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New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — in just under 15 minutes. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join hosts Emily Kwong and Regina Barber for science on a different wavelength.
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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 high-stakes search for the culprit. Detectives and crime lab techs collect hair, examine bullet casing
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 influencers and voters across the political spectrum over concerns about chronic illness and childhood di
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 documentarian Nathan Fielder to suss out how deceptive Elizabeth Holmes, disgraced founder of the company Thera
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's lots more matter than antimatter. So how did that happen? Well, the answer might have to do with ne
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—generally—harmless. Unless they wake up, which can be triggered by extreme stress or something that
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 produce a natural pollutant— pollen. In this episode, producer Juan Diego Ramirez reports on the link betw
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 alien life yet? And what’s the probability of us contacting or being contacted anyway? That’s exactly
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 work? And if so, what are their benefits? NPR health reporter Will Stone goes as deep as the scienc
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 size of a bus and chased down their smaller prey. A recent study in the journal Current Biology (https
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 deforestation and help regrow the forest. But there has been little scientific follow up to see whether
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 helping find stolen property and missing people. But as the technology and its use by federal agencies
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 in this episode, where hostRegina G. Barber (https://www.npr.org/people/1082526815/regina-g-barber)
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 clinicians recognized a lot of their ADHD patients had trouble with emotional regulation. But because
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 her death penalty sentence last week. After her failed execution, she was hospitalized, where she con
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 author of a study that found a positive relationship between screen time and brain development i
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 hibernate. White nose syndrome has driven populations across the U.S. to almost the brink of extinction o
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 added lowering your blood sugar to the list. To figure it out, researchers had people break bread both
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 than a century, you might have wondered how rare it is to find a new species. Turns out, it’s not! We
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 cause of more serious illnesses like Alzheimer's or cardiovascular disease. But how much of that is s
A fall mystery: why do only certain leaves turn red?
Leaves turn yellow in the fall because Chlorophyll breaks down, revealing the yellow pigment that was there all along. But why red? Red is a different story altogether. Leaves have to make a new pigment to turn red. Why would a dying leaf g
'Super' El Niño is coming. What should you expect?
The world is bracing for the worst effects of a Super El Niño. Or a Godzilla El Niño. But what does that really even mean? For millennia El Niño has shaped weather across the globe, fueling flooding in parts of the U.S., droughts and wildfi
Vaccinated or not, we’re on the brink of a measles epidemic
Measles is making a comeback. Ongoing outbreaks in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah have documented hundreds of cases, mostly among unvaccinated people. And while local and federal politicians debate the definitions and impact
The science of self-worth (and how to boost yours)
Your self-worth today can be affected by your memories. But you have power over those memories – when you re-experience them. By doing that, you can reshape your self-esteem for the better and change your perspective. That idea and the broa
Why we should all be 'bookmaxxing'
Remember your mom, dad and teachers telling you to read because it’s good for you? Well, a compilation of the latest research shows they were right. “Reading is one of the simplest and most accessible activities for actually supporting cogn
The latest on AI panic — and whether it's justified
AI is in the news again – for its potential to end civilization. A researcher at Anthropic resigned very publicly last week, citing concerns about the accelerating capabilities of AI and what he called “irresponsible” behavior from major AI
When batteries get a facelift, so does renewable energy
For years, renewable energy companies have faced a problem: How to store the mass amounts of energy they produce for later use. Batteries may be just the solution. In California, there's now enough grid-scale battery storage to power millio
Why you'll probably be misdiagnosed in your lifetime
Nearly every person will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime. That means either a delayed diagnosis, a wrong diagnosis – or no diagnosis at all. That’s according to a report (https://www.nationalacademies.org/projects
Should race affect BMI guidelines? Doctors are split
BMI is a quick, cheap way for doctors to estimate body fat and screen for conditions like heart disease and diabetes. But medicine has long known that BMI is problematic and unnuanced. By using it, groups of people have fallen through the c
How scientists discovered that animals are doctors, too
When people are sick, we seek out medications and treatments to help heal. For a long time, scientists thought that was a uniquely human ability. But it turns out, many other animals do a version of it too! And since the late 1980s, western
Lindsay Clancy and postpartum psychosis
The trial around Lindsay Clancy may be over for now, but it still leaves us with questions. On today’s episode, we talk to psychiatrists and patients to answer them: What is postpartum psychosis, exactly? Why don’t we know more about it? An
