Did Trump's foreign aid cuts fuel the Ebola outbreak?
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is growing – and is likely larger than official numbers show. The deadly disease spre...
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Short Wave
New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — all in about 10 minutes, every weekday. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. J...
Short Wave Podcast Guide
Listen to Short Wave, a Science & Medicine podcast by NPR. Stream 1,509 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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What can a tornado teach us about kindness?
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...
Inside the mysterious minds of horses
Janet Jones has been fascinated by horses since childhood. She’s now a horse trainer and a neuroscientist, which allows her to explore the m...
Why scientists launched two little robots to the moon
Two tiny transforming robots landed on the moon! These baseball-sized bots accompanied Japan's first successful lunar lander. They rolled ou...
Is sewage the future of green aviation?
The war in Iran has disrupted the global fuel supply. That has sent airline prices soaring and cancelled scores of flights. This got Short W...
Could air pollution make your memory worse?
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...
Inside the lab taste-testing the world's chocolate
Could standardizing chocolate help small-scale farmers? Chocolate scientist Julien Simonis thinks it could help persuade consumers to pay fo...
Why your sunscreen is finally getting a major upgrade
Until this week, the United States hadn’t approved a new sunscreen ingredient in over 20 years. That changed Tuesday, when the FDA approved...
How a single flu shot could protect you for decades
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 la...
Your DNA is changing all the time. Here’s why
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 bo...
Inner monologues are still a mystery
Emily Kwong is pretty sure she lacks an inner monologue, while the inner monologue of producer Rachel Carlson won’t stop chatting. But how w...
Prepare to be baffled by what we don't know about eels
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 swa...
This common garden plant summons wasps as bodyguards
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...
Why are scientists planting tiny forests in big cities?
Healthy forests help combat climate change, provide humans with drinking water and even improve mental and physical health. But it’s hard to...
Why you can't stop scrolling: the science of 'dark flow'
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? Sc...
This distant planet has wild weather and gemstone clouds
For many astronomers and astrophysicists there are two distinct, important periods: before the James Webb Space Telescope – and after. It ha...
Should we reengineer the world's deadliest animal?
The most ferocious predator for us humans is actually quite small: the mosquito. They are hungry for blood, spreading diseases like malaria,...
Is it getting windier?
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 r...
The magic — and science — of synchronous fireflies
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 flas...
The supertree shielding coastlines and storing carbon
Coastal fishing communities around the world are struggling with declining fish stocks. That’s because of climate change, environmental degr...