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When Abra Lee became the landscape manager at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, she sought some advice about how to best do the job. The answer: study the history of gardening. That led to her uncovering how Black involvement in horticulture in the U.S. bursts with incredible stories and profound expertise, intertwined with a tragic past. She's now teaching these stories and working on a book, Conquer the Soil: Black America and the Untold Stories of Our Country's Gardeners, Farmers, and Growers. Abra Lee talks with former Short Wave producer Eva Tesfaye about uncovering Black horticultural history and several of the hidden figures who shaped it.
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As a kid, Clarice Phelps dreamed of being an astronaut, or maybe an explorer like the characters on Star Trek. Her path to a career in science turned out to be a bit different than what she expected, including lengthy stints on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. But that path led her to being a part of something big: the discovery of a new element on the periodic table.
Clarice talks to Short Wave co-host Aaron Scott about her role in creating Tennessine, one of the heaviest elements known to humankind.
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Population geneticist Dr. Janina Jeff is the host and executive producer of In Those Genes, a hip-hop inspired podcast that uses genetics to uncover the those lost identifies of African descended Americans through the lens of Black culture.
Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong speaks with Janina about what a person's genetic ancestry test does and does not reveal, and the complicated intersection of genetics, history and race.
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This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public hearing about its remediation plan for cleaning up chemicals in and around East Palestine, Ohio. It follows the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals like vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate near the town earlier this month. Residents were temporarily evacuated from the area two days later to allow for a controlled burn of the chemicals. EPA health officials have been monitoring the air and water in the area and testing for chemicals as part of their human health risk assessment. We wanted to know: What goes into an assessment like that? And how does the EPA know if people are safe — now and long-term? To walk us through that assessment, we talked to Karen Dannemiller, an associate professor of environmental health science at The Ohio State University.
- Read EPA updates on the Ohio Derailment: https://bit.ly/3Y14qrx
- Read the EPA's remediation plan: https://bit.ly/3SrRk5g
The phone number to request free, private water testing is 330-849-3919.
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In the Bekaa Valley region of Lebanon, there is a giant walk-in fridge housing tens of thousands of seeds. They belong to the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Scientists from around the world use the seeds for research. ICARDA seeds have improved food security in several countries. They've transformed Ethiopian agriculture to use more drought-resistant crops. A new chickpea can be planted in winter. And now, NPR's Middle East correspondent Ruth Sherlock has found that some scientists are turning to the seed bank for answers to a hotter, drier planet. They're hoping ICARDA seeds will lead to breakthroughs in certain crops' resilience to the effects of climate change.
Read more of Ruth's reporting: https://n.pr/3IZB2Od
Curious about other potential climate solutions scientists are researching? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
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In this Back To School episode we consider the "List of Life": the criteria that define what it is to be a living thing. Some are easy calls: A kitten is alive. A grain of salt is not. But what about the tricky cases, like a virus? Or, more importantly, what about futuristic android robots? As part of our Black History Month celebration, developmental biologist Crystal Rogers and scientist-in-residence Regina G. Barber dig into what makes something alive, and wade into a Star-Trek-themed debate.
Is there something you'd like us to cover in our Back To School series? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Berly McCoy, edited by Gabriel Spitzer and fact-checked by Anil Oza. The audio engineer was Josh Newell.
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Monday another earthquake struck southeastern Turkey, near the Syrian border. This time, the quake registered as a magnitude 6.3 — an order lower than the initial, devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake and the magnitude 7.5 aftershock that struck the area two weeks ago on Feb. 6. A magnitude 6.3 is still considered strong, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). And as NPR previously reported, some locals were inside buildings trying to recover belongings lost in the initial quake when Monday's aftershock hit.
It made us wonder: What are aftershocks? And how long will people in Turkey and neighboring countries like Syria have to endure aftershocks while piecing their lives back together? Days? Years?
For answers, we turned to earthquake geologist Wendy Bohon, who we've previously spoken to about the limitations of earthquake detection.
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The video game series that spawned the new hit HBO drama, The Last of Us, is the zombie genre with a twist. Instead of the standard viral pandemic or bacterial disease that's pushed humanity to the brink, but a fungus that has evolved to survive in human bodies in part due to climate change.
Short Wave's Aaron Scott talks with fungal researcher Asyia Gusa about the science that inspired The Last of Us and the real threats fungal researchers see in the ever-warming world.
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Many of us are off today for President's Day. In the meantime, we want to share this episode from our friends at NPR's Life Kit podcast. In it, they discuss the importance of birds as an "indicator species" – their health helps us understand the health of our environment. Plus, they collect expert tips on how we can help birds survive, and thrive.
For more of Audrey's reporting, check out "North American birds are in decline. Here are 8 simple ways you can help."
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After reading the science headlines this week, we have A LOT of questions. Is chocolate really that good for your health? How do solar flares affect life on earth? And what's the big deal about scientists identifying the chemical motivation for tsetse fly sex? Luckily, it's the job of Short Wave co-hosts Emily Kwong and Aaron Scott and Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber to decipher the science behind the headlines. Hang out with us as we dish on some of the coolest science stories in this Valentines-themed installment of our regular newsy get-togethers!
Have suggestions for what we should cover in our next news roundup? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
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