as the City Nature Challenge and Great American Campout.

    Do you have a question about changes in your local environment? Email a recording of your question to shortwave@npr.org — we may investigate it as part of an upcoming Short Wave segment!

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    13 mins