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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.

If you're hooked, try Short Wave Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/shortwave

Short Wave

Could standardizing chocolate help small-scale farmers? Chocolate scientist Julien Simonis thinks it could help persuade consumers to pay for higher quality chocolate, in turn helping out these growers. Every cacao bean is different, and for a long time, there wasn't a standard way of comparing the quality of chocolate. But in 2009, a sustainable agriculture nonprofit started a program called Cacao of Excellence. The goal was to develop a standard way of evaluating cacao just like those sommelier’s do with wine. So today, we’re going behind the scenes of a chocolate laboratory to see just how cacao is evaluated. 

This story was originally reported for NPR by science correspondent Ari Daniel. Read the full story here.

If you liked this episode, check out our episodes on how climate change is hurting chocolate production and how some people are making chocolate alternatives. 

Interested in more chocolate science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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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Inside the lab taste-testing the world's chocolate

Until this week, the United States hadn’t approved a new sunscreen ingredient in over 20 years. That changed Tuesday, when the FDA approved a new chemical for U.S. sunscreens. It’s called bemotrizinol, and NPR science correspondent Maria Godoy joins us to tell us all about it — including the soonest it’s expected to hit shelves.

Interested in more science news? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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.

CORRECTION: This story incorrectly referred to Dr. Heather Rogers as a spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology. She is a fellow of the academy.

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Why your sunscreen is finally getting a major upgrade

Every year, tens of millions of people in the U.S. get the flu vaccine. That’s because the virus changes year-to-year and protection only lasts around six months. Adolfo Garcia-Sastre wants to change that. He’s one scientist working on a universal flu vaccine that could provide decades of protection against all flu illnesses – but only if his team can find the resources that disappeared when U.S. funding dipped.

If you liked this episode, listen to our episode on a vaccine trial that could end HIV.

Interested in more medical innovations? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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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How a single flu shot could protect you for decades

We tend to think of the DNA strands that contain our genetic code as consistent, stable units. But in reality, the cells that make up our bodies are constantly replicating and changing. Even as you read this sentence, in fact, the genes within your cells are mutating. So, what causes these mutations and what’s the impact? Science writer Roxanne Khamsi examines the answers in her new book, Beyond Inheritance. Today on the show, she gets into how scientists examine these mutations, how they’ve shifted our understanding of disease and what the future of genetic therapy could entail.

Interested in more biological and life sciences? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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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Your DNA is changing all the time. Here’s why

Emily Kwong is pretty sure she lacks an inner monologue, while the inner monologue of producer Rachel Carlson won’t stop chatting. But how well can a person know their inner self? And what does science have to say about it? We dig in in this encore episode of Short Wave.

To learn more about Charles Fernyhough’s research on voice hearing, visit the project website. 

If you liked this episode, check out our episode on when your brain is actually an "adult."

Interested in more science inside your brain? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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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Inner monologues are still a mystery

More than a century ago, all that people knew about European eels was that they lived in the rivers and streams for decades — until they swam out to the ocean and never returned. Eventually, tiny eels would show up and the cycle would start again. Where did the adult eels go? Where did the baby eels come from? Did they even reproduce at all or just spontaneously emerge into being? Science now has some — but not all — of the answers to these questions. Today on the show, Regina G. Barber talks to fish physiologist Arjan Palstra about this mystery and how close scientists are to solving it. 

If you liked this episode, check out our episode on the Pacific lamprey.

Interested in more science mysteries? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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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Prepare to be baffled by what we don't know about eels

In our latest science news roundup: how nature adapts, for better or worse. 

When faced with pests, plants may not be able to run away – but that doesn’t mean they’re defenseless. Some have thorns or spines, others have poisonous leaves or berries, and still others have…elaborate chemical defense alarm systems? In a recent study, researchers discovered that the common bean plant, P. vulgaris, has a particularly innovative response to hungry caterpillars: a compound in the caterpillar's spit causes the plants to release a chemical signal that attracts wasps. Those wasps then eat the caterpillars or lay eggs in their bodies, effectively removing the threat. Today on the show, we’re diving into plant science and a round of other new scientific studies with All Things Considered host Sacha Pfeiffer.

If you're interested in the fibermaxxing episode Han mentioned, check it out here.

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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This common garden plant summons wasps as bodyguards

Healthy forests help combat climate change, provide humans with drinking water and even improve mental and physical health. But it’s hard to imagine an entire forest in the middle of a big city. That’s where micro-forests come into play — public forests on a smaller scale, filled with native plants. They exist around the world, and producer Rachel Carlson went to visit the largest micro-forest in California in this encore episode. She joins host Emily Kwong to chat about what she saw. 

Interested in more of the science behind urban nature? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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Why are scientists planting tiny forests in big cities?

You pick up your phone to do one quick task, and suddenly 20 minutes have flown by without you even noticing. How do apps do that to you? Science journalist Michaeleen Doucleff felt like her phone had superglue on it, holding her on it for hours each day while draining her of time and energy. Turns out, that feeling isn’t accidental. In her new book, Dopamine Kids, Michaeleen describes four features that tech companies add to apps to keep us scrolling for as long as possible. She’s sharing this superglue recipe with Short Wave host Emily Kwong … and explaining how these features can pull people into what scientists call a ‘dark flow’ state.

Interested in more tech and social media science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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.

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Jimmy Keeley.

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Why you can't stop scrolling: the science of 'dark flow'

For many astronomers and astrophysicists there are two distinct, important periods: before the James Webb Space Telescope – and after. It has powered many scientific discoveries since it came online, including two at the heart of this episode: insights into one of Neptune’s moons and a “hot Jupiter” exoplanet orbiting another star. This exoplanet has a strange weather system with high winds and cloud coverage only on one side of the planet. Fill in some of the scientific gaps about our solar system and the universe beyond with us.

Interested in more space science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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Inner monologues are still a mystery

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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