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Short Wave New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — all in about 10 minutes, every weekday. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join host Emily Kwong for science on a different wavelength.
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New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — all in about 10 minutes, every weekday. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join host Emily Kwong for science on a different wavelength.

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How metaphors and stories are integral to science and healing

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Education Images/Universal Image

How metaphors and stories are integral to science and healing

New York's Bellevue Hospital is the oldest public hospital in the country, serving patients from all walks of life. It's also the home of a literary magazine, the Bellevue Literary Review, which turns 20 this year. Today on the show, NPR's arts reporter Neda Ulaby tells Emily how one doctor at Bellevue Hospital decided a literary magazine is essential to both science and healing.

How metaphors and stories are integral to science and healing

Listen · 12:50
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Spiders can have arachnophobia!

When confronted with a spider-like 3-D model, jumping spiders freeze and back away slowly, especially if the model has eyes. Daniela Roessler hide caption

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Daniela Roessler

Spiders can have arachnophobia!

If you're not so fond of spiders, you may find kindred spirits in other spiders! Researcher Daniela Roessler worked with jumping spiders and found that they know to get away from the presence of other possible predator spiders, even if they've never encountered them before. She talks with host Maria Godoy about her research and what Halloween decorations do to the poor spiders, if arachnids can have arachnophobia.

Spiders can have arachnophobia!

Listen · 12:18
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The opioid epidemic

White pills on yellow background. Minimal medical concept. Pharmaceutical, Covid-19 or Coronavirus. Flat lay, top view Getty Images hide caption

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The opioid epidemic

Over the last 25 years, the opioid epidemic has been devastating to families and communities all over the U.S., and has caused half a million deaths. But it started as a way to treat severe pain. Today, host Emily Kwong talks to Patrick Radden Keefe, author of the book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, about what went wrong in science to make the opioid epidemic what it is today.

The opioid epidemic

Listen · 16:09
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The zombies living in our midst

An ant is host of the parasitic Ophiocordyceps fungus. Flickr hide caption

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Flickr

The zombies living in our midst

The idea of human zombies probably seems pretty far-fetched. But there are real zombies out there in the animal kingdom. To kick off Halloween week, science writer Ed Yong of The Atlantic creeps us out with a couple of examples. Hint: they involve fungus. (Encore episode)

The zombies living in our midst

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Code Switch: Archeological skeletons in the closet

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Gabriella Trujillo for NPR

Code Switch: Archeological skeletons in the closet

Today, we present a special episode from our colleagues at Code Switch, NPR's podcast about race and identity.

Code Switch: Archeological skeletons in the closet

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An ode to the Pacific lamprey
Freshwater Illustrated

An ode to the Pacific lamprey

Pacific lamprey may have lived on Earth for about 450 million years. When humans came along, a deep relationship formed between Pacific lamprey and Native American tribes across the western United States. But in the last few decades, tribal elders noticed that pacific lamprey populations have plummeted, due in part to habitat loss and dams built along the Columbia River. So today, an introduction to Pacific lamprey: its unique biology, cultural legacy in the Pacific Northwest and the people who are fighting to save it.

An ode to the Pacific lamprey

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A biodiesel boom (and conundrum)
VW PICS/Universal Images Group

A biodiesel boom (and conundrum)

There's a biodiesel boom happening! It's fueled by incentives and policies intended to cut greenhouse emissions, and is motivating some oil companies like World Energy in Paramount, California to convert their refineries to process soybean oil instead of crude. NPR's food and agriculture correspondent Dan Charles explains why farmers are happy, bakers are frustrated and people who want to preserve the world's natural forests are worried. Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

A biodiesel boom (and conundrum)

Listen · 12:32
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COVID-19 boosters are here

The United States is on the verge of dramatically expanding the availability of COVID-19 vaccine boosters to shore up people's immune systems. As NPR health correspondent Rob Stein reports, the Food and Drug Administration is poised to authorize the boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Still, many experts argue boosters aren't needed because the vaccines are working well and it would be unethical to give people in the U.S. extra shots when most of the world is still waiting for their first.

COVID-19 boosters are here

Listen · 11:09
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How do we make sense of the sounds around us?

How do our brains create meaning from the sounds around us? That is the question at the heart of a new book from neuroscientist Nina Kraus, called Of Sound Mind. Getty Images hide caption

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How do we make sense of the sounds around us?

Our colleagues at All Things Considered chatted with neuroscientist Nina Kraus about her new book Of Sound Mind. She shares how our brains process and create meaning from the sounds around us.

How do we make sense of the sounds around us?

Listen · 9:05
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The Mighty Mangrove

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Getty Images

The Mighty Mangrove

Along certain coastlines near the equator, you can find a tree with superpowers. Mangroves provide a safe haven for a whole ecosystem of animals. They also fight climate change by storing tons of carbon, thanks to a spectacular above-ground network of tangled roots. Ecologist Alex Moore talks to guest host Maria Godoy about how mighty this tree is, and why it is under threat.

The Mighty Mangrove

Listen · 12:13
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