Inside his lab, David Sischo and his team care for 40 species of snails. For some snails, it's the only place they live, having been brought into captivity to stave off extinction. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption
Science
A participant walks past waterfall poster at the Palais des congres during the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Quebec, on December 18, 2022. (Photo by Lars Hagberg / AFP) (Photo by LARS HAGBERG/AFP via Getty Images) LARS HAGBERG/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Homes lie in a debris field in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Pensacola, N.C. Mike Stewart/AP hide caption
Wyoming, USA - A crowd of people witness the rare eruption of Steamboat Geyser, the largest active geyser in the world. Tara Kaestner/Getty Images/Moment Unreleased RF hide caption
Cobenfy, a new drug made by Bristol Myers Squibb and approved by the FDA last week, triggers muscarinic receptors instead of dopamine receptors. It's the first schizophrenia treatment to do so. Bristol Myers Squibb hide caption
For the first time in decades, we have a new kind of schizophrenia drug
Two "ghost wolves" — southeastern coyotes that carry a substantial amount of genetics from the critically endangered American Red Wolf — stand in front of some brush. Bridgett vonHoldt hide caption
The American red wolf is endangered. These 'ghost genes' could save it
More than a million species are at risk of extinction in the coming decades because of human actions. This week, world leaders are meeting in Colombia to discuss how to preserve biodiversity and prevent habitat loss. Ivan Valencia/AP hide caption
To save nature, world leaders aim to turn words into action at biodiversity summit
This is one of the last photos ever taken of the species Achatinella lila in the wild. They now only live in the Snail Extinction Prevention Program’s captive rearing facility. On the right, Laminella sanguinea is a very striking and rare snail endemic to the Wai‘anae Mountains of O‘ahu. David Sicho hide caption
Undergrove is a board game about the mycorrhizal relationships between fungi and trees. The co-designer is Elizabeth Hargrave, who also created Wingspan about birds. AEG hide caption
A golden retriever races through the snow during a storm on March 14 in Boulder, Colorado. Mark Makela/Getty Images hide caption
Boophis siskoi is one of seven newly described species of frog found in Madagascar. Mark D. Scherz hide caption
Meet 7 newly described frog species, all named after Star Trek characters
A tourist rides a camel at the Treasury site in Petra, Jordan, in December 2022. Archaeologists have discovered a hidden tomb at the site. Khalil Mazraawi/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
An artist's concept of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft as it flies by this moon of Jupiter (depicted in the background). NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption
NASA's Europa Clipper has launched — and it's searching for signs of life
It's Short Wave's 5th birthday! To celebrate, we answer our 5-year-old listeners' science questions. NickS/Getty Images hide caption
It's Short Wave's 5th birthday! Here are science questions 5-year-olds asked us
Giant pandas eat bamboo at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, May 4, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption
The waters off Central California are now part of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, the result of a decades-long campaign by local Indigenous leaders. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Europa Clipper spacecraft aboard launches from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on Monday. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Ethnobotany is frequently misunderstood in the era of COVID and psychedelics — so what is it and why is it important for reproductive health today? Patchareeporn Sakoolchai/Getty Images hide caption
This image provided by SpaceX shows SpaceX's mega Starship rocket upon its return during a test flight on Sunday, over Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX/AP hide caption
New research looks into how the wrinkles on an elephant's trunk helps it feed. Lena Kaufmann and the Zoo Schönbrunn, Vienna hide caption
Firefighters stand on a bridge over the Cuyahoga River to spray water on the tug Arizona as a fire, started in an oil slick on the river, engulfs docks in Cleveland on Nov. 1, 1952. Getty Images hide caption
Trooper was found tied to a fence on the side of I-75 in Tampa. Leon County Humane Society hide caption
The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are seen in the sky across Whitby Harbour, Whitby, UK, on Oct. 10. Alfie Cosgrove/Sipa USA/AP hide caption
Starship is the largest rocket ever built. Elon Musk hopes it will one day fly humans and other species to Mars, but environmentalists say it's doing damage to the local habitat around the Texas launch site. Verónica Gabriel Cárdenas for NPR hide caption