Category: ScienceNews

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Short Wave - The Science of Making Bread

Social distancing has some of us taking up bread baking for the first time, including host Maddie Sofia. Chemist and baker Patricia Christie explains the science of making bread, including a few tips for when things go wrong with your bread dough. And she offers some advice for first-time bakers everywhere.

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Short Wave - How To Talk About The Coronavirus With Friends And Family

Liz Neeley, science communication expert and executive director of The Story Collider, shares some advice for how to talk to your friends and family about the coronavirus. Here's her article for The Atlantic: 'How To Talk About The Coronavirus.'

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Unexpected Elements - The impossibility of social distancing and even handwashing in crowded refugee camps

Massively over crowded Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos has seen numbers grow from 5 to 20 thousand in a matter of months. Hundreds of people share taps and toilets, there is little chance to implement measures designed to stop the spread of covid 19. So far the camp has not been hit by the epidemic, but aid agencies fear for the most vulnerable in the camp.

Covid 19 jumped from bats to humans, possibly via another wild animal. A study of zoonotic diseases has identified many other viruses that could do the same.

The skies are clearer, levels of pollution from traffic have dropped by up to 50 percent but how long will cleaner air remain?

And Comet Borisov makes a spectacular exit.

Listener Keith from Lincolnshire wants to know how to reduce stress as he is under extreme pressure as a firefighter. Not only does he have to cope with the stress of responding to emergency situations but he has to do it while wearing challenging breathing equipment. We all experience times of stress, especially given the current situation, our chest starts to feel tight and our breathing becomes shallow. Claudia Hammond – presenter of BBC World Service programme Health Check – explains steps we can take to protect our mental health during this pandemic. How should we alter our breathing to manage stress? Presenter Anand Jagatia speaks to breathing experts to find techniques to help listener Keith, and everyone else.

(Image: Moria refugee camp, Lesvos, Greece. Credit: Getty Images)

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CrowdScience - How can I reduce stress?

Listener Keith from Lincolnshire wants to know how to reduce stress as he is under extreme pressure as a firefighter. Not only does he have to cope with the stress of responding to emergency situations but he has to do it while wearing challenging breathing equipment.

We all experience times of stress, especially given the current situation, our chest starts to feel tight and our breathing becomes shallow. Claudia Hammond – presenter of BBC World Service programme Health Check – explains steps we can take to protect our mental health during this pandemic.

How should we alter our breathing to manage stress? Presenter Anand Jagatia speaks to breathing experts to find techniques to help listener Keith, and everyone else.

Presented by Anand Jagatia. Produced by Caroline Steel for BBC World Service.

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Short Wave - The “7 Day COVID-19 Crash”

Some patients with COVID-19 are experiencing a crash after about a week of showing symptoms of the disease. The cause?

Well, as NPR's Geoff Brumfiel explains, doctors are starting to think it might not be the virus.

For more reporting on the coronavirus and other science topics, follow Maddie and Geoff on Twitter. They're @maddie_sofia and @gbrumfiel.

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Science In Action - Covid 19 – the threat to refugees

Massively over crowded Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos has seen numbers grow from 5 to 20 thousand in a matter of months. Hundreds of people share taps and toilets, there is little chance to implement measures designed to stop the spread of covid 19. So far the camp has not been hit by the epidemic, but aid agencies fear for the most vulnerable in the camp.

Covid 19 jumped from bats to humans, possibly via another wild animal. A study of zoonotic diseases has identified many other viruses that could do the same.

The skies are clearer, levels of pollution from traffic have dropped by up to 50 percent but how long will cleaner air remain?

And Comet Borisov makes a spectacular exit.

(Image: Moria refugee camp, Lesvos, Greece. Credit: Getty Images)

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Julian Siddle

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Short Wave - Science Is For Everyone. Until It’s Not.

Brandon Taylor's story has a happy ending. Today he's a successful writer whose debut novel 'Real Life' received glowing reviews earlier this year. But his success only underscores what science lost when Brandon walked away from a graduate biochemistry program in 2016. He tells host Maddie Sofia why he left, and what he misses.

Read his essay in BuzzFeed, 'Working In Science Was A Brutal Education. That's Why I Left.'

Find and support your local public radio station at donate.npr.org/short.

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Short Wave - Puerto Ricans Are At Risk From The Coronavirus And A Lack Of Information

The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has the most older Americans per capita, making their population especially vulnerable to the coronavirus. A vital tool in preventing its spread there? Timely and culturally relevant public health information in Spanish. Maddie talks with Mónica Feliú-Mójer of the group CienciaPR about their science communication efforts.

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