Short Wave
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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 su...
Recent Episodes
1452 episodes
An icy mystery: What are lake stars?
When producer Berly McCoy was out on her local frozen lake, she saw something she'd never seen before. There were dark spidery, star-shaped patterns i...
We saved gray whales from extinction. Why are so many dying again?
In 1999 hundreds of gray whales washed up along the west coast of North America. More in 2000. They lost an estimated 25% of their population. But the...
Sibling order may affect sexuality and identity
Today, guest host Selena Simmons-Duffin is exploring a detail very personal to her: How the number of older brothers a person has can influence their...
What crocodile bones teach us about dinosaurs
Paleontologists have often determined how old a dinosaur was by counting the growth rings in its bones. Just like with trees, it was thought that each...
Teen sleep is getting wrecked by more than just phones
Teens aren’t getting enough sleep! And a two-decade study suggests it’s getting worse. Scientists found that the number of high schoolers getting insu...
The global fallout of RFK Jr's vaccine policies
In his role as secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is changing how the United States approaches vaccines. But those changes...
Will Punch the baby monkey be okay?
If you’ve been on the internet in the past few weeks, chances are you’ve seen him: a tiny gray-brown monkey dragging a big, stuffed orangutan around J...
Spring ice is thawing earlier in lakes. What does that mean for life below the surface?
Lakes are freezing later, thawing earlier and experiencing dramatic temperature swings in between. And all that throws off the delicate balance of lif...
The dangers of warming winter lakes
Over half a billion people live by lakes that freeze over in the winter. But as the climate warms, those lakes are losing whole days of ice cover. Win...
Screen time is up for grandma and grandpa
Folks over 65 are putting in a lot of screen time. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that people 60 years and older spend more than half their da...
Could our trash become local fishes’ treasure?
Helicopters. Cargo containers. Old washing machines. For years, fishermen dumped this waste into the Gulf of Mexico. But they weren’t just trying to g...
The serious hunt for alien life
Bring up aliens and a lot of people will scoff. But not everyone is laughing. Around the turn of the century, 3.8 million people banded together in a...
The noise that isn't there
Almost 15% of adults suffer from a persistent, often intolerable sound... that is literally just in their heads. Why does the brain do this to us? We...
The truth about intermittent fasting
From TikTok and Instagram influencers to celebrities like Hugh Jackman and Kourtney Kardashian, intermittent fasting has gotten a lot of hype. The die...
The neuroscience of cracking under pressure
The 2026 Winter Olympics are unfolding in Milan and Cortina, and we can’t look away: We’re watching athletes fly down mountains on skis and glide — so...
Tea time... with an ape?
Picture this: You’re at a pretend tea party, but instead of sitting across from toddlers in tiaras, you’re clinking cups with Kanzi—an ape with the in...
Could this vaccine trial mean a future without HIV?
Early last year, a hundred researchers, clinicians and other experts on HIV discussed the development of an innovative vaccine that could prevent the...
Why do we kiss? It's an evolutionary conundrum
The evolutionary purpose of kissing has long eluded scientists. Smooching is risky, given things like pointy teeth, and inherently gross, given an est...
AI is great at predicting text. Can it guide robots?
It seems like artificial intelligence is everywhere in our virtual lives. It's in our search results and our phones. But what happens when AI moves ou...
The physics of the Winter Olympics
Watching a ski jumper fly through the air might get you wondering, “How do they do that?” The answer is – physics!
That’s why this episod...
These bacteria may be key to the fight against antibiotic resistance
In 1928, a chance contaminant in Scottish physician Alexander Fleming’s lab experiment led to a discovery that would change the field of medicine fore...
Babies got beat: Why rhythm might be innate
Rhythm is everywhere. Even if you don’t think you have it, it’s fundamental to humans’ biological systems. Our heartbeat is rhythmic. Speech is rhythm...
How do extreme G-forces affect Olympic bobsledders?
Olympic sliding sports – bobsled, luge and skeleton – are known for their speed. Athletes chase medals down a track of ice at up to 80 or 90 mph. With...
Autism: debunking Trump claims, and what scientists still don't know
Autism has a long history of misinformation that continues to today. The Trump administration has perpetuated some of this misinformation in the last...
Why research into ‘forever chemicals’ includes firefighters
PFAS make pans nonstick, clothes waterproof and furniture stain resistant. They're so ubiquitous, they're even inside of us. Now, researchers are look...
Lessons and failures from the Challenger space shuttle explosion
On Jan. 28, 1986, NASA’s 25th space shuttle mission, Challenger, left the launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Seventy-three seconds into flight, Cha...
How scientists predict big winter storms
This past weekend, Winter Storm Fern struck the States. Sleet, snow and ice battered Americans all the way from New Mexico to New York. Scientists pre...
What drives animals to your yard? It's complicated
Listener Shabnam Khan has a problem: Every time she works in her garden, she’s visited by lizards and frogs. Shabnam has lived in the metro Atlanta ar...
Iran offline: How a government can turn off the internet
There’s an ongoing, near-total blackout of the internet in Iran. The shutdown is part of a response by the government to ongoing protests against risi...
The plight of penguins in Antarctica
A new study shows penguins are breeding earlier than ever in the Antarctic Peninsula. This region is one of the fastest-warming areas of the world due...
A failed galaxy could solve the dark matter mystery
Cloud 9 is a failed galaxy. It’s a clump of dark matter, called a dark matter halo, that never formed stars. But this failure could be the key to a my...
Is ‘The Pitt’ accurate? Medical experts weigh in
Medical drama The Pitt is winning Golden Globes… and health care workers’ hearts. Medical experts say the show, which chronicles a fictional Pittsburg...
Come critter spotting with us on a cold winter's night
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 Serene...
10 breakthrough technologies to expect in 2026
Wanna know where tech is headed this year? MIT Technology Review has answers. They compile an annual list called "10 Breakthrough Technologies". Today...
When is your brain actually an "adult"?
There’s this idea that something happens in the human brain when we turn 25. Suddenly, we can rent a car without fees. Make rational decisions. We may...
The ozone layer is still healing…thanks to science
In the mid-1980s, scientists published a startling finding–a giant hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. That’s the protective shield that blocks l...
These little microbes may help solve our big problems
Microbes are little alchemists that perform all manner of chemical reactions. A team of microbiologists co-founded a non-profit to try to harness thos...
Hot galaxies alert!
Most astronomers agree that young galaxy clusters should be relatively cool compared to older ones. But researchers recently found a very young cluste...
Micro Forests: An Emerging Climate Hero?
Healthy forests help combat climate change, provide humans with drinking water and even improve mental and physical health. But it’s hard to imagine a...
Behold a T-Rex holotype, paleontology's "gold standard"
What happens behind the scenes of a dinosaur exhibit? Short Wave host Regina Barber got to find out … by taking a trip to the Carnegie Museum of Natur...