Science

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

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

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

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have spread into Southern California in the past decade, likely introduced from the U.S. Southeast, where technicians photographed these mosquitoes trapped on a sticky pad. Unlike California's native mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti are capable of spreading dengue fever— a disease common in the tropics, but still rare in most of the United States. Last year was the first time the disease spread locally in Southern California. John Moore/Getty Images hide caption

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

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

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

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

Boophis siskoi is one of seven newly described species of frog found in Madagascar. Mark D. Scherz 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

It's Short Wave's 5th birthday! To celebrate, we answer our 5-year-old listeners' science questions. NickS/Getty Images 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

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