Take a big inhale through your nose. Now, exhale. Breathing may seem simple, but it's controlled by a complex brain network. Each inhale gives the human brain information about the external world. And now, a new research paper in the journal Current Biologysuggests that humans have unique breathing patterns, almost like nasal "fingerprints." Not only that: These unique breathing patterns seem to say a lot about people's physical and mental health.
Questions about the science behind your brain and body? Email us at shortwave@npr.org – we'd love to hear your ideas!
Writer and professor Melissa Febos had been in a series of consecutive relationships for decades. Then, one particularly devastating experience led her to take stock of her dependency on sex and love. She says she was in "the right amount of pain" to make a change. For Febos, that period kicked off what would become a year of transformative celibacy. Her new book The Dry Season chronicles the way abstinence from sex and relationships allowed Febos to awaken to her desires, motivations and decisions in a new way. In today's episode, she speaks with Marielle Segarra – host of NPR's Life Kit podcast – about how this year changed her outlook on attraction, attention, dancing, and the divine.
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Elon Musk has ridden off into the sunset acrimoniously (maybe), but the Department of Government Efficiency is just getting started. Will DOGE continue wildly cutting or is something even more chaotic coming next?
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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.
This week on The Progress Report, Zachary and Emma cut through the noise of a turbulent news week to spotlight stories of real progress. From the historic UN ocean treaty poised to protect international waters, to shifting global attitudes on gender and record-high American retirement savings, Zachary and Emma look at how the world is moving forward sometimes with, sometimes without, the United States. What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.
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An investigation is underway into the crash of Air India flight AI-171, which went down shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad. Also: scientists discover a previously unknown species of dinosaur in Mongolia.