Episodes

  • Why Traditional Plant Knowledge Is Not A Quick Fix

    Why Traditional Plant Knowledge Is Not A Quick Fix
    Oct 14 2024
    Host Regina G. Barber talks with Rosalyn LaPier about ethnobotany--what it is and how traditional plant knowledge is frequently misunderstood in the era of COVID and psychedelics. And, how it's relevant and important for reproductive health today. (encore)

    Have a topic you want us to cover on a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org!

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    15 mins
  • What The Heck Is A Rock Glacier?

    What The Heck Is A Rock Glacier?
    Oct 11 2024
    Even though there are more than 10,000 rock glaciers in the western United States, most people would look at one without knowing it. Unlike the snowy glaciers we're more familiar with, rock glaciers are under-researched and hiding in plain sight. But inside these glaciers covered with rocks is a little bit of climate hope.

    Read more of science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce's reporting here.

    Want to know more about the hidden science of the world? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might cover it on a future episode!

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    13 mins
  • Anxious? Try Watching A Scary Movie

    Anxious? Try Watching A Scary Movie
    Oct 9 2024
    In human history, fear kept us safe when running from predators and anxiety kept us from going back to that lion-infested area. But what happens when these feelings get out of hand in humans today? And why do some of us crave that feeling from scary movies or haunted houses? For answers, we turn to Arash Javanbakht, a psychiatrist from Wayne State University. He likes studying fear so much, he wrote a whole book called Afraid. This episode, he gets into the difference between fear and anxiety, many of the reasons people feel afraid and why things like scary movies could even be therapeutic.

    Want to know more about the science behind what keeps you up at night? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might cover it on a future episode!

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    14 mins
  • How Do You Spot A Liar?

    How Do You Spot A Liar?
    Oct 8 2024
    For over a century, we've been inventing technology to catch liars in the act. To this end, the polygraph was invented and became wildly popular in the mid-20th century. Then, there was an era of "micro-expression training," which claimed person could be caught lying through a skilled analysis of their face. Now, there's talk of using artificial intelligence to analyze the human voice.

    But do any of these methods even work? And if not ... what are the risks? Emily and Gina investigates how deception research has changed and why it matters.

    Check out our episode page, where Emily linked to the experts she talked to and the papers she discussed.

    Got another human behavior you want us to investigate using science? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    15 mins
  • Mapping The Entire Fruit Fly Brain

    Mapping The Entire Fruit Fly Brain
    Oct 7 2024
    Fruit fly brains are smaller than a poppy seed, but that doesn't mean they aren't complex. For the first time, researchers have published a complete diagram of 50 million connections in an adult fruit flies brain. The journal Nature simultaneously published nine papers related to this new brain map. Until now, only a roundworm and a fruit fly larva had been mapped in this way.

    Read more of science correspondent Jon Hamilton's reporting here.

    Want to know more about the future of brain science? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might cover it on a future episode!

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    12 mins
  • What Lightning And Black Holes Have In Common

    What Lightning And Black Holes Have In Common
    Oct 4 2024
    Lightning: It happens all the time, and yet the exact details of how it's made has long eluded scientists. That is, until now. New research out this week in the journal Nature holds new insights into the precursor to lightning. To figure it out, researchers flew a NASA ER-2 – essentially the research version of a spy plane – over several tropical thunderstorms. What they found: The same high energy radiation is found in places like neutron stars and around black holes.

    Want to hear more stories about the science behind natural phenomena? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    7 mins
  • Why Astronomers Are Teaching Climate Change

    Why Astronomers Are Teaching Climate Change
    Oct 2 2024
    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.

    Want to hear more stories about climate change? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    14 mins
  • If Fungi Win, Will We Be Ready?

    If Fungi Win, Will We Be Ready?
    Oct 1 2024
    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.

    Curious about fungi? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
    Show More Show Less
    12 mins