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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
- 14 minutes 22 secondsWhy Suicide Prevention is 'Everyone's Business'Written by Jo Lambert, ‘Hold The Hope’ is now being used as suicide prevention training material by the UK’s National Health Service Mental Health Trust. Emily Kwong speaks with Rhitu Chatterjee about the inner strength of those who live with suicidality, how a song is opening up new conversations for mental health care, and how caregivers can help a person choose life, despite having persistent thoughts of death.
If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, contact the 988 National & Suicide Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
Listen to the full version of the ‘Hold The Hope’ song here
Read more of Rhitu’s reporting on ‘Hold the Hope’ here
Listen to Rhitu and Emily’s previous conversation about practical ways to help someone at risk of suicide here
Interested in more stories about mental health care? Email us your question at [email protected].
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NPR Privacy Policy23 December 2025, 8:00 am - 14 minutes 43 secondsNo, Raccoons Aren’t Pet-Ready (Yet)Dogs are man’s best friend. And it’s no secret that we at Short Wave love cats (Regina has four)! Both of these iconic pets have been domesticated – evolved and adapted to live alongside humans – for millennia. And a recent study suggests that the common raccoon may be on its first steps towards joining them.
So how do scientists look for signs of domestication and what do those signs mean? And could you have a litter box trained raccoon in your lifetime? We talk to the study’s lead author, Raffaela Lesch, to find out.
Interested in more animal science stories? Email us your question at [email protected].
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NPR Privacy Policy22 December 2025, 5:00 am - 12 minutes 12 secondsGLP-1 Pills Are On The Way. Here's What To KnowYou may have heard of Ozempic, and other GLP-1 drugs. They’re everywhere. And they typically involve weekly injections — which can have a sticker price of over a thousand dollars a month. And insurance coverage has been tricky to navigate for a lot of people. That’s why there’s a lot of excitement around a new pill form of the drug. NPR Pharmaceuticals Correspondent Sydney Lupkin chats about these experimental pills with host Emily Kwong.
Check out more of NPR’s coverage about GLP-1s.
Interested in more health stories? Email us your question at [email protected].
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NPR Privacy Policy19 December 2025, 8:00 am - 10 minutes 53 secondsThe Indicator: Take A Penny, Leave A Penny, Get Rid Of The Penny
In November, the U.S. stopped production of the humble penny after 232 years in circulation. On today’s show, Darian Woods and Wailin Wong from NPR's daily economics podcast The Indicator unpack the fiscal math that doomed the penny, and an artist pay tribute to this American icon.
Follow the Indicator on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
View more of Robert Wechsler’s artwork 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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NPR Privacy Policy18 December 2025, 8:05 am - 14 minutes 24 seconds"A Very, Very Big Deal." Countries Take On Fossil FuelsMany countries are frustrated with U.N. climate conferences. While some countries urgently want to transition away from fossil fuels — the main driver of global warming — others are blocking that language from climate agreements. Today on the show, Emily talks with Julia Simon from NPR’s climate desk. She takes us to Brazil and introduces us to a group of countries that are trying something new.
Interested in more science and climate related news? Email us your question at [email protected].
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NPR Privacy Policy17 December 2025, 5:00 am - 14 minutes 29 secondsCould Architecture In Space Make A Greener Earth?Humankind has the technology to go to space. Space architect Ariel Ekblaw says the bottleneck now is real estate: getting larger volumes of space stations in orbit. Her company is working on the equivalent of giant, magnetic space Legos—hexagons that could self-assemble in space into livable, workable structures. This episode, host Regina G. Barber talks to her about this space architecture and why she says that the goal isn’t to abandon Earth–but to off-world industries like agriculture and manufacturing in order to build a better Earth.
If you liked this episode, check out our Space Camp series.
Interested in more space tech episodes? Email us your question at [email protected].
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NPR Privacy Policy16 December 2025, 8:00 am - 13 minutes 1 secondIs The Quantum Future Here?This year, quantum science and computing came up a lot. There have been broad claims that quantum science and engineering could one day help cure diseases, design new materials, optimize supply chains -- or help in other ways not yet fathomable. And, while the Trump administration has made strides to cut scientific funding, quantum research is one of two things they’ve pledged to continue investing in – along with artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, scientists have been hard at work, pushing the research to move quantum engineering from sci-fi to real-world usefulness. All of this got science correspondent Katia Riddle wondering: When will all of this effort actually pay off? She talked to a lot of scientists to figure it out -- and to figure out how much scientist really understand about quantum science. She brings everything she learned onto the show today.
To hear more Short Wave reporting on quantum clocks, check out this episode: Quantum Mechanics For Beginners
Interested in more quantum science? Email us your question at [email protected].
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NPR Privacy Policy15 December 2025, 8:00 am - 11 minutes 18 secondsCould This Exoplanet Harbor Life?Want to be a top notch candidate for hosting alien life? Then there's a few key requirements you should be aware of: Ideally, you're a large object like a moon or a planet; scientists suspect you also have an atmosphere and water; plus, you should orbit your star from a nice mid-range distance — in the "Goldilocks Zone" of habitability. Until recently, you would be competing against TRAPPIST-1 e. It's a planet outside of our solar system. TRAPPIST-1 e is also only 40 light years away, rocky and the same size as Earth, which prompted researchers to investigate whether it also has an atmosphere — and the potential for alien life. A team of researchers has been investigating TRAPPIST-1 e to learn more about its potential. Their answers, recently published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, say a lot not just about this exoplanet, but about how scientists should refocus their hunt for alien life.
Interested in more space science? Email us your question at [email protected].
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NPR Privacy Policy12 December 2025, 8:00 am - 12 minutes 55 secondsHow Replaceable Are You?In the 1970’s TV show called Six Million Dollar Man, a test pilot is in a horrible accident. The show’s famous line goes, “We can rebuild him. We have the technology.” Now, in the 2025 book, Replaceable You, science writer Mary Roach explores how people have collectively lived up to the task of rebuilding human bodies when they fail, as well as all the ways we may not quite be there yet. In this episode Regina G. Barber and Mary Roach discuss three chapters of the book, get into everything from iron lungs to private parts and try to answer the question, “How replaceable are you?”
Interested in more science behind the human body? Check out our episodes on synthetic cells and the first pig kidney transplant. Email us your question at [email protected].
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NPR Privacy Policy10 December 2025, 8:00 am - 15 minutes 3 secondsThe Closest Thing To A Cure For AllergiesMore than 100 million people in the U.S. have some allergy each year. That’s about every 1 in 3 adults. For many, the fix is a bandaid: over-the-counter allergy medications. But there’s another treatment that works to lessen these reactions rather than just manage people’s symptoms, allergy shots. The treatment has been around for over a century and is still popular today. Patients have to take the shots for a few years, and it’s the closest thing science has to a cure. Host Regina G. Barber speaks with Dr. Gina Dapul-Hidalgo about how this immunotherapy works and how certain guidelines to keep your child from developing common food allergies have changed.
Interested in more science behind allergies? Check out our other episodes:- Having a food allergy? And how your broken skin barrier might be the cause
- Spring Allergies and what to do about them
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NPR Privacy Policy9 December 2025, 8:00 am - 15 minutes 41 secondsControversy In Yellowstone
Thirty years ago, park rangers reintroduced grey wolves into Yellowstone National Park. They wanted to restore the ecosystem and get the elk population, which had decimated the plant community, in check. And it worked – or so the popular narrative suggests. But is it really so simple? Today on the show, we explore how the Yellowstone ecosystem has changed since wolves returned and whether those changes can really be pinned solely on wolves. Plus, how the narrative of the Yellowstone wolf legacy could affect wolf reintroduction elsewhere. (encore)
Curious about other science controversies? Email us at [email protected].
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