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Short Wavers, we hear your requests. You want MORE! SPACE! So this is the first installment of a new segmentfocusing only on space news. First, we talk about the new sci-fi film Project Hail Mary and the accuracy of the science in the movie. Then, we move on to data centers in orbit, if they are better for the environment and why even send them up into space. Finally, we round out the conversation with a quick update about the upcoming Artemis II launch. The space nerds assembled for this conversation are host and astrophysicist Regina G Barber, known space enthusiast and host of All Things Considered Scott Detrow and NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel.
Interested in more on space? Check out our whole summer series, Space Camp. Or email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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Would you drink recycled wastewater? It could be a solution to the global water crisis. But not everyone is ready to jump onboard. They say it’s not technology that’s keeping more cities from recycling their wastewater, but psychology. Experts call this resistance “the yuck factor.” We chat with water journalist Peter Annin about some history behind water recycling – and why more cities could adopt the solution soon.
This is part of a whole series on the world’s dwindling water supply. Check out the rest of the water series:
Part 1: When the wells run dry
Part 2: The world’s groundwater problem
Part 3: Freshwater’s growing salt problem
Email us your questions about water, the wider environment – or anything else to do with science at shortwave@npr.org. We may turn it into an episode in the future!
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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Aru Nair checked the facts. The audio engineer was Jimmy Keeley.
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Around the world, the planet’s freshwater is getting saltier. And it’s because of people. For decades, salting roads, fertilizer run-off and evaporation driven by human-caused climate change have upped the salinity of lakes, rivers and groundwater. All that salt is detrimental to a lot of aquatic life and can be problematic for drinking water, too. But there’s still time to reverse course. In fact, many people have already started to change their ways. Today, producer Berly McCoy is on the case to see what solutions exist.
This is part of a whole series on the world’s dwindling water supply. Check out the rest of the water series:
Part 1: When the wells run dry
Part 2: The world’s groundwater problem
Part 3: Freshwater’s growing salt problem
Email us your questions about water, the wider environment – or anything else to do with science at shortwave@npr.org. We may turn it into an episode in the future!
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.
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Groundwater is responsible for about half of the water people use globally. It’s drying up. Hayes Kelman started noticing the family farm in western Kansas was slowly getting less water around the time he was in high school. Now, as an adult and co-owner of Kelman farms, he is acutely aware that there’s a problem: the aquifer he uses to water his crops is being drained faster than it can be refilled. If something doesn’t change, someday it will run out of water.
Today, producer Berly McCoy dives into the state of the world’s groundwater and asks: What happens when people pull too much? And can the damage be reversed?
Check out part 1 of our water series, Day Zero: When the wells run dry.
Interested in more water science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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In honor of World Water Day, Short Wave is exploring the ways water touches our lives. From increasing water shortages around the world, to how it’s affecting agriculture and aquifers. We’re starting with “day zero”: the day a city or place runs out of water. Cape Town, Mexico City, Chennai in India are just a few places that have come close to day zero events. Today, we talk to experts and hear from someone who lived in Cape Town during the crisis about why we’re overdue for rethinking our relationship to water.
This is part of a whole series on the world's dwindling water supply. Check out the rest of the water series:
A multi-year megadrought in the Western U.S. has claimed untold populations of wild plants. Amid the conditions, some have survived. Scientists have produced a stunningly complete picture about how populations of one particular flower – the scarlet monkeyflower – made it through.
In a new study published in the journal Science, a team of scientists spent decades studying and sampling select populations of scarlet monkeyflowers in California and Oregon. Through genetic sequencing, the team discovered that the populations that did best went through genetic changes in a short time period. This is known as rapid evolution.
The team found that three of the populations that recovered the BEST adapted their stomata to open less, so they could conserve more water. Stomata act like a plant’s pores, managing gas exchange and water loss. This allowed the scarlet monkeyflowers to hunker down in the drought and survive.
Interested in more stories about rapid evolution? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre, Rachel Carlson and Hannah Chinn. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata and Rebecca Ramirez. Aru Nair checked the facts. The audio engineers were Becky Brown and Robert Rodriguez.
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The new food pyramid was released earlier this year. It emphasizes protein, full-fat dairy and what Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls “healthy fats.” These guidelines influence the standards for school lunches, food labeling and programs like SNAP. Today on the show, Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong chats with registered dietitian nutritionist Shana Spence, and Dr. Sarah Kim, a diabetes specialist, about the new guidelines. Plus, NPR’s Reflect America fellow Kadin Mills unpacks how the new food pyramid could change school lunch trays.
Check out more of Kadin’s coverage about the changes in dietary guidelines.
Interested in more health science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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US-Israeli airstrikes on oil depots culminated in ‘black rain’ in Iran early last week – a phenomenon usually caused by large amounts of soot, carbon and other pollutants in the air. Usually, rain leaves the atmosphere cleaner than it was before. But in this case, the rain left Tehran’s residents with sore throats and burning eyes. Oily, sooty residue was all over the city. So, we talked to an environmental pollution expert to find out: What’s in this ‘black rain’, what are its potential short- and long-term environmental and health effects, and what could recovery look like?
Interested in more science behind current events? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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It’s likely you have at least one “guilty pleasure.” Maybe it’s romance novels. Or reality TV… Playing video games… or getting swept into obscure corners of TikTok. Neuroscientists say the pleasure response helps us survive as a species. So why do we feel embarrassed by some of the things we love the most? Even if you don't have these negative emotions, experiencing – and studying – pleasure is not as straightforward as it might seem. For a long time, neuroscientists thought the concept of "pleasure" referred to a singular system in the brain. But as research into the subject grew, scientists realized that pleasure is really a cycle of "wanting" and "liking" – each with separate neural mechanisms. Today on the show, producer Rachel Carlson explores this cycle with researchers, who weigh in on the science of pleasure. Even the kind that makes us feel guilty.
Read more of Rachel’s story on guilty pleasures.
Interested in more brain science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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When producer Berly McCoy was out on her local frozen lake, she saw something she'd never seen before. There were dark spidery, star-shaped patterns in the ice and they freaked her out. So, we called an expert to find out more about them. In today’s episode, geophysicist Victor Tsai tells us about lake stars and how he became the first person to scientifically prove how they form. Plus, he explains how knowing more about lake stars can potentially give us clues about the presence of water on Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons.
Read Victor Tsai’s full paper on lake stars here.
Have a question about something in the environment? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
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