Could virtual reality speed up learning?
Does swinging a lightsaber help us learn? New research from Florida Atlantic University and Brown University found that movement dramaticall...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & Podcasts
Science & Medicine
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...
Episodes
20 of 1,585 episodes
Is your favorite crime show rooted in fake science?
If you’ve ever seen a crime show, you probably know how the plot unfolds: A victim is found, an investigation ensues and police conduct a hi...
MAHA’s midterm report card
It’s been just over two years since the rise of Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA. The movement united a coalition of moms, wellness influ...
You Can See Everything and the science of spotting liars
It feels like everyone we know is talking about the new documentary You Can See Everything. It tracks the effort of comedian and documentari...
The battle between matter and antimatter
At the beginning of our universe, in addition to matter, there was also an equal amount of antimatter , matter's opposite. But today, there'...
The dormant viruses in all of us may help explain long COVID
Virtually every human on Earth has a slew of different types of dormant viruses in our bodies. They are remnants of past infections and are—...
Can planting more trees make allergies worse?
Trees provide shade and clean air in congested cities, so planting more of them seems like a straightforward solution. But trees also produc...
What are the odds we're not alone in the universe?
There are hundreds of billions of stars in the galaxy we live in. Many of them have their own exoplanets. So why haven’t we found proof of a...
What the world's leading researchers think about saunas
Saunas have gone from a Scandinavian tradition to a global wellness phenomenon. But how long should a person endure heat? Do saunas actually...
The terrifying physics of prehistoric sea monsters
While dinosaurs roamed the earth, giant monsters roamed the sea. Mosasaurs were like the deadly T-rexes of the ocean: They grew up to the si...
What's at stake if we can't regrow our forests
In 2022, parachutist Luigi Cani dropped 100 million seeds over the Amazon rainforest while skydiving. He did it to raise awareness about def...
What Flock cameras really see – and how
Police departments across the U.S. are installing Flock cameras, saying the surveillance devices help deter theft and solve crimes, like hel...
The sound of fear: Why so many animals scream
It's Halloween season — and what better way to celebrate October 13th than to explore the haunting sound of fear? That's exactly what we do...
One of the toughest parts of ADHD is left out of the diagnosis
ADHD diagnoses are on the rise in the United States, but what if professionals are missing a key part of the disorder? In the 1970s, some cl...
What's missing from the lethal injection conversation
You might have seen the news that Christa Pike, a convicted murderer in Tennessee, did not die from the injections given to her as part of h...
Science-backed guidance for healthy screen time
We’re all aware – and wary – of doomscrolling. Lots of screen time can be bad for us. But what if that’s not always the case? We spoke with...
The genetic secret helping bats survive a deadly epidemic
We’re easing you into Halloween season with an episode about bats . There’s a silent serial killer decimating little brown bats as they hibe...
Eating alone may be secretly spiking your blood sugar
Being more social has a ton of benefits: lower stress, decreased inflammation – even living a longer life! Recently, some scientists have ad...
How much of Earth's life is still undiscovered?
If you, like us, clicked on the cute cat photos posted everywhere recently, announcing the discovery of the first new cat species in more th...
What social media gets wrong about inflammation
Inflammation is all over our feeds. Influencers claim it’s the reason you're bloated or fatigued, the source of digestive problems and the c...