Category: ScienceNews

Tuberculosis – the world’s deadliest infectious disease – could be dormant in your system for years before you realize you have it. In the U.S., it’s relatively rare; provisional data shows that there were just over 10,000 cases in 2024. But in other parts of the world, especially lower-income countries, the disease is spreading much more actively. Worldwide, more than 10 million people are diagnosed with an active tuberculosis infection every year. And even though modern medicine has all the tools to cure it, over a million people around the world still die from the sickness annually.

Author John Green thinks that’s a problem. In his book Everything is Tuberculosis, he charts the spread of tuberculosis in the past to the lessons it has to teach us in the present.


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In the Arctic tundra of Alaska, climate change is forcing an Alaska Native village to relocate. Rising temperatures are melting the underground permafrost. The melted ice then mixes with the soil, creating unstable land the Yupʼik people call Alaskan quicksand. Amalia Huot-Marchand and a team from the Medill School of Journalism report. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Some scientists looking to preserve vulnerable species have turned to a controversial technique: synthetic biology. This catchall term often means genetic engineering – introducing new genes to an organism. And a recent narrow vote by the International Union for Conservation of Nature on using the technology shows how divided scientists are on the issue of releasing genetically altered species. Science correspondent Nate Rott wades into the debate with us and reveals whether or not the Union voted to place a moratorium on releasing gene-edited species.


Read more of Nate’s reporting on the topic.  


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How would you record a special moment? Maybe you could take a photograph, film a little video, or record some audio. We have lots of ways of recording what life LOOKS and SOUNDS like, but is the same true for the other senses? What if you wanted to record the smells that greet you on entering your favourite restaurant? Or record the way your loved ones hand feels in yours?

These are the questions on the mind of listener Aravind, from California in the USA. He wants to know if there are any ways of recording and reproducing sensory experiences like taste and smell, or physical touch.

Anand Jagatia is on the case, and is smelling, tasting, and quite literally FEELING his way to the answer. From a multi-sensory movie experience in Valencia, Spain, to the fascinating history of the pioneers of ‘scented cinema’, through to the ground-breaking “haptic technology” which is enhancing the capabilities of our sense of touch. Both for us, and for the robots which do the jobs we don’t want to.

Presenter: Anand Jagatia

Producer: Emily Knight

Editor: Ben Motley

(Photo: Woman making ASMR sounds with microphone and perfume on yellow background, closeup - stock photo. Credit: Liudmila Chernetska via Getty Images)

Record high gold prices have us looking at the science of inflation, why gold is leaking from volcanoes, and entomologist Katy Price explains why shiny gold can be a good color for camoflague.

Plus the dark science going on in a gold mine, whether we can move at the speed of light, and the debate around golden rice. All that, plus more unexpected elements.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies.

The rate of smoking cigarettes has steadily declined since the 1960s – when Congress required warnings on cigarette boxes. Research shows that people are more likely to try to quit smoking when they’re under 40. But a new study in the journal The Lancet Healthy Longevity shows that quitting later in life can still be beneficial – and could possibly lower your risk for dementia. For this and more news from the science journals, Short Wave hosts Regina G. Barber and Emily Kwong talk with All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly.

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10 years on from the Paris climate agreement, has it helped? Also, an international drought experiment, insights from 2D water, and social distancing… in ants. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Small bushfire. Credit: Lea Scaddan via Getty Images).

This week, countries may approve a carbon tax on the global shipping industry. The International Maritime Organization is poised to approve new levies on ships for their emissions, but the Trump administration argues it's a harmful tax. William Brangham has a profile of Andrew Forrest, a key business player who's attracting attention for his efforts to make industry greener. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

It's World Anesthesia Day tomorrow! So, we invite you to take a deep breathe. Picture a relaxing scene. Maybe a beach in Tahiti, your toes in the sand, a cold drink in hand. Now imagine your favorite music playing in the background. If Dr. Alopi Patel were your anesthesiologist, that's exactly what she'd have you do while you waited for surgery. Before she puts patients under the sway of anesthesia, she likes to explain everything that will happen after they lose consciousness and lead them in guided imagery to help them relax before their procedure. She calls this "verbal anesthesia," and says "it's a type of anesthesia you can't really put in an I.V." Anesthesia is a cornerstone of modern medicine makes tons of surgeries possible today. But Dr. Patel says it wasn't always this way — and shares the history and mechanisms behind this once-controversial procedure. (encore)

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Marijuana is decriminalized or legal in some form in multiple states. But, because it’s illegal on the federal level, states have had to build their own regulatory infrastructure. Without a centralized body to guide them, regulations in one state can look vastly different from those in another. For more on the scope of the issue, Short Wave host Regina G. Barber talks to independent science journalist Teresa Carr and NPR pharmaceuticals correspondent Sydney Lupkin. 
Read more of Teresa’s reporting on state marijuana testing, and more of Sydney’s reporting on the ways California is trying to make weed safer.

Interested in hearing more science behind consumer products? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org – we may feature it on an upcoming episode!

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