Short Wave New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — in just under 15 minutes. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join hosts Emily Kwong and Regina Barber for science on a different wavelength.

If you're hooked, try Short Wave Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/shortwave
SW
NPR

Short Wave

From NPR

New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — in just under 15 minutes. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join hosts Emily Kwong and Regina Barber for science on a different wavelength.

If you're hooked, try Short Wave Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/shortwave

Most Recent Episodes

In Kelly Lambert's lab at the University of Richmond, rats are trained to drive tiny cars. Researchers are studying how that training, and the anticipation associated with it, affects their brains. University of Richmond hide caption

toggle caption
University of Richmond

These scientists taught rats to drive tiny cars. Turns out, it's good for them

In neuroscientist Kelly Lambert's lab at the University of Richmond, rats hop into cars, rev their engines and skid across the floor of an arena. Researchers taught these tiny rodents to drive — and turns out, they really like it. But why?

These scientists taught rats to drive tiny cars. Turns out, it's good for them

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1249800798/1262905453" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Embers are blown off a burning tree as the Eaton Fire burns in Altadena, Calif. As of Thursday morning, the fire had ballooned to 10,600 acres. Red flag warning have been extended through Friday for wind-prone areas. Nic Coury/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Nic Coury/AP

How the Santa Ana winds helped fuel the Los Angeles wildfires

Over 29,000 acres in the greater Los Angeles area are on fire right now. The fires emerged after the Santa Ana winds swept into the Los Angeles area Tuesday. The largest is the Palisades fire, which is quickly burning through the Pacific Palisades and Malibu communities. It's one of four ongoing critical fires — only one of which is partially contained. Ahead of the windy week, a Red Flag Warning was issued for an increased fire risk due to the strong winds, low humidity and higher temperature. Today, we dig into the Santa Ana winds: What they are and how they combined with other factors to create conditions for the most destructive fire in Los Angeles' history.

How the Santa Ana winds helped fuel the Los Angeles wildfires

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1249800806/1264582913" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Daniel Hertzberg

Body Electric: How AI is changing our relationships

Hey, Short Wavers! Today, we have a special present for all of you: An episode from our good friends at NPR's Body Electric podcast all a bout artificial intimacy! Thanks to advances in AI, chatbots can act as personalized therapists, companions and romantic partners. The apps offering these services have been downloaded millions of times. If these relationships relieve stress and make us feel better, does it matter that they're not "real"? On this episode of Body Electric, host Manoush Zomorodi talks to MIT sociologist and psychologist Sherry Turkle about her new research into what she calls "artificial intimacy" and its impact on our mental and physical health.

Body Electric: How AI is changing our relationships

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1249800794/1258419787" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A robot roams through rows of grapes at Cornell AgriTech's Geneva vineyards to look for signs of diseased plants. Allison Usavage/Cornell University hide caption

toggle caption
Allison Usavage/Cornell University

These robots could fix grape farmers' labor woes

If you crossed WALL-E with a floor lamp, it might look a little like the PhytoPatholoBot. These robots aren't roving through space or decorating a living room — they're monitoring the stems, leaves and fruit of Cornell AgriTech's vineyards, rolling down each row and scanning for mildew.

These robots could fix grape farmers' labor woes

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1249800802/1263361938" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Aboard the International Space Station, astronauts cut their hair using a pair of electrical sheers connected to a vacuum. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio says, "It's not a pretty haircut, for sure." Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Getty Images

How to get a haircut in space

Hey, Short Wavers! Today we're sharing an excerpt of the new NPR podcast How To Do Everything.

How to get a haircut in space

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1249800795/1259121792" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Brownie Harris/Getty Images

What's a weather forecast worth?

The federal government has been tracking the weather for more than 150 years. Yet over the last few decades, the rise of the Internet and big tech have made weather forecasting a more crowded space. Today, our colleagues at NPR's daily economics podcast The Indicator report on the value of an accurate forecast and the debate over who should control weather data. Follow The Indicator on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

What's a weather forecast worth?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1249800803/1263492671" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

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

toggle caption
PeteDraper/Getty Images

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?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1249800797/1259211223" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Following his presidency, former President Carter devoted much of his life to creating a better world through attention to global health challenges, particularly "neglected" tropical diseases. The Carter Center hide caption

toggle caption
The Carter Center

As his funeral service begins, a look at Jimmy Carter's Guinea worm legacy

Funeral services begin today for former President Jimmy Carter. He died Sunday, at 100-years-old. Carter brought attention to global health challenges, particularly "neglected" tropical diseases like Guinea worm. With reporter Jason Beaubien, we look at that decades-long effort and how science was central to Carter's drive for a better world.

As his funeral service begins, a look at Jimmy Carter's Guinea worm legacy

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1249800805/1264245483" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Fossil casting of Archaeopteryx, a therapod dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic period (around 150 million years ago). Many fossils of Archaeopteryx include impressions of feathers. James L. Amos/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
James L. Amos/Getty Images

Birds are dinosaurs. Here's how scientists know

When you picture a dinosaur, what does it look like? For Jingmai O'Connor, paleobiologist and associate curator of reptiles at the Field Museum of Chicago, the dinosaurs she studies look a lot more like birds.

Birds are dinosaurs. Here's how scientists know

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1224776151/1264797154" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

The sky over Los Angeles is filled with smoke from multiple wildfires burning in and around the Los Angeles area. Etienne Laurent/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Etienne Laurent/AP

Why smoke from the Los Angeles fires is still so dangerous

Air quality in the Los Angeles region has plummeted due to smoke from the ongoing wildfires. With all that smoke comes possible risks to human health. So what actually is smoke and why is it so harmful? Jessica Gilman, an atmospheric chemist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, explains what smoke is made of, how it behaves in the atmosphere and smoke's role in climate change. Plus, tips for how to lessen your exposure.

Why smoke from the Los Angeles fires is still so dangerous

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1224599763/1264645320" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
or search npr.org