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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

Microbes are little alchemists that perform all manner of chemical reactions. A team of microbiologists co-founded a non-profit to try to harness those abilities to solve some of the world’s big problems — from carbon capture to helping coral reefs to cleaning up waste. Recently, the team turned their attention to the microbes living in people’s homes — on and in shower heads, drip pans, and hot water heaters. These rather extreme environments may have pressured microorganisms into surviving in ways that could be advantageous to humans. Science reporter Ari Daniel takes us on a treasure hunt in miniature.

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

Interested in learning more about the weird and wonderful world of microbes? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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These little microbes may help solve our big problems

Most astronomers agree that young galaxy clusters should be relatively cool compared to older ones. But researchers recently found a very young cluster that’s hotter than the surface of the sun. More on why the finding is so shocking, plus elephant’s remarkable sniffing abilities and a new discovery about butterfly migration in this episode of Short Wave. 

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

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Hot galaxies alert!

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. 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.

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Micro forests: an emerging climate hero?

What happens behind the scenes of a dinosaur exhibit? Short Wave host Regina Barber got to find out … by taking a trip to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. In the museum’s basement, she talked to a paleobiologist, checked out a farmland fossil find and even touched a 67 million-year-old bone. Because, as it turns out, there’s a lot of science that can be found in a museum basement.

Learn more about the Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s exhibit “The Stories We Keep”.

Interested in more archaeology and dino-related science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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Behold a T-Rex holotype, paleontology's "gold standard"

Choose your fighter for the origin of water on Earth! Was it always here or did it come to this planet from somewhere else in space? And, either way, what does this mean for other water worlds in our galaxy? To find out, we talk with Michael Wong, an astrobiologist and planetary scientist at Carnegie Science. He gets into scientists’ strongest candidates for the ways water could have come to our planet many, many years ago – including whether it could have been made here. Buckle up: This is a hot debate in astrobiology right now.

If you enjoyed this episode, check out our Space Camp series and our episode on whether life started on the ocean floor..

Interested in more space science and more unresolved hypotheses about how the universe came to be how it is today? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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Did Earth’s Water Come From Space?

What better time to contemplate the conundrum that is zero than the start of a new year? Zero is a fairly new concept in human history and even more recent as a number. It wasn't until around the 7th century that zero was used as a number. That's when it showed up in the records of Indian mathematicians. Since then, zero has, at times, been met with some fear — at one point the city of Florence, Italy banned the number.

Today, scientists seek to understand how much humans truly comprehend zero — and why it seems to be different from other numbers. That's how we ended up talking to science writer Yasemin Saplakoglu in this encore episode about the neuroscience of this number that means nothing.

Read more of Yasemin's reporting on zero for Quanta Magazine. Plus, check out our episode on why big numbers break our brains.
Interested in more math episodes? Let us know what kind of stories you want to hear from us in 2026 by emailing shortwave@npr.org!
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The trouble of zero

Science in the United States took some big hits this year. The Trump Administration disrupted federal funding for all kinds of scientific pursuits. Administration officials say those changes were a step towards reinvigorating federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health. But many scientists disagree. NPR health and science correspondents Rob Stein and Katia Riddle chat with host Emily Kwong about what these cuts could mean for the future of science.

Interested in more stories on the future of science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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Science In 2025 Took A Hit. What Does It Mean?

Gen Z and younger millennials are generally the most climate literate generations. As an age cohort that started learning about climate change in school, they're worried about how to plan for their future jobs, houses and, yes, kids. With climate-related disasters and global warming likely to worsen, climate anxiety is giving way to reproductive anxiety. So, what do experts say about how to navigate the kid question?

On this encore episode of Nature Quest, Short Wave speaks to Alessandra Ram, a journalist covering climate change, who just had a kid. We get into the future she sees for her newborn daughter and ask, how do we raise the next generation in a way that's good for the planet?

Here are the resources recommended by the experts we interviewed for this story:

Action Tools and Community Resources

The High-Impact Climate Action Guide • by Kimberly A. Nicholas
The Climate Mental Health Network • and 
Climate Emotions WheelThe Climate Café® Hub • - for finding a local group
Books and Research Papers

Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question: Deciding Whether to Have Children in an Uncertain Future • , by Jade S. Sasser
Parenting in a Changing Climate: Tools for cultivating resilience, taking action, and practicing hope in the face of climate change • , by Elizabeth Bechard
Under the Sky We Make: How to Be Human in a Warming World • , by Kimberly A. Nicholas
The role of high-socioeconomic-status people in locking in or rapidly reducing energy-driven greenhouse gas emissions • , Nielsen, K.S., Nicholas, K.A., Creutzig, F. et al. 

Got a question about changes in your local environment? Send a voice memo to shortwave@npr.org with your name, where you live and your question. You might make it into our next Nature Quest episode!

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Climate Anxiety Is Altering Family Planning

Kratom and 7-OH products are available in many smoke shops. But earlier this year, the FDA recommended certain 7-OH products be scheduled alongside opioids. This isn’t the first time kratom has come under scrutiny. Nearly a decade ago, the DEA wanted to make certain active ingredients in kratom controlled substances. Meaning products would go from being widely available to highly restricted. After a massive wave of protest, the DEA decided not to move forward. Producer Rachel Carlson joins host Emily Kwong to talk about what could happen this time around, and what scientists know – and don’t know – about kratom and 7-OH. 

Interested in more of the science behind drugs and supplements? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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Why Kratom Is At The Heart Of A Big Public Health Debate

Scientists in the Arctic are catching the exhaled breaths of whales to better understand their health. How? Drones. Whales breathe through their blowholes, which are the equivalent of nostrils on their heads. By studying the microbes in exhaled whale breaths, scientists are piecing together how deadly diseases spread in whale populations. Host Emily Kwong and producer Berly McCoy talk to All Things Considered host Juana Summers about what scientists can do with this information, from reducing stress on whales and monitoring ocean health to warning people who could be in close proximity to whales carrying zoonotic diseases. 

Interested in more science on charismatic megafauna? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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Why Drones Are Catching Whale Breaths

Being small has its advantages - and some limitations. One organism that intimately knows the pros and cons of being mini is the pumpkin toadlet.

As an adult, the animal reaches merely the size of a chickpea. At that scale, the frog's inner ear is so small, it's not fully functional. That means the frog's movements seem haphazard. Today, with the help of Atlantic science writer Katie Wu, we investigate: If a frog can't jump well, is it still a frog? (encore)

Read Katie Wu's piece in The Atlantic, A Frog So Small, It Could Not Frog.

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Pumpkin Toadlet: Neither Pumpkin, Nor Toad

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