A valuable NASA satellite observatory is falling to Earth faster than scientists expected. It?s called the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, or ?Swift? for short, and it can respond to celestial events much faster than its sky-gazing counterparts. To save Swift and test out a first-of-its-kind technology, NASA partnered with an Arizona-based startup to launch a refrigerator-sized robot, aptly named Link, into lower Earth orbit. That?s on its way right now to meet up with Swift to give it a boost.

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Every dog lover?s greatest fear is inevitably losing their pet to time. We want our furry pals to stick around as long as they can. That wish may soon become reality with a new pill from a company called Loyal. It aims to extend the lives?and health?of dogs. This new drug also serves as a pitstop on a much bigger quest: to eventually lengthen human lives.

Interested in more science about your pets? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Taking an air taxi to the airport may become as simple as ordering a ride share today. In our first episode in our summer series Tech Camp, we explore how a futuristic vehicle that transforms from helicopter to propeller plane is already taking flight in New York and San Francisco. This new kind of commuting might be here sooner than you think: A law just went into effect to build infrastructure for them in places like airports. Short Wave host Regina Barber speaks with the startup Joby and Georgia Tech aerospace experts about the safety, the science and what an actual ride would look like from app to air. Plus, we get into the history of the air taxis of the past and why those airlines no longer exist.

Interested in more tech episodes? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Independence Day is approaching!


Imagine if someone has procured illegal fireworks from a couple of states over. Are you:

1. first in line to light them?

2. content to watch while others set them off?

3. going to find a fire extinguisher ? just in case ? while loudly condemning the activity?

Ken Carter, a psychologist at Oxford College of Emory University, says everyone has a different level of sensation-seeking. This episode, we get into the factors at play, like people's brain chemistry, when deciding whether or not to do an activity, like setting off fireworks.

For low and average sensation-seekers, very thrilling activities like large, self-run fireworks displays can cause their bodies to produce a lot of cortisol, a stress hormone.

On the other hand, high sensation-seekers, Carter says, "don't tend to produce that much cortisol when they're in those highly chaotic experiences. So when they're seeing those fireworks, they actually produce higher amounts of another chemical called dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter or a chemical messenger that's involved in pleasure."

Carter has developed a 40-point self-assessment survey for people to figure out how much of a sensation-seeker they are. The survey can be found in his book, Buzz!

Interested in more psychology episodes? Email us your question at [email protected].

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The U.S. generates 292 million tons of trash each year ? and that trash has to go somewhere.  Sometimes, that?s to an incinerator, where it?s burned and turned into electricity. Proponents of incineration applaud the ability to generate energy from waste and divert garbage from landfills. Opponents worry about the potential health risks, especially to minoritized communities. Today on the show, we explore the good and the bad of waste-to-energy facilities ? and even get to see one up close.

Interested in more deep dives into the often invisible science powering our lives? Email us your question at [email protected].

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In the grand scheme of things, Lyme disease is a fairly new scientific discovery. It was first traced back to ticks in the late 70s and early 80s. The tick-borne illness can cause a rash, fever, pain, neurological complications, and even facial paralysis. It?s spread by only two of the nearly 50 species of ticks in the United States. Historically, most Lyme cases were limited to a small region, including the Great Lakes area and northeastern US. But thanks to changing temperatures, animal migration and shifts in land use, scientists say tick territory is expanding. So what does that mean for Lyme disease risk? And do you have to be worried about it in your own backyard?

Interested in more episodes about pests and parasites? Email us your question at [email protected].

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For many, being able to work from home is a boon: saving time on your commute, working in your sweatpants, throwing in a load of laundry before a meeting. People say it makes them happier. But a new study suggests that, despite all the advantages, working from home isn?t creating a happier workforce. It?s making people more socially isolated. We get into all the details with NPR mental health correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee.

Interested in more everyday science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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There?s an object in space 25 times the size of Jupiter that?s stumped scientists for years. They haven?t been able to figure out if it?s a planet or a failed star. But scientists are one step closer to an answer thanks to the powerful James Webb Space Telescope. After analyzing data collected by the telescope, astronomers have uncovered unexpected new clues floating light years away from us: Salty clouds sitting in space as hot as some home ovens. And if this mystery isn?t enough, we have more to look forward to in this episode, including insights into the evolution of laughter and the burials of ancient human relatives. 

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The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is growing ? and is likely larger than official numbers show. The deadly disease spreads through bodily fluids, on average killing half the people it infects. And while officially declared in May, the case numbers point to the virus circulating for months without being detected. To make matters worse, there?s not a vaccine for this specific species of ebolavirus ? at least, not yet. NPR global health correspondent Jonathan Lambert has been covering everything Ebola-related for the past month or so, and shares what he?s learned today.

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One evening in May of 2011, tornado sirens went off in a small Missouri city called Joplin. Thousands of homes were destroyed in the tornado, about a third of the town?s 50,000 residents were displaced and around 160 people died. And in the months following the tornado, the town became known not just for the destruction, but the kindness and cooperation that led to its recovery. Scientists who have studied behavior after mass traumas say, disasters can spark an outpouring of kindness and powerful bonds between strangers. Reporter Pauline Bartolone joins Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong to share the science behind this phenomenon.

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Janet Jones has been fascinated by horses since childhood. She?s now a horse trainer and a neuroscientist, which allows her to explore the minds of the animals to which she?s devoted her life. She even recently wrote a book all about their brains. She says there?s an enormous gap between the way humans have relied on horses for tens of thousands of years ? and what we actually know about their brains. And they have lots to teach us humans. That?s why we?re diving into science today. 

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Two tiny transforming robots landed on the moon! These baseball-sized bots accompanied Japan's first successful lunar lander. They rolled out of SLIM as balls and transformed into a rover. The bots cracked down the middle to reveal a little camera in the center. The halves then acted as spinning wheels that helped them waddle, bounce and roll over hard terrain as they explored. In this roundup of space news, we also get into the latest turn about how much the universe is expanding and the Earthly analogs NASA astronauts are using to prepare for the forthcoming Artemis mission.

Interested in more space science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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The war in Iran has disrupted the global fuel supply. That has sent airline prices soaring and cancelled scores of flights. This got Short Wave host Emily Kwong wondering: Could another fuel source help take us to the skies? Today on the show, we explore the chemistry and cost of sustainable aviation fuel. Along the way, we highlight two initiatives to create a regional SAF supply ? one in Washington and one in Pennsylvania.  

Interested in more stories about the future of flying? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Summer is here, your windows are open and the smell of?car exhaust and the latest wildfire are wafting in. This air pollution is harmful to almost every organ, including the brain. Today on Short Wave, we talk about one way air pollution may cloud your memory.

Interested in more episodes about how where we live affects us? Email us your question at [email protected] and we may turn it into an episode!

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Could standardizing chocolate help small-scale farmers? Chocolate scientist Julien Simonis thinks it could help persuade consumers to pay for higher quality chocolate, in turn helping out these growers. Every cacao bean is different, and for a long time, there wasn't a standard way of comparing the quality of chocolate. But in 2009, a sustainable agriculture nonprofit started a program called Cacao of Excellence. The goal was to develop a standard way of evaluating cacao just like those sommelier?s do with wine. So today, we?re going behind the scenes of a chocolate laboratory to see just how cacao is evaluated. 

This story was originally reported for NPR by science correspondent Ari Daniel. Read the full story here.

If you liked this episode, check out our episodes on how climate change is hurting chocolate production and how some people are making chocolate alternatives. 

Interested in more chocolate science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Until this week, the United States hadn?t approved a new sunscreen ingredient in over 20 years. That changed Tuesday, when the FDA approved a new chemical for U.S. sunscreens. It?s called bemotrizinol, and NPR science correspondent Maria Godoy joins us to tell us all about it ? including the soonest it?s expected to hit shelves.

Interested in more science news? Email us your question at [email protected].

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CORRECTION: A previous version of this episode incorrectly referred to Dr. Heather Rogers as a spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology. She is a fellow of the academy.

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Every year, tens of millions of people in the U.S. get the flu vaccine. That?s because the virus changes year-to-year and protection only lasts around six months. Adolfo Garcia-Sastre wants to change that. He?s one scientist working on a universal flu vaccine that could provide decades of protection against all flu illnesses ? but only if his team can find the resources that disappeared when U.S. funding dipped.

If you liked this episode, listen to our episode on a vaccine trial that could end HIV.

Interested in more medical innovations? Email us your question at [email protected].

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We tend to think of the DNA strands that contain our genetic code as consistent, stable units. But in reality, the cells that make up our bodies are constantly replicating and changing. Even as you read this sentence, in fact, the genes within your cells are mutating. So, what causes these mutations and what?s the impact? Science writer Roxanne Khamsi examines the answers in her new book, Beyond Inheritance. Today on the show, she gets into how scientists examine these mutations, how they?ve shifted our understanding of disease and what the future of genetic therapy could entail.

Interested in more biological and life sciences? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Emily Kwong is pretty sure she lacks an inner monologue, while the inner monologue of producer Rachel Carlson won?t stop chatting. But how well can a person know their inner self? And what does science have to say about it? We dig in in this encore episode of Short Wave.

To learn more about Charles Fernyhough?s research on voice hearing, visit the project website.  

If you liked this episode, check out our episode on when your brain is actually an "adult."

Interested in more science inside your brain? Email us your question at [email protected].

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More than a century ago, all that people knew about European eels was that they lived in the rivers and streams for decades ? until they swam out to the ocean and never returned. Eventually, tiny eels would show up and the cycle would start again. Where did the adult eels go? Where did the baby eels come from? Did they even reproduce at all or just spontaneously emerge into being? Science now has some ? but not all ? of the answers to these questions. Today on the show, Regina G. Barber talks to fish physiologist Arjan Palstra about this mystery and how close scientists are to solving it. 

If you liked this episode, check out our episode on the Pacific lamprey.

Interested in more science mysteries? Email us your question at [email protected].

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In our latest science news roundup: how nature adapts, for better or worse.

When faced with pests, plants may not be able to run away ? but that doesn?t mean they?re defenseless. Some have thorns or spines, others have poisonous leaves or berries, and still others have?elaborate chemical defense alarm systems? In a recent study, researchers discovered that the common bean plant, P. vulgaris, has a particularly innovative response to hungry caterpillars: a compound in the caterpillar's spit causes the plants to release a chemical signal that attracts wasps. Those wasps then eat the caterpillars or lay eggs in their bodies, effectively removing the threat. Today on the show, we?re diving into plant science and a round of other new scientific studies with All Things Considered host Sacha Pfeiffer.

If you're interested in the fibermaxxing episode Han mentioned, check it out here.

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Healthy forests help combat climate change, provide humans with drinking water and even improve mental and physical health. But it?s hard to imagine an entire forest in the middle of a big city. That?s where micro-forests come into play ? public forests on a smaller scale, filled with native plants. They exist around the world, and producer Rachel Carlson went to visit the largest micro-forest in California in this encore episode. She joins host Emily Kwong to chat about what she saw. 

Interested in more of the science behind urban nature? Email us your question at [email protected].

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You pick up your phone to do one quick task, and suddenly 20 minutes have flown by without you even noticing. How do apps do that to you? Science journalist Michaeleen Doucleff felt like her phone had superglue on it, holding her on it for hours each day while draining her of time and energy. Turns out, that feeling isn?t accidental. In her new book, Dopamine Kids, Michaeleen describes four features that tech companies add to apps to keep us scrolling for as long as possible. She?s sharing this superglue recipe with Short Wave host Emily Kwong ? and explaining how these features can pull people into what scientists call a ?dark flow? state.

Interested in more tech and social media science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Jimmy Keeley.

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For many astronomers and astrophysicists there are two distinct, important periods: before the James Webb Space Telescope ? and after. It has powered many scientific discoveries since it came online, including two at the heart of this episode: insights into one of Neptune?s moons and a ?hot Jupiter? exoplanet orbiting another star. This exoplanet has a strange weather system with high winds and cloud coverage only on one side of the planet. Fill in some of the scientific gaps about our solar system and the universe beyond with us.

Interested in more space science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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The most ferocious predator for us humans is actually quite small: the mosquito. They are hungry for blood, spreading diseases like malaria, yellow fever and dengue ? and picking up new ones all the time. But what if we could wipe out the mosquito? Gene-editing technology could do it, potentially saving millions of lives. But it comes with serious potential for risk. Which begs the question: Should we get to decide when humanity rewrites nature? Here to discuss that is Ben Bradford, the host of a new podcast distributed by the NPR Network: Are We Doomed?

Interested in more science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Is it getting windier? Long-time listener Barry Zalph thinks it is, at least in Louisville. And he?s not the only one. Redditors and local reporters have noticed a recent uptick in the region?s windstorms, too. But does that point to any larger trends in windiness? And if so, what could be causing it? We talked to meteorologist and extreme weather specialist Scott Gunter to find out. Plus, we dig into whether Tornado Alley is shifting into Kentucky as the climate warms. 

This episode is part of Nature Quest, our monthly listener-driven segment about climate and the environment. Have a question for us? Send a voice memo to [email protected] with your name, location and what you?re noticing in the environment around you? it could be our next Nature Quest!

Interested in more weather and wind science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Every year for two weeks between mid-May and mid-June, Congaree National Park in South Carolina is home to a fairy-tale-like display of flashing lights. These rhythmic performances happen all because of thousands of fireflies, flashing their belly lanterns at exactly the same time. According to the National Park Service, there are just three species of these synchronous fireflies in North America, making the experience all the more magical for the lucky visitors who get the chance to see them. (encore)

This story was originally reported for NPR by science correspondent Pien Huang. Read Pien's full story here.

Want more of the science behind wildlife wonders? Email us at [email protected].

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Today's episode was produced by Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Berly McCoy. Pien checked the facts. Kwesi Lee was the audio engineer.

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Coastal fishing communities around the world are struggling with declining fish stocks. That?s because of climate change, environmental degradation and overfishing. But one tree ? the humble mangrove ? has a superpower that?s supporting healthy fisheries in many parts of the world. The majority of fishes we eat worldwide are supported by mangroves: Their roots serve as a nursery for baby fish. So, today on the show, two reporters travel to Cambodia, where they discover why a local fishing solution now plays a crucial role in slowing global warming. 

Read more about Rebecca Hersher and Ryan Kellman?s journey here (and check out their incredible photos). 

Interested in more climate science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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You probably know someone who has a condition that, until last week, was known as PCOS, or polycystic ovary syndrome. It affects one in eight reproductive-aged women. But despite it being such a common disorder, patients are often misdiagnosed and have delayed treatment. Now, medical professionals are trying to change that. After 15 years of work, the condition has been renamed to PMOS, or polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome. The new name reflects the real driver of the condition: disruptions in hormones. But how much can changing a name really do? 

Click here to access resources about PMOS in multiple languages. 

Interested in more science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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For years, farmers in California have been pumping huge amounts of water from their wells to irrigate their crops. The state?s Central Valley is the nation?s single biggest source for many different foods. But all that water use is making aquifers shrink, wells go dry and, in some places, the ground sink. Science reporter Dan Charles has been looking into the issue and is on the show today to talk about what happens when water gets scarce. What is it like for farmers? And for the people enforcing new water restrictions? 

If you liked this episode, check out some of our other recent water stories ? including why the world?s freshwater is getting saltier, what?s happening to our groundwater supply, and what happens when a city runs out of water.

Interested in more stories about water, farming and food production? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Dreams of flying? Nightmares of teeth falling out? Falling off a cliff? As a sleep scientist at the University of Montreal, Michelle Carr has pretty much heard it all. In Michelle?s new book Nightmare Obscura, she explores the science of dreams, nightmares ? and even something called dream engineering, where people influence their own dreams while they sleep. Today on Short Wave, co-host Regina G. Barber dives into the science of our sleeping life with Michelle Carr. (encore)

Interested in any upcoming science books? Email us your question at [email protected].

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It?s been over 25 years since the FDA approved a new ingredient for sunscreen in the United States. But a molecule called gadusol found in fish and coral reefs is a promising candidate. It absorbs U.V. rays ? acting like a built-in sunscreen for fish. But there?s a big hurdle if scientists want to turn gadusol into human sunscreen: They?d need to make a lot of it. A new study out this week in the journal Trends in Biotechnology takes us a big step closer. Their solution? Using the bacteria best known for making your stomach hurt: e. Coli. 

Interested in more science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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The average person eats 10-15 grams of fiber per day, according to the USDA. The problem? That?s WAY under the recommended daily amount.

Fiber ? a type of carb that our bodies are unable to digest ? is prevalent in foods like fruits, veggies, whole grains, and beans. And it?s key for everything from feelings of fullness, to gut health, to good poop. That?s why a lot of people online are ?fibermaxxing?: trying to meet or exceed the daily recommendation of fiber, in hopes it?ll improve their health.

But how should YOU add fiber to your diet? and are the fibermaxxers overdoing it? Gastroenterologist Berkeley Limketkai is here to help parse the science on how little fiber is too little, how much fiber is too much ? and, like Goldilocks, how we can figure out the amount that?s just right.

Interested in more food and dietary science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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A recent study caught our eye: salmon on cocaine. Or really, researchers giving salmon cocaine?for science. See, scientists know human drugs pollute aquatic environments ? past studies have shown even anti-anxiety drugs can change how fish act. But illicit drugs are less studied. And Jack Brand, an aquatic ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, wanted to know how illicit drugs like cocaine might change fish behavior, like foraging and mating. To answer that question, Jack and his team gave salmon cocaine. 

Interested in more science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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25 years ago, the FDA approved a pill that would change the way scientists treat cancer ? for good. The pill was called Gleevec; it was designed specifically to treat CML, chronic myeloid leukemia, and it was one of the first targeted cancer therapies available. A quarter century after approval, it?s still being prescribed, as are second, third and fourth-generation drugs that followed in its footsteps. What made it so special ? and so effective? Pharmaceutical correspondent Sydney Lupkin walks us through the history of the drug, and why it?s continued to change lives for decades.

If you liked this episode, check out our other episodes with Sydney on accelerated drug approvals and the development of GLP-1 pills.

Interested in more stories about medicine and medical treatment? Email us your question at [email protected].

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On May 2, the World Health Organization got an alarming report: People aboard a ship in the Atlantic Ocean were falling ill. The culprit is now confirmed as hantavirus, a pathogen that some rodents carry that can infect humans in rare, but often deadly, instances. Multiple passengers have died, and more people are showing symptoms. So, we?re talking to Emily Abdoler, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Michigan, about the news ? how common is hantavirus in humans, what are the consequences of getting it, and how can at-risk people protect themselves from it? 

If you found this episode interesting, listen to our episode on Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Interested in more science in the news? Email us your question at [email protected].

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President Trump recently signed an order to speed up the evaluation of psychedelics to treat the brain. That?s coming after decades of strict prohibition on psychedelic drug use dating back to President Nixon. So how did we go from that to a psychedelic renaissance? A look into a key institution in the world of psychedelic research may give us some clues. This episode, NPR?s brain correspondent Jon Hamilton shares insight from a recent trip. (No pun intended.) 

Want more psychedelic content? Catch our episode on ketamine therapy here, or learn why some scientists want to take the trip out of psychedelics here. 

Have other questions about psychedelics and the brain? Let us know by emailing [email protected]!


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One morning, Kyla Madonna Kenney woke up and her world was turned upside down: The room was spinning, she had a splitting migraine and one side of her body was shaking. Her tremors and migraine lasted for days. And for years afterwards, doctors would ask her: Did anything upset you recently? Are you stressed? Have you talked to a therapist about your anxiety? She underwent surgeries and took medications that were, in hindsight, unnecessary. It wasn?t until seeing Dr. David Perez, a neurologist who is also a psychiatrist, that she finally got the right treatment for her medical condition, functional neurological disorder. Today, we dig into this disorder ? what it is, why it?s so unknown despite being a top reason people seek out neurologists and what this condition reveals about the consequences of siloing medicine.

If you liked this episode, check out our previous one about a new approach to brain health. 

Interested in more science behind medicine? Email us your questions at [email protected]. 


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We reeled in science reporter Ari Daniel for this episode who grants us three wishes in the form of three fishes. He takes us on a trip around the world to learn about how a clownfish in the western Pacific loses its stripes as it grows up just to fit in, a fat French fry of a fish that can scale a 50-foot rockface in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the remarkable rearing of a pea-sized Pokémon-like fish at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Together, these stories reveal just how remarkable and diverse these unassuming creatures are.

If you liked this episode, check out our Sea Camp series. 

Interested in more fishy science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Ask any coffee aficionado, and they?ll tell you: A good cup is about more than the beans. The flavor is affected by lots of things ? the roast and fermentation of the beans, the coarseness of the grind, the brewing temperature and even the chemicals in the water used to brew it. But there are very few quantitative ways to assess all the flavor variations. Current industry standards measure the concentration of coffee, but they often miss qualities like the acidity, brightness and fruitness. Scientists at the University of Oregon are trying to change that using a tool called a potentiostat that?s often used to measure the charge in batteries.

Interested in more food and beverage science? Email us your question at [email protected] and we may turn it into an episode!

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After the success of Artemis II, we at Short Wave definitely have moon fever. So, we brought NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce onto the show to talk about where we?re headed. What will future Artemis missions look like and what needs to happen next for people to be able to walk on the moon again? We find out in this latest installment of Spacing Out ? with space enthusiasts Regina G Barber and one of the hosts of All Things Considered, Scott Detrow! 

Interested in more space episodes? Check out our whole summer series, Space Camp. Or, email us your ideas for future space-focused episodes at [email protected].

P.S. If you see this and you like the idea of formally calling this segment ?Spacing Out with Gina?, email us to let us know that too! We?re still deciding.

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To solar or not to solar? That is the question for this latest episode of our monthly series Nature Quest. For listener Darcey Hughes, installing solar panels isn?t just about keeping her utilities free of fossil fuels ? it?s also a way to become fully self-reliant and save some money each month. But there?s a catch: She might have to chop down a large, shading cedar tree. Today, we investigate: When is solar worth it? And is it worth the price of an old, majestic tree? 

Do YOU have a question you have about your local environment? Send us a voice memo telling us your name, where you live, and your dilemma? we may make it the next Nature Quest. We?re reachable at [email protected].

Want to learn more about easy-to-install solar? Check out NPR climate correspondent Jeff Brady?s reporting on plug-in solar panels.

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When Karyn Paringatai learned about a pattern among her family members, it changed the course of her life: A lot of people died young. As Karyn dug into her family history, she learned many Maori families, like her own, suffered from a rare form of stomach cancer called diffuse gastric cancer. Sarah Zhang recently wrote a story on this kind of cancer as a staff writer at The Atlantic. Today, she gets into all the details with Short Wave host Emily Kwong: the mutation that causes it and the life-changing decision people with the mutation have to make ? risk dying or get surgery to remove their entire stomach?

Interested in more science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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In the mid-1970s, primatologist Jane Goodall witnessed something that changed her opinion of chimpanzees forever: A four-year conflict amongst the chimpanzees she was studying in Tanzania. Chimpanzees that knew each other started killing each other. It was essentially the primate equivalent of a civil war. And now, it?s happening again: Fighting within the largest known community of chimpanzees. NPR science correspondent Nate Rott helps us break down what?s going on and what it could tell us about how human communities can fall apart. 

Read all of Nate?s story here. 

Interested in more science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Earth didn?t always have a moon. In the beginning of the solar system, when the planets were still forming, something happened that would change Earth?s night sky forever: The Moon was created!

How did it happen? This episode, co-host Regina G. Barber searches for answers with planetary scientists. With co-host Emily Kwong, they discuss how the moon was likely made, how scientists know and what that might mean for where Earth?s water came from.

Check out Regina's reporting on hydrothermal vents.

Interested in more planetary science? Email us your question at [email protected].

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

A previous version of this episode mischaracterized a scientific hypothesis. The episode incorrectly said the idea is that hydrothermal vents may have been the origin of water on Earth. In fact, the hypothesis is that life may have come from hydrothermal vents.

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Eating disorders are complicated illnesses that skyrocketed among teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pediatrician Eva Trujillo says they "literally rewire the brain," decrease brain size, and make it harder to concentrate and to regulate emotions. Malnutrition can slow the metabolism, impact bone density and even lead to cardiac arrest. But Eva says, with the right treatment, people can also recover fully. She's the president of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals and co-founder of Comenzar de Nuevo, a leading treatment facility in Latin America. Today on the show, host Emily Kwong talks about the physical and mental impacts of eating disorders with Dr. Trujillo and Moorea Friedman, a teen mental health advocate and host of the podcast Balancing Act. Plus, how to recover in a world steeped in diet culture. (encore)

Want us to cover more mental health topics? Tell us by emailing [email protected]! We'd love to know what you want to hear from us!

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For residents of Prek Touch, Cambodia ? right on the banks of the Mekong River ? flooding is a regular part of life. But as those floods worsen due to climate change, it?s getting harder to adapt. Along with other flood-prone regions throughout Southeast Asia, government officials are facing an issue: how to deliver widespread weather warnings in a timely, effective way. One solution that?s working for Prek Touch? Voicemails. Today on the show, NPR climate correspondent Rebecca Hersher explains how a simple phone alert can prompt preparation, increase evacuation, and save lives.

Interested in more stories about natural disaster preparedness? Email us your question at [email protected].
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Do you avoid small talk in the office, or with your neighbor in the elevator? If so, you might want to give it a chance. According to a study just published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, even when participants were primed that a conversation would be boring, it turned out to be more interesting than they anticipated. Today on the show, we get into that, plus why scientists gave lobsters painkillers, and a clue about the formation of the Grand Canyon. 

Interested in more science? Email us your question at [email protected].

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Neuroscientist Paul Nuyujukian likens the brain to a stadium full of people. To eavesdrop on the crowd you could put a microphone in the middle of the stadium. But to understand the conversations you need to record individual people. He thinks about the brain the same way. To understand brain disease, he studies neurons?one at a time. And his insights are shedding light on a big global issue?stroke. The World Health Organization predicts one in four adults will have a stroke in their lifetime. Strokes can cause death, or lead to paralysis or speech problems. But there?s still a lot researchers don?t know about how the brain recovers from an event like a stroke. Nuyujukian directs a lab at Stanford University that studies how the brain controls movement, including after neurological events like stroke. We get into how he does this, and why he hopes his research could eventually help people who?ve been paralyzed. 

Email us your questions about the brain ? or anything else to do with science at [email protected]. We may turn it into an episode in the future!

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When you go to the doctor?s office, your doctor has to figure out which treatment is best for you. Physicians rely on medical research and clinical trials to make sure those treatments are safe and effective. But that research has not always been inclusive, which impacts patient care. Women and people of color were only required to be included in medical trials funded by the NIH starting in 1993. Now, studies are more inclusive ? but how we study sex and gender in research is still controversial. In this episode, we unpack how medicine sorts the sexes ? and why it?s not as simple as it seems.

If you liked this episode, check out our previous one unpacking biological sex. 

Interested in more science behind medicine? Email us your questions at [email protected]. 

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Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by our showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Kwesi Lee was the audio engineer.

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