Berly McCoy Berly McCoy is an assistant producer for Short Wave.
Headshot of Berly McCoy
Stories By

Berly McCoy

Friday

Head of the Brain-Computer Interface Programm at the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA), Guillaume Charvet from France, shows implants that allows a paralyzed man to walk naturally, during a press conference in Lausanne on May 23, 2023. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Helping a man walk again with implants connecting his brain and spinal cord

This week's science news roundup reunites All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang with Short Wave hosts Emily Kwong and Regina G. Barber to dig into the latest headlines in biomedical research, also known as cool things for the human body. We talk new RSV vaccines, vaccination by sticker and a new device helping a man with paralysis walk again.

Helping a man walk again with implants connecting his brain and spinal cord

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179484485/1179575032" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

The seven galaxies noted in this James Webb Space Telescope image are at a distance that astronomers refer to as redshift 7.9, which correlates to 650 million years after the big bang. NASA, ESA, CSA, T. Morishita (IPAC). Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI) hide caption

toggle caption
NASA, ESA, CSA, T. Morishita (IPAC). Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

Monday

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

toggle caption
Ketki Samel

Climate change stresses out these chipmunks. Why are their cousins so chill?

Kwasi Wrensford studies two related species: the Alpine chipmunk and the Lodgepole chipmunk. The two have very different ways of coping with climate change. In this episode, Kwasi explains to host 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?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1177168252/1177198862" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

Tuesday, researchers at Ozyegin University and Middle East Technical University published a paper in the journal Physics of Fluids that investigates various formulations and storage settings for gummy candy. Cosmin Buse / 500px/Getty Images/500px hide caption

toggle caption
Cosmin Buse / 500px/Getty Images/500px

Scientists finally know the secret to creating — and storing — perfectly gummy candy

This week for our science news roundup, superstar host of All Things Considered Ari Shapiro joins Short Wave hosts Emily Kwong and Regina G. Barber to discuss the joy and wonder found in all types of structures. The big. The small. The delicious. We ask if diapers can be repurposed to construct buildings, how single-celled organisms turned into multi-cellular ones and how to make the best gummy candy?

Scientists finally know the secret to creating — and storing — perfectly gummy candy

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1176993689/1176998279" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

This illustration picture shows a saliva collection kit for DNA testing. Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images

At-home DNA test kits can tell you many things. Race shouldn't be one of them

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1172856207/1176569338" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

As part of studying Long COVID, graduate researcher Bradley Wade Hamilton separates out microclots from blood platelets in a solution. Anil Oza/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Anil Oza/NPR

Friday

An indri—a species of lemur in Madagascar—sings from a tree branch. Filippo Carugati hide caption

toggle caption
Filippo Carugati

Move over Beatles, Lemurs are here with music lessons

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1175023411/1175031325" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Tuesday

sorbetto/Getty Images

Monday

In the transition to a zero-carbon world, what will the future of energy storage look like? MF3d hide caption

toggle caption
MF3d

Friday

People view fields of flowers at Carrizo Plain National Monument, California's largest remaining grassland. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Claire Harbage/NPR

Friday

Left: On Sept. 27, 2020, the Glass Fire burns a hillside above Silverado Trail in St. Helena, Calif. Right: The ice that covers the Arctic Ocean is shrinking as the climate gets hotter. Scientists are finding it could be linked to weather that's helping fuel disasters. Left: Noah Berger/AP Right: Andy Mahoney/University of Alaska Fairbanks hide caption

toggle caption
Left: Noah Berger/AP Right: Andy Mahoney/University of Alaska Fairbanks

Wednesday

When she couldn't find the book on chickens she wanted to read, Tove Danovich wrote Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them. Tove Danovich hide caption

toggle caption
Tove Danovich

Under the Henfluence: The delightful science of chickens

When Tove Danovich decided to dabble in backyard chicken keeping, she embraced a tried and true journalistic practice — reading everything there is to find on the subject. In her search, she found plenty of how-to guides, but what she really wanted was to know more about the science. She wanted to understand their evolution and unique relationship with humans.

Under the Henfluence: The delightful science of chickens

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1169231342/1169368281" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

TOPSHOT - A computer-generated artists impression released by the European Space Agency (ESA) depicts an approximation of 12 000 objects in orbit around the Earth. -/ESA/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
-/ESA/AFP via Getty Images

The importance of sustainable space exploration in the 21st century

In 1957, the Space Age began with the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. Since then, the number of objects humans have hurled toward the stars has soared to the thousands. As those objects have collided with one another, they've created more space debris in Earth's orbit. According to some estimates, all of that debris and human-made space trash, the number of objects — from satellites to screws — could be in the millions. In this iteration of our AAAS live show series, Short Wave co-host Aaron Scott talks to Danielle Wood, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, about the dangers of accumulating space debris, and how she and others are working to make space more sustainable.

The importance of sustainable space exploration in the 21st century

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1167537988/1168750888" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Diagram of the network of neurons in an insect brain. Johns Hopkins University & University of Cambridge hide caption

toggle caption
Johns Hopkins University & University of Cambridge

Why scientists just mapped every synapse in a fly brain

To really understand the human brain, scientists say you'd have to map its wiring. The only problem: there are more than 100 trillion different connections to find, trace and characterize. But a team of scientists has made a big stride toward this goal, a complete wiring diagram of a teeny, tiny brain: the fruit fly larva.

Why scientists just mapped every synapse in a fly brain

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1166541020/1166693688" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

The perennial rice 'Yunda 107' is harvested in the Yunnan Province of China. Perennial rice can be harvested for successive regrowth seasons, maintaining a relatively stable yield and greatly reducing labor input. China News Service/China News Service via Getty Ima hide caption

toggle caption
China News Service/China News Service via Getty Ima

Perennial rice: Plant once, harvest again and again

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1165680024/1165991944" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript