An older adult receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a temporary vaccination site on Dec. 7 in Chongqing, China. Concerns about effectiveness and safety have led to uncertainty about the COVID vaccine, notably among older citizens, whose vaccination rate is relatively low. He Penglei/China News Service via Getty Images hide caption
Gregor Johann Mendel (1822 - 1884) the priest and botanist whose work laid the foundation of the study of genetics. Hulton Archive/Getty Images/ Max Posner/NPR hide caption
Closeup of a person's tears. RunPhoto/Getty Images hide caption
Artificial Intelligence is smarter than ever. Is that a bright new horizon or a dark path forward? Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images hide caption
A thin, polished slice of a rock collected from the Jack Hills of Western Australia, viewed through a special microscope equipped with a gypsum plate that shows the rainbow spectrum of quartz that makes up the rock. Whereas the rocks at the Jack Hills are greater than 99% quartz, the remaining 1% of material includes the precious zircons. Michael Ackerson/Smithsonian hide caption
Gerhardt Boukes, chief scientist at Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, formulates mRNA for use in a new vaccine against COVID-19. The company — based in Cape Town, South Africa — is the linchpin of a global project to enable low- and middle-income countries to make mRNA vaccines against all manner of diseases. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption
Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines are readied for use at a clinic in Richmond, Va., Nov. 2022. Just 15% of eligible Americans have gotten the most recent booster shot, according to the CDC. Steve Helber/AP hide caption
Brachycephalus ephippium. Pumpkin toadlets are native to neotropical rainforests along the Atlantic coast of southeastern Brazil. By Walter Staeblein/Getty Images hide caption
A Washington, D.C., resident has an operation growing psilocybin mushrooms. Brain researchers are increasingly studying psychedelic compounds like psilocybin and LSD as potential treatments for anxiety, depression and other disorders. Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption
A group of glassfrogs sleeping together upside down on a leaf, showing their camouflage. Jesse Delia hide caption
Humans have an elegant and intricate system of internal processes that help our bodies keep time, with exposure to sunlight, caffeine and meal timing all playing a role. But that doesn't account for "precision waking." Sarah Mosquera/NPR hide caption
Happy holidays from Short Wave! And may you stay virus (snowflake) free! Gisele Grayson hide caption
James Webb Space Telescope launched on December 25, 2021. Its first images - like this one of the Carina Nebula - stunned researchers. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI hide caption
When women get a blood test during pregnancy that looks at free-floating DNA, they expect it to tell about the health of the fetus. But the test sometimes finds signs of cancer in the mother. Isabel Seliger for NPR hide caption
A lodgepole chipmunk (Tamias speciosus) on a rock. Ketki Samel hide caption