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Asked and answered: why some of you might be more prone to being bitten by mosquitoes* than others. Turns out, some interesting factors could make you more appetizing. Plus, in true micro wave fashion, we go over some of your delightful listener mail.
*In general, much more research needs to be done to understand all the nuances of what makes us so appealing to some mosquitoes.
Email us your scientific questions, praise, comments and concerns at shortwave@npr.org. It just might end up in an episode!
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NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce had to know more when she recently heard this mind-bending fact for the first time: a quarter of all known animal species are beetles.
Turns out — it's not just that beetles are incredibly diverse. It's that they inspire a lot of passionate study within the scientific community. But there's at least one other animal that might give beetles a run for their money.
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Fire has always been part of California's landscape. But long before the vast blazes of recent years, Native American tribes held controlled burns that cleared out underbrush, encouraged new plant growth, and helped manage wildfires. It's a tradition that disappeared with the arrival of Western settlers. NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer explains how tribal leaders are trying to restore the practice by partnering up with state officials who are starting to see cultural burns as a way to help bring extreme wildfires under control.
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About 30% of people in science and engineering jobs in the U.S. were born outside the country. So when the Trump Administration suspended certain work visas in June, including one held by a lot of international scientists, research labs across the nation felt the effects. On the show, we talk to a physicist affected by the order, and The Chronicle of Higher Education's Karin Fischer about what policies like this mean for science research in the U.S.
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Since the dawn of Sputnik in 1957, space-faring nations have been filling Earth's orbit with satellites. Think GPS, weather forecasting, telecommunications satellites. And as those have increased, so, too, has space junk. On today's show, we talk about the first mission to clean up space junk and the problem debris poses to sustainability in space. (Encore episode.)
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Black holes are one of the most beguiling objects in our universe. What are they exactly? How do they affect the universe? And what would it be like to fall into one? We venture beyond the point of no return with Yale astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan, into a fascinating world of black holes — where the laws of physics break down. (Encore episode.)
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Science writer Jennifer Leman did it. She ranked all 158 moons in our solar system. The criteria? Interviews with NASA scientists, astronomers, and her own moonpinions. She talks to host Maddie Sofia about some of her favorites. Here's her full list for Popular Mechanics. (Encore episode.)
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It's Space Week on Short Wave! Today, an encore of our episode on dark energy. This mysterious energy makes up almost 70% of our universe and is believed to be the reason the universe is expanding. Yet very little is known about it. To figure out what we do know — and what it could tell us about the fate of the universe — we talk to astrophysicist Sarafina Nance.
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In early August a cable snapped at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, causing substantial damage to one of the largest single dish radio telescopes in the world. Planetary scientist Edgard Rivera-Valentín explains what's at stake until the damage is repaired and the unique role the telescope plays in both scientific research and popular culture.
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