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Aaron Agosto
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Aaron Agosto

Berly McCoy

Assistant Producer, Short Wave

Kimberly (Berly) McCoy (she/her) is an assistant producer for NPR's daily science podcast, Short Wave. The podcast tells stories about science and scientists, in all the forms they take.

McCoy started working with NPR as the program coordinator of the NPR Scicommers, a group founded by Joe Palca and Maddie Sofia to teach scientists and engineers how to better communicate and find community.

After lending a fact-checking hand to the Short Wave team on and off, they graciously taught McCoy the production ropes, where she now produces regularly, with stories ranging from axolotls to physics.

In another life, McCoy earned her PhD in biochemistry transforming viruses into nanoreactors. She dug through garbage to understand human recycling behavior, counted rattlesnake tongue flicks to gauge their diet preferences and caught endangered butterflies on mountain tops for population surveys.

She lives just outside of Glacier National Park and enjoys rock climbing, ice fishing, her rambunctious dogs and making food magically appear from dirt.

Story Archive

Thursday

Could de-extincting the dodo help struggling species?

The Summers Place Dodo skeleton dates from around the 16th century. Leon Neal/Getty Images hide caption

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Leon Neal/Getty Images

Short Wave

Could de-extincting the dodo help struggling species?

As a leading expert on paleogenomics, Beth Shapiro has been hearing the same question ever since she started working on ancient DNA: "The only question that we consistently were asked was, how close are we to bringing a mammoth back to life?"

Could de-extincting the dodo help struggling species?

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Tuesday

This Pi Day, how to BAKE pi(e) — and have mathematical fun

Eugenia Cheng is a mathematician and author of the book How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics. Throughout the book, she uses baking as a vehicle for better understanding mathematics concepts. Basic Books hide caption

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Basic Books

Short Wave

This Pi Day, how to BAKE pi(e) — and have mathematical fun

This March 14, Short Wave is celebrating pi ... and pie! We do that with the help of mathematician Eugenia Cheng, Scientist In Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and author of the book How to Bake Pi. We start with a recipe for clotted cream and end, deliciously, at how math is so much more expansive than grade school tests.

This Pi Day, how to BAKE pi(e) — and have mathematical fun

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Friday

News Round Up: aquatic vocal fry, fossilizing plankton and a high seas treaty

Leading our news round up, is a new study. It finds that toothed whales can make a range of vocalizations, including some akin to human 'vocal fry,' thanks to a special nasal structure. NOAA NMFS hide caption

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NOAA NMFS

Short Wave

News Round Up: aquatic vocal fry, fossilizing plankton and a high seas treaty

Reading the science headlines this week, we have A LOT of questions. Why are more animals than just humans saddled — er, blessed — with vocal fry? Why should we care if 8 million year old plankton fossils are in different locations than plankton living today? And is humanity finally united on protecting the Earth's seas with the creation of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction treaty? Luckily, it's the job of the Short Wave team to decipher the science behind the headlines. This week, that deciphering comes from co-hosts Emily Kwong and Aaron Scott, with the help of NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer. Hang out with us as we dish on some of the coolest science stories in this ocean-themed installment of our regular newsy get-togethers!

News Round Up: aquatic vocal fry, fossilizing plankton and a high seas treaty

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Wednesday

How to save a slow growing tree species

Sun-bleached skeletons of long-dead whitebark pine trees stand at the top of a 7,200-foot-high ridge along the Reservation Divide on the Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana. With annual average temperatures in Montana rising, the whitebark pine that were not previously threatened are now facing an increase in blister rust infections, mountain pine beetle infestations and wildfire. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Short Wave

How to save a slow growing tree species

The whitebark pine is a hardy tree that grows in an area stretching from British Columbia, Canada south to parts of California and east to Montana. It's a keystone species in its subalpine and timberline ecosystems and plays an outsized role in its interactions with other species and the land — feeding and providing habitat for other animals, and providing shade to slow glacial melt to the valleys below. But it's increasingly threatened — by more intense fires, by mountain pine beetle infestations and by a deadly fungus called blister rust. Today, producer Berly McCoy takes the microphone to share the ongoing efforts by reforestation forester ShiNaasha Pete and others to save this important species.

How to save a slow growing tree species

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Monday

Rome wasn't built in a day, but they sure had strong concrete

Inside the Roman Colosseum. The central arena was originally covered by a wooden platform. Berly McCoy/NPR hide caption

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Berly McCoy/NPR

Short Wave

Rome wasn't built in a day, but they sure had strong concrete

The Roman Colosseum is a giant, oval amphitheater built almost two thousand years ago. Despite its age and a 14th century earthquake that knocked down the south side of the colosseum, most of the 150-some foot building is still standing. Like many ancient Roman structures, parts of it were constructed using a specific type of concrete. Scientists and engineers have long suspected a key to these buildings' durability is their use of this Roman concrete. But exactly how this sturdy concrete has contributed to the architecture's strength has been a mystery to researchers across the globe.

Rome wasn't built in a day, but they sure had strong concrete

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Wednesday

This Navy vet helped discover a new, super-heavy element

Nuclear chemist Clarice Phelps works under a fume hood at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Oak Ridge National Laboratory hide caption

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Short Wave

This Navy vet helped discover a new, super-heavy element

As a kid, Clarice Phelps dreamed of being an astronaut, or maybe an explorer like the characters on Star Trek. Her path to a career in science turned out to be a bit different than what she expected, including lengthy stints on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. But that path led her to being a part of something big: the discovery of a new element on the periodic table.

This Navy vet helped discover a new, super-heavy element

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Thursday

What is life? For scientists, asking is easier than answering

LOS ANGELES - JAN 8: Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data in the STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION episode, "The Hunted." Season 3, ep 11. Original air date, 1/8/90. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images hide caption

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CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images

Short Wave

What is life? For scientists, asking is easier than answering

In this Back To School episode we consider the "List of Life": the criteria that define what it is to be a living thing. Some are easy calls: A kitten is alive. A grain of salt is not. But what about the tricky cases, like a virus? Or, more importantly, what about futuristic android robots? As part of our Black History Month celebration, developmental biologist Crystal Rogers and scientist-in-residence Regina G. Barber dig into what makes something alive, and wade into a Star-Trek-themed debate.

What is life? For scientists, asking is easier than answering

Listen · 10:56
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Friday

News Round Up: FDA chocolate assessment, a powerful solar storm and fly pheromones
NASA/SDO

Short Wave

News Round Up: FDA chocolate assessment, a powerful solar storm and fly pheromones

After reading the science headlines this week, we have A LOT of questions. Is chocolate really that good for your health? How do solar flares affect life on earth? And what's the big deal about scientists identifying the chemical motivation for tsetse fly sex? Luckily, it's the job of Short Wave co-hosts Emily Kwong and Aaron Scott and Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber to decipher the science behind the headlines. Hang out with us as we dish on some of the coolest science stories in this Valentines-themed installment of our regular newsy get-togethers!

News Round Up: FDA chocolate assessment, a powerful solar storm and fly pheromones

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Friday

Scientists shoot lasers into the sky to deflect lightning

A photograph taken from the French riviera city of Nice, shows lightning flashes in a supercell thunderstorm over the Mediterranean sea in August 2022. Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images

Short Wave

Scientists shoot lasers into the sky to deflect lightning

Every year, lightning is estimated to cause up to 24,000 deaths globally. It starts forest fires, burns buildings and crops, and causes disruptive power outages. The best, most practical technology available to deflect lightning is the simple lightning rod, created by Benjamin Franklin more than 250 years ago. But lightning rods protect only a very limited area proportional to their height. So today's show, why a group of European researchers are hoping the 21 century upgrade is a high-powered laser. Plus: Regina makes incremental progress on conquering her irrational fear of lightning.

Scientists shoot lasers into the sky to deflect lightning

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Thursday

California's flooding reveals we're still building cities for the climate of the past

Sibley Street, along with other residential roads were closed due to flooding from recent rain storms resulting in high water levels in Willow Creek, in Folsom, California. Kenneth James/California Department of Water Resources hide caption

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Kenneth James/California Department of Water Resources

Short Wave

California's flooding reveals we're still building cities for the climate of the past

Winter storms have flooded parts of California, broken levees and forced thousands to evacuate. Climate change is altering the historic weather patterns that infrastructure like reservoirs and waterways were built to accommodate. Urban planners and engineers are rethinking underlying assumptions baked into buildings and water systems in order to adapt to the changing climate. Today, NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer walks us through three innovations happening around the country to help cities adapt to shifting and intensifying weather patterns.

California's flooding reveals we're still building cities for the climate of the past

Listen · 13:13
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Wednesday

Time is so much weirder than it seems
LUVLIMAGE/Getty Images

Short Wave

Time is so much weirder than it seems

Time is a concept so central to our daily lives. Yet, the closer scientists look at it, the more it seems to fall apart. Time ticks by differently at sea level than it does on a mountaintop. The universe's expansion slows time's passage. "And some scientists think time might not even be 'real' — or at least not fundamental," says NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel. Geoff joined Short Wave Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber to bend our brains with his learnings about the true nature of time. Along the way, we visit the atomic clocks at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, consider distant exploding stars and parse the remains of subatomic collisions.

Time is so much weirder than it seems

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Wednesday

How Glaciers Move

Meltwater from the surface of Helheim Glacier in Greenland percolates down to the bed and lubricates the ice's movement. Jessica Mejia/Jessica Mejia hide caption

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Jessica Mejia/Jessica Mejia

Short Wave

How Glaciers Move

There's always a moment of intense isolation when Jessica Mejía gets dropped off on the Greenland ice sheet for a multi-week research stint. "You know you're very much alone," said Jessica, a postdoctoral researcher in glaciology at the University of Buffalo. Glaciers such as those that cover Greenland are melting due to climate change, causing sea levels to rise. That we know. But these glaciers are also moving. What we don't know is just how these two processes – melting and movement – interact and ultimately impact how quickly sea levels will rise. Jessica joins Short Wave's Aaron Scott to explain what it's like to live on a glacier for a month, and what her research could mean for coastal communities all over the world.

How Glaciers Move

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Monday

Friday

I'm Crying Cuz... I'm Human

Closeup of a person's tears. RunPhoto/Getty Images hide caption

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RunPhoto/Getty Images

Short Wave

I'm Crying Cuz... I'm Human

From misty eyeballs to full-on waterworks, what are tears? Why do we shed them? And what makes humans' ability to cry emotional tears unique? Hosts Emily Kwong and Aaron Scott get into their feelings in this science-fueled exploration of why we cry. (encore) To see more of Rose-Lynn Fisher's images from Topography of Tears, visit her website.

I'm Crying Cuz... I'm Human

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Thursday

The Woman Behind A Mystery That Changed Astronomy

Jocelyn Bell Burnell attends the 2019 Breakthrough Prize at NASA Ames Research Center on November 4, 2018 in Mountain View, California. Kimberly White / Getty Images for Breakthrough Pr hide caption

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Kimberly White / Getty Images for Breakthrough Pr

Short Wave

The Woman Behind A Mystery That Changed Astronomy

In 1967, Jocelyn Bell Burnell made a discovery that revolutionized astronomy. She detected the radio signals emitted by certain dying stars called pulsars. Today, Jocelyn's story. Scientist-in-residence Regina G. Barber talks to Jocelyn about her winding career, her discovery and how pulsars continue to push the field of astronomy today. (encore)

The Woman Behind A Mystery That Changed Astronomy

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Tuesday

TikTok's favorite zoologist quizzes us on the most dangerous animals

A Hako Fugu fish found at the morning fish market in Kushimoto, Wakayama, Japan Paco Alcantara/Getty Images hide caption

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Paco Alcantara/Getty Images

Short Wave

TikTok's favorite zoologist quizzes us on the most dangerous animals

Mamadou Ndiaye uses comedy to teach animal facts, but there's nothing funny about these deadly ones.

TikTok's favorite zoologist quizzes us on the most dangerous animals

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Friday

Climate Change Stresses Out These Chipmunks. Why Are Their Cousins So Chill?

A lodgepole chipmunk (Tamias speciosus) on a rock. Ketki Samel hide caption

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Ketki Samel

Short Wave

Climate Change Stresses Out These Chipmunks. Why Are Their Cousins So Chill?

Kwasi Wresnford describes the subjects of his research as "elfin": skittish little squirrel-cousins with angular faces, pointy ears and narrow, furry tails. He studies two species in particular: the Alpine chipmunk and the Lodgepole chipmunk. As the climate warms, these two chipmunks have developed different ways of coping. The Alpine chipmunk has climbed higher, in search of cooler habitat, while the Lodgepole chipmunk continues to thrive in its historic habitat. On this episode, Kwasi explains to Emily Kwong how these squirrelly critters typify two important evolutionary strategies, and why they could shed light on what's in store for other creatures all over the globe.

Climate Change Stresses Out These Chipmunks. Why Are Their Cousins So Chill?

Listen · 12:16
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Tuesday

Confessions Of A Math Convert

Carry The Two podcast hosts Sadie Witkowski (L) and Ian Martin Sadie Witkowski and Ian Martin hide caption

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Sadie Witkowski and Ian Martin

Short Wave

Confessions Of A Math Convert

Math is a complex, beautiful language that can help people understand the world. And sometimes math is hard! Science communicator Sadie Witkowski says the key to making math your friend is to foster your own curiosity and shed the fear of sounding dumb. That's the guiding principle behind her podcast, Carry the Two and it's today's show: Embracing all math has to offer without the fear of failure. We encore this episode in between Carry the Two's seasons - their second one starts on January 3, 2023!

Confessions Of A Math Convert

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Wednesday

From Scientific Exile To Gene Editing Pioneer

Recombinant DNA technology allows scientists to cut, edit and clone individual genes. Malte Mueller/Getty Images/fStop hide caption

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Malte Mueller/Getty Images/fStop

Short Wave

From Scientific Exile To Gene Editing Pioneer

Gene editing was a new idea in the mid-1970s. So when Harvard and MIT planned new research in recombinant DNA, alarm bells went off. "People were worried about a 'Frankengene,'" says Lydia Villa-Komaroff, then a freshly minted PhD. Amidst a political circus, the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts banned research into recombinant DNA, forcing scientists like Villa-Komaroff into exile. But that turned out to be just the prelude to a breakthrough. In this episode, Dr. Villa-Komaroff tells Emily Kwong the story of overcoming the skeptics and coaxing bacteria into producing insulin for humans.

From Scientific Exile To Gene Editing Pioneer

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Tuesday

You Know That Gut Feeling You Have?...

The human body evolved to have a tight connection between the brain and the gut. SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/Getty Images/Science Photo Libra hide caption

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SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/Getty Images/Science Photo Libra

Short Wave

You Know That Gut Feeling You Have?...

TFW when you're so excited you get those butterflies in your stomach - or maybe when you see something icky, you feel ill. On today's show, producer Berly McCoy looks at this relationship between our gut and our brain. Berly talks to host Emily Kwong about how the organs evolved to have a tight connection - connections that go beyond transient feelings of excitement or disgust. In fact, an increasing body of research shows links between the gut and conditions we typically associate mostly with the brain – like anxiety and Parkinson's Disease.

You Know That Gut Feeling You Have?...

Listen · 13:36
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Monday

A Deeply Personal Race Against A Fatal Brain Disease

Eric Minikel and Sonia Vallabh pivoted from careers in law and urban planning to lead a prion research lab at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Maria Nemchuk/Broad Institute hide caption

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Maria Nemchuk/Broad Institute

Short Wave

A Deeply Personal Race Against A Fatal Brain Disease

In the mornings, Sonia Vallabh and Eric Minikel's first job is to get their two garrulous kids awake, fed and out the door to daycare and kindergarten. They then reconvene at the office and turn their focus to their all-consuming mission: to cure, treat, or prevent genetic prion disease.

A Deeply Personal Race Against A Fatal Brain Disease

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Friday

Science Couldn't Save Her, So She Became A Scientist

Sonia Vallabh and Eric Minikel at their wedding in 2009. Zamana Photography/Courtesy of Eric Minikel hide caption

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Zamana Photography/Courtesy of Eric Minikel

Short Wave

Science Couldn't Save Her, So She Became A Scientist

The first time Sonia Vallabh understood something was very wrong with her mother Kamni was on the phone on her mom's 52nd birthday. She wasn't herself. By the end of that year, after about six months on life support, Kamni had died.

Science Couldn't Save Her, So She Became A Scientist

Listen · 14:00
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Thursday

Killer Proteins: The Science Of Prions

Human prion protein, molecular model. Laguna Design/Getty Images/Science Photo Libra hide caption

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Laguna Design/Getty Images/Science Photo Libra

Short Wave

Killer Proteins: The Science Of Prions

Prions are biological anomalies – self-replicating, not-alive little particles that can misfold into an unstoppable juggernaut of fatal disease. Prions don't contain genes, and yet they make more of themselves. That has forced scientists to rethink the "central dogma" of molecular biology: that biological information is always passed on through genes. The journey to discovering, describing, and ultimately understanding how prions work began with a medical mystery in a remote part of New Guinea in the 1950s. The indigenous Fore people were experiencing a horrific epidemic of rapid brain-wasting disease. The illness was claiming otherwise healthy people, often taking their lives within months of diagnosis. Solving the puzzle would help unlock one of the more remarkable discoveries in late-20th-century medicine, and introduce the world to a rare but potent new kind of pathogen. For the first episode in a series of three about prion disease, Short Wave's Gabriel Spitzer shares the science behind these proteins with Emily Kwong, and explains why prions keep him awake at night.

Killer Proteins: The Science Of Prions

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Wednesday

Why Do We Cry?

A closer look at tears. Photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher spent eight years capturing tears through a microscope. This image, titled Go! is from her work The Topography of Tears, published by Bellevue Literary Press in 2017. Rose-Lynn Fisher hide caption

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Rose-Lynn Fisher

Short Wave

Why Do We Cry?

Last month, Short Wave explored the evolutionary purpose of laughter. Now, we're talking tears. From glistening eyeballs to waterworks, what are tears? Why do we shed them? And what makes our species' ability to cry emotional tears so unique?

Why Do We Cry?

Listen · 12:51
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