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Monday

Hurricane Helene dropped more than 2 feet of rain on Spruce Pine, N.C. The town is home to one of the world's only sources of high purity quartz, which is used to manufacture silicon chips

Hurricane Helene dropped more than 2 feet of rain on Spruce Pine, N.C. The town is home to one of the world's only sources of high-purity quartz, which is used to manufacture silicon chips and solar panels. Spencer Bost hide caption

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Spencer Bost

National

A tiny town just got slammed by Helene. It could massively disrupt the tech industry

Spruce Pine is a major global supplier of high-purity quartz. It's an essential ingredient for microchips and solar panels.

Spruce Pine Flooding

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Perspective view on the upper portions of the Timpanogos rock glacier in north-central Utah.

Perspective view on the upper portions of the Timpanogos rock glacier in north-central Utah. Matthew Morriss hide caption

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Matthew Morriss

Why the most climate-resistant glaciers are hiding in plain sight

In the American West, white glaciers and snow fields are outnumbered by long-overlooked “rock glaciers.” The rock covering these vast hunks of ice makes them far less affected by warming temperatures.

Rock glaciers rock

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Here are the high schoolers tracking the bird flu virus in New York City

Student researchers Mayisha Alam (L) and Swazi Tshabalala (R) collect samples as part of their work with the nonprofit BioBus. Christine Marizzi/BioBus hide caption

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Christine Marizzi/BioBus

Short Wave

Here are the high schoolers tracking the bird flu virus in New York City

Most viruses that become epidemics in humans begin in other animals. It's how scientists suspect COVID-19 emerged. And now, less than five years after the start of the pandemic, some scientists are concerned about another disease that could do something similar: bird flu, or H5N1. Over the past year, the virus has spilled into cows and other animals — even infecting some people working closely with the animals. Some scientists hope to build a more resilient public health system by finding ways to detect and to track viruses as they spread in animals.

Here are the high schoolers tracking the bird flu virus in New York City

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Saturday

Butch Wilmore, far left, and Suni Williams, far right, welcome Nick Hague, front left in blue, and Alexander Gorbunov, front right in blue, on Sunday. Behind them, from left in black, are NASA's Jeanette Epps, Russia's Alexander Grebenkin, NASA's Mike Barratt and NASA's Matthew Dominick. From left, in red, are Russia's Ivan Vagner, NASA's Don Pettit and Russia's Alexei Ovchinin.

Butch Wilmore, far left, and Suni Williams, far right, welcome Nick Hague, front left in blue, and Alexander Gorbunov, front right in blue, on Sunday. Behind them, from left in black, are NASA's Jeanette Epps, Russia's Alexander Grebenkin, NASA's Mike Barratt and NASA's Matthew Dominick. From left, in red, are Russia's Ivan Vagner, NASA's Don Pettit and Russia's Alexei Ovchinin. NASA/AP hide caption

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NASA/AP

Space

SpaceX crew arrives at the ISS, with plans to bring back 2 stranded astronauts

Two astronauts were launched on a five-month mission that also hopes to rescue two NASA astronauts left behind on the ISS. The four are expected to return to Earth in February.

Astronauts and Artemis II mission specialists Christina Koch, left, and Jeremy Hansen, right, exit the International Space Station mockup in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility on Aug. 26, 2024, at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Astronauts and Artemis II mission specialists Christina Koch, left, and Jeremy Hansen, right, exit the International Space Station mockup in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility on Aug. 26, 2024, at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Danielle Villasana for NPR hide caption

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Danielle Villasana for NPR

Space

Meet the astronauts preparing to travel farther from Earth than any human before

This time next year, NASA plans to send its first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years. NPR visited the facility to find out how astronauts are preparing for this high stakes exploration.

How the crew of NASA's Artemis II prepares for a mission to the moon

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Friday

People displaced by floods rest at a relief shelter in Mohipal, Feni, a coastal district in southeast Bangladesh on August 23.

People displaced by floods rest at a relief shelter in Mohipal, Feni, a coastal district in southeast Bangladesh on August 23. Fatima Tuj Johora/AP hide caption

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Fatima Tuj Johora/AP

Asia

Severe floods causing health problems in south Bangladesh

The worst floods that Bangladesh has seen in decades occurred in August, displacing millions. Many people are still struggling to rebuild their lives and find sources of income.

Bangladesh flood aftermath

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Here's how Hurricane Helene turned into a major storm

Hurricane Helene became a major hurricane before landfall, reaching a Category 4 Thursday. Forecasters have been warning communities hundreds of miles inland to prepare for its powerful winds and flooding rains. CIRA/NOAA hide caption

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CIRA/NOAA

Short Wave

Here's how Hurricane Helene turned into a major storm

Governors across the southeastern United States have declared statewide states of emergency as Hurricane Helene continues its ascent. After forming in the northwestern Caribbean Sea Tuesday, Helene escalated from a tropical storm, then to a cyclone, and finally to a Category 4 hurricane by the time it made landfall late Thursday night. We talk to hurricane climatologist Jill Trepanier about how a storm tropical storm system rapidly intensifies into a major hurricane, the impact of a changing climate on future storms — and why the devastation doesn't stop at the shore.

Here's how Hurricane Helene turned into a major storm

Listen · 11:55
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Wednesday

California is enacting a new ban of single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and other retailers, after an earlier ban was blamed for making the waste problem worse. Here, a worker pulls a plastic bag from a conveyor belt as she sorts through materials at a recycling center in San Francisco.

California is banning single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and other retailers, after an earlier ban was blamed for making the waste problem worse. Here, a worker pulls a plastic bag from a conveyor belt as she sorts through materials at a recycling center in San Francisco. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

National

California’s first plastic bag ban made things worse. Now it’s trying again

California and other states — and some cities — have learned a lesson: Bans on plastic bags don’t always go as planned. In fact, California's original ban made things worse.

California’s first plastic bag ban made things worse. Now it’s trying again

Turtles being released into the New Jersey woods.

Turtles being released into the New Jersey woods. Nathanael Stanek/The Turtle Conservancy hide caption

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Nathanael Stanek/The Turtle Conservancy

Animals

The slowest of trailblazers: Better DNA testing means trafficked turtles can go home

New technology is making it easier to find the origins of trafficked wildlife so they can be released back to the habitat they came from, instead of languishing for decades as sometimes happens.

DNA testing and other advancements mean trafficked animals can return home

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This researcher wants to expand treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder
Kudryavtsev Pavel/Getty Images

Short Wave

This researcher wants to expand treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder

Around 2% of the global population struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. That's roughly 163 million people who go through cycles of obsessions – unwanted intrusive thoughts, images or urges – and compulsions, or behaviors to decrease the distress caused by these thoughts. In movies and TV, characters with OCD are often depicted washing their hands or obsessing about symmetry. Dr. Carolyn Rodriguez says these are often symptoms of OCD, but they're not the only ways it manifests – and there's still a lot of basics we have yet to understand. That's why Carolyn looks to include more populations in research and find new ways to treat OCD.

This researcher wants to expand treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder

Listen · 14:25
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Tuesday

Ghost particles are blasting through you. Can they solve an antimatter mystery?

Matter and its weird, opposite antimatter annihilate each other "in a blaze of glory," says Jessica Esquivel, an experimental particle physicist at Fermilab. PeteDraper/Getty Images hide caption

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PeteDraper/Getty Images

Short Wave

Ghost particles are blasting through you. Can they solve an antimatter mystery?

At the beginning of the universe, annihilation reigned supreme. Equal amounts of matter and antimatter collided. There should have been nothing left. And, yet, here we all are. Matter won out. The question is: why? Scientists are probing the mysteries of a ghostly subatomic particle for answers. To do it, they'll need to shoot a beam of them 800 miles underground.

Ghost particles are blasting through you. Can they solve an antimatter mystery?

Listen · 12:18
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Monday

California’s new lawsuit alleges that ExxonMobil has known for decades that recycling would not effectively stem the flow of plastic waste. Despite that knowledge, the lawsuit says, the company actively promoted recycling as a viable solution to plastic pollution.

California’s new lawsuit says that ExxonMobil has known for decades that recycling would not effectively stem the flow of plastic waste. Despite that knowledge, the lawsuit says, the company actively promoted recycling as a viable solution to plastic pollution. Mark Humphrey/AP hide caption

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Mark Humphrey/AP

Climate

California sues ExxonMobil for misleading public on plastic recycling

California’s lawsuit alleges that ExxonMobil has known for decades that recycling would not effectively stem the flow of plastic waste.

Day octopus and blue goatfish hunt in groups, sharing leadership roles

Octopuses and fish hunt in groups, and octopuses have been observed striking fish who try to freeload. //Eduardo Sampaio hide caption

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//Eduardo Sampaio

Octopuses and fish share leadership — and enforcement — in group hunting

When octopuses and fish hunt in groups in the Red Sea, the leadership roles are more dynamic than researchers knew — as are some ways the animals enforce cooperation.

Octopuses and fish join forces

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The complex, colorful puzzle of recycling EV batteries
xia yuan/Getty Images

Short Wave

The complex, colorful puzzle of recycling EV batteries

Electric vehicle batteries will all, eventually, reach the end of their lives. When that happens, they should be recycled. But what breakthroughs could make that happen cleanly, efficiently — and close to home? Today, business correspondent Camila Domonoske takes us on a tour of one company trying to crack the EV battery recycling puzzle — to learn what this case study can tell us about the larger battery picture. Plus, why recycling is kind of like wresting with Lego bricks.

The complex, colorful puzzle of recycling EV batteries

Listen · 14:12
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