Accessibility links
Hannah Chinn Hannah Chinn (they/them) is a producer on NPR’s science podcast Short Wave.
Headshot of Hannah Chinn
Stories By

Hannah Chinn

Headshot of Hannah Chinn
Enlarge this image
Courtesy of Hannah Chinn
Headshot of Hannah Chinn
Courtesy of Hannah Chinn

Hannah Chinn

Producer, Short Wave

Hannah Chinn (they/them) is a producer on NPR's science podcast Short Wave. Prior to joining Short Wave, they produced Good Luck Media's inaugural "climate thriller" podcast. Before that, they worked on Spotify & Gimlet Media shows such as Conviction, How to Save a Planet and Reply All. Previous pit stops also include WHYY, as well as Willamette Week and The Philadelphia Inquirer. In between, they've worked a number of non-journalism gigs at various vintage stores, coffee shops and haunted houses.

Chinn hails from the Pacific Northwest and is currently based in Brooklyn. In their free time, you can find them throwing pots, cooking with friends or reading horror movie plot summaries on Wikipedia.

Story Archive

Wednesday

In the Arctic, microalgae are doing the limbo

To observe the microalgae of the Arctic, biogeochemist Clara Hoppe and her team spent months on a ship embedded in sea ice as part of the MOSAiC expedition, sampling ice and seawater. Saga Svarsdottir/Alfred Wegener Institut hide caption

toggle caption
Saga Svarsdottir/Alfred Wegener Institut

Short Wave

In the Arctic, microalgae are doing the limbo

Microalgae are tiny organisms that convert energy from sunlight into fuel. The arctic ecosystem depends on them. In springtime, the algae bloom brilliant shades of green and draw tiny crustaceans, fish, birds and more to arctic waters. But what happens in wintertime, when the sun goes down and darkness reins for months? In the depths of the polar night, biogeochemist Clara Hoppe has found evidence that some microalgae are still ready to photosynthesize. Today on the show: how tiny microalgae limbo for their lives and come out more powerful than scientists ever imagined.

In the Arctic, microalgae are doing the limbo

Listen · 13:34
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1240892106/1268125326" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

What the COVID-19 pandemic tells us about how viruses evolve

Concept image of COVID-19 cells (variants Gamma, Delta, and Omicron). For a long time, scientists couldn't figure out where Omicron had come from. Now, studies appear to point to one specific group. Matt Anderson Photography/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Matt Anderson Photography/Getty Images

Short Wave

What the COVID-19 pandemic tells us about how viruses evolve

Early in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists predicted the SARS-CoV-2 virus would mutate slowly. They were wrong. Hundreds of thousands of viral mutations and multiple seasonal waves later, we now know why. The answer changes researchers' understanding of viral evolution — and it could help predict the evolution of other viruses in the future. Emily talks about it all with Sarah Zhang, a health writer for The Atlantic.

What the COVID-19 pandemic tells us about how viruses evolve

Listen · 11:52
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1240552684/1268282589" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

The U.S. measles outbreak is growing. Here's what to know

An illustration of the measles virus showing giant multinucleated cells, or Warthin-Finkeldey cells. These cells are found in hyperplastic lymph nodes early in the course of a measles infection. Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

Short Wave

The U.S. measles outbreak is growing. Here's what to know

Measles is one of the most contagious infectious diseases known to science – more contagious than Ebola, smallpox or COVID-19. Declining vaccination rates over the past few years, plus a recent outbreak in West Texas, have public health experts concerned. Here's what to know about the science of this virus — plus how to protect against it. For the latest, host Regina G. Barber talks to NPR health correspondent Maria Godoy.

The U.S. measles outbreak is growing. Here's what to know

Listen · 11:25
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1266983411/1268034538" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

How is sex determined? Scientists say it's complicated
Malte Mueller/Getty Images

Short Wave

How is sex determined? Scientists say it's complicated

Biological sex is all over the news lately. Whether it's via President Trump's executive order affecting passport policy, moving trans inmates between prisons or shifting the requirements for women in sports — appeals to "the biological reality of sex" are constant. In truth, biological sex, like a lot of scientific categories, is nuanced. It's defined by multiple criteria – including chromosomal, chemical and physical factors – that can, and do, change over a person's lifetime. And it's a reality that's definitely not limited to male and female.

How is sex determined? Scientists say it's complicated

Listen · 14:37
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1237991522/1267761170" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

This scientist is on a quest ... to salvage whale brains
Instituto Baleia Jubarte

Short Wave

This scientist is on a quest ... to salvage whale brains

A year and a half ago, neuroscientist Kamilla Souza got the call she'd been waiting for: A baby humpback whale had died just offshore. She wanted its brain. That's because scientists know little about the brains of whales and dolphins off the Central and South American coasts. Studying them, like Kamilla is doing, can teach scientists about the inner workings of these animals — about their behavior and how they're adapted to living underwater. So, she has to race against time to save the brains. The heat in this area of Brazil accelerates decomposition. Minutes matter.

This scientist is on a quest ... to salvage whale brains

Listen · 11:27
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1263339272/1266999630" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Room for dessert? Here's why your brain says yes to sugar

One of the ways the body signals fullness after a meal involves satiety neurons located in the hypothalamus. Sugar seems to hijack that system. Horasiu Vasilescu / 500px/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Horasiu Vasilescu / 500px/Getty Images

Short Wave

Room for dessert? Here's why your brain says yes to sugar

Ever eat a full meal ... and find you still have room for dessert? If so, you're not alone. Sugar is a quick form of energy that many people crave — even when they're full. Today, hosts Emily Kwong and Regina G. Barber dive into a new study on the neural origins of the "dessert brain."

Room for dessert? Here's why your brain says yes to sugar

Listen · 8:07
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1232862552/1266832107" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

New in Peru: 27 species previously undiscovered by science

This harlequin frog (Atelopus seminiferus) was found in the Alto Mayo landscape at higher elevations than previously recorded. It is considered endangered by the IUCN Red List. Trond Larsen hide caption

toggle caption
Trond Larsen

Short Wave

New in Peru: 27 species previously undiscovered by science

What happens when a team of scientists and local Awajún guides go on a 38-day trip into the Alto Mayo region of Peru? Over 2000 species are identified, of course! Tucked in this lush landscape where the Amazon basin meets the Andes mountains, were 27 species of animals previously unknown to science. It makes us wonder, what else is out there that the scientific community hasn't seen? And who already knows about it?

New in Peru: 27 species previously undiscovered by science

Listen · 9:59
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1232435565/1266649960" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Like a snake eating its own tail: What happens when AI consumes its own data?

In large language model collapse, there are generally three sources of errors: The model itself, the way the model is trained and the data — or lack thereof — that the model is trained on. Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images

Short Wave

Like a snake eating its own tail: What happens when AI consumes its own data?

Asked ChatGPT anything lately? Talked with a customer service chatbot? Read the results of Google's "AI Overviews" summary feature? If you've used the Internet lately, chances are, you've consumed content created by a large language model. These models, like DeepSeek-R1 or OpenAI's ChatGPT, are kind of like the predictive text feature in your phone on steroids. In order for them to "learn" how to write, the models are trained on millions of examples of human-written text. Thanks in part to these same large language models, a lot of content on the Internet today is written by generative AI. That means that AI models trained nowadays may be consuming their own synthetic content ... and suffering the consequences.

Like a snake eating its own tail: What happens when AI consumes its own data?

Listen · 13:23
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1263339268/1266586586" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

The colorful community of microbes hiding in Yellowstone's hot springs

Molecular ecologist Devaki Bhaya studies communities of microbes that live in the colorful hot springs of Yellowstone National Park. Peter Unger/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Peter Unger/Getty Images

Short Wave

The colorful community of microbes hiding in Yellowstone's hot springs

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.

The colorful community of microbes hiding in Yellowstone's hot springs

Listen · 14:25
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1229167010/1265914992" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Could your smelly farts help science?

Depending on who you ask, farts are funny. Silly. Smelly. Rude. But could they also be useful ... for science? CSA-Archive/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
CSA-Archive/Getty Images

Short Wave

Could your smelly farts help science?

Farts are funny and sometimes smelly. But are they a legitimate topic of research?

Could your smelly farts help science?

Listen · 13:56
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1227543275/1265502085" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Scientists are predicting the future to save the forests. Here's how

Douglas fir seedlings at the U.S. Forest Service's Dorena Genetic Resource Center in Oregon. These seedlings are part of a research experiment to plant more climate resilient forests. Hannah Chinn/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Hannah Chinn/NPR

Short Wave

Scientists are predicting the future to save the forests. Here's how

Forests are the lungs of our planet. Not only do they absorb carbon dioxide and create oxygen, they also regulate temperature, absorb rainwater to help prevent flooding and provide critical habitat for the majority of the world's land-based plant and animal species. But the trees that make up forests are increasingly endangered.

Scientists are predicting the future to save the forests. Here's how

Listen · 13:55
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1263339270/1264992738" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

The science behind the FDA ban on food dye Red No. 3

A bright red drink with a lemon and a stainless steel straw. The petroleum-based dye known as Red No. 3 is found in candy, snacks, and juice beverages, among other food and drink. Naomi Rahim/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Naomi Rahim/Getty Images

Short Wave

The science behind the FDA ban on food dye Red No. 3

On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration announced it is banning the dye called Red No. 3, a food dye additive in many processed foods, like sodas, sweets and snacks. Recently, it and other dyes were linked to behavior issues in children. But high levels of Red No. 3 were linked to cancer in rats decades ago. So why is the ban happening now?

The science behind the FDA ban on food dye Red No. 3

Listen · 10:13
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1225803704/1264988175" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Birds are dinosaurs. Here's how scientists know

Fossil casting of Archaeopteryx, a therapod dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic period (around 150 million years ago). Many fossils of Archaeopteryx include impressions of feathers. James L. Amos/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
James L. Amos/Getty Images

Short Wave

Birds are dinosaurs. Here's how scientists know

When you picture a dinosaur, what does it look like? For Jingmai O'Connor, paleobiologist and associate curator of reptiles at the Field Museum of Chicago, the dinosaurs she studies look a lot more like birds.

Birds are dinosaurs. Here's how scientists know

Listen · 13:18
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1224776151/1264797154" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Why put fluoride in the water? Scientists weigh in

Adding fluoride to the U.S. drinking water has long been considered one of greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. Still, debate continues about its worth. Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images

Short Wave

Why put fluoride in the water? Scientists weigh in

Fluoridating the public water supply has been common practice for nearly 80 years in the U.S. It's an acclaimed public health intervention that helps prevent cavities. For just as long, some have raised concerns about the practice that can veer from evidence-based to unsubstantiated conspiracy. An analysis by government researchers, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, is adding to the debate. The research found that exposing babies and kids to high levels of fluoride might be associated with neurodevelopmental harm. Frankly, it's a lot to digest — so we invited health correspondent Pien Huang onto the show to wade through the debate.

Why put fluoride in the water? Scientists weigh in

Listen · 12:27
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1223466595/1264456463" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

To explore deep space, we'll need better clocks. Here's why
Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

Short Wave

To explore deep space, we'll need better clocks. Here's why

There are hundreds of atomic clocks in orbit right now, perched on satellites all over Earth. We depend on them for GPS location, Internet timing, stock trading ... and space navigation?

To explore deep space, we'll need better clocks. Here's why

Listen · 14:31
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1223291770/1264146081" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Zero is a young number in human history. How do our brains understand it?

The abstract nature of zero — that it is a number meant to represent an absence — makes the number trickier for our brains to process than other small numbers. Jose A. Bernat Bacete/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Jose A. Bernat Bacete/Getty Images

Short Wave

Zero is a young number in human history. How do our brains understand it?

Happy New Year, Short Wavers! What better time to contemplate the conundrum that is zero than this, the reset of the year? Zero is a fairly new concept in human history and even more recent as a number. It wasn't until around the 7th century that zero was being used as a number. That's when it showed up in the records of Indian mathematicians. Since then, zero has, at times, been met with some fear — at one point, the city of Florence, Italy banned the number.

Zero is a young number in human history. How do our brains understand it?

Listen · 12:19
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1222389470/1264076802" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

These parrots once roamed the American Southwest. Scientists are trying to help them

The thick-billed parrot, the only living parrot species native to the U.S., once roamed from the American Southwest all the way south to Venezuela. Now, the only wild population remaining lives high in the pine forests of Mexico's Sierra Madre. Laura Vero/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance hide caption

toggle caption
Laura Vero/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Short Wave

These parrots once roamed the American Southwest. Scientists are trying to help them

The thick-billed parrot is the only surviving parrot species native to the United States. These brightly colored birds once roamed across the American Southwest and as far south as Venezuela — but today, the only wild population remaining lives high in the forests of Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains.

These parrots once roamed the American Southwest. Scientists are trying to help them

Listen · 13:44
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1222276526/1264076613" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Racism is a public health issue. Here's why

KFF Health News journalist Cara Anthony has been covering racism and the ways it can affect people's health for years. The project is about two killings of Black men that happened decades apart in Sikeston, Mo.: a lynching in1942 and a police shooting in 2020. Michael B. Thomas for KFF Health News hide caption

toggle caption
Michael B. Thomas for KFF Health News

Short Wave

Racism is a public health issue. Here's why

Racism is often covered as a political, cultural, or news story. But how is it affecting people's health? That's the question Cara Anthony, a KFF News reporter, wanted to answer: not just on an individual scale, but on a community-wide one. So for the past few years, she's been reporting on a small town in the Midwest that illustrates that health issue: Sikeston, Missouri. Today on the show, Cara walks host Emily Kwong through Sikeston's history — and what locals and medical experts have to say about how that history continues to shape the present.

Racism is a public health issue. Here's why

Listen · 14:23
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1219830874/1263582310" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

One unexpected solution to electric grid blackouts: drones

In the United States, one in every four households experiences a power outage annually. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working on a set of drones connected to a "smart" electric grid to try to help change that. Ali Majdfar/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ali Majdfar/Getty Images

Short Wave

One unexpected solution to electric grid blackouts: drones

One in four U.S. households experiences a power outage each year. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working on technology they hope will help fix electric grids: drones. They're betting that 2-ft. large drones connected to "smart" electric grids are a cost-effective step to a more electrified future.

One unexpected solution to electric grid blackouts: drones

Listen · 13:02
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1257825215/1262141094" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Fermentation is behind a lot of the food you eat

Sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles — all of these delightful delicacies are made via fermentation, the transformation of one food into another with the help of microbes. Yulia Naumenko/Yulia Naumenko | Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Yulia Naumenko/Yulia Naumenko | Getty Images

Short Wave

Fermentation is behind a lot of the food you eat

In this episode, you're invited to the fermentation party! Join us as we learn about the funk-filled process behind making sauerkraut, sourdough and sour beer. Plus, no fermentation episode is complete without a lil history of our boy, yeast.

Fermentation is behind a lot of the food you eat

Listen · 12:37
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1212475046/1262019816" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

How millions of mosquitoes could save Hawaii's endangered birds

The 'i'iwi is one of Hawaii's honeycreepers, forest birds that are found nowhere else. There were once more than 50 species. Now, only 17 remain. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Ryan Kellman/NPR

Short Wave

How millions of mosquitoes could save Hawaii's endangered birds

To a lot of people, mosquito bites are annoying. But to the rare Hawaiian honeycreepers, they're deadly. Scientists in Maui are racing against time to save them ... and discovering some pretty crazy innovations along the way. Like, releasing-mosquitos-incapable-of-breeding level innovations.

How millions of mosquitoes could save Hawaii's endangered birds

Listen · 14:59
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198910271/1254237250" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Why the science of tides was crucial for D-Day
P A Thompson/Getty Images

Short Wave

Why the science of tides was crucial for D-Day

June 6, 1944 the Allied Forces stormed the beaches of Normandy and took the Nazis by surprise in the largest sea-to-land invasion in history. This would be remembered as D-Day and would ultimately lead to the end of World War II in Europe. However, this planned attack wouldn't have been possible without deep knowledge of ocean tides! We get into the whole story, including why tides sit at the intersection of astronomy and marine ecology — and why understanding tides are key to a greener future.

Why the science of tides was crucial for D-Day

Listen · 13:29
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198910140/1253636622" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org