Category: ScienceNews

Act now to ensure public media remains free and accessible to all. Your donation will help this essential American service survive and thrive. Visit donate.npr.org now.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

This week, a new report into the dangers that sand and dust storms pose to the world's health and economy has inspired us to delve in the science of dust.

First, we look at the report by the World Meteorological Organisation and hear about what can be done to mitigate the dangers of dust.

We also find out the surprising way in which the Sahara is keeping the Amazon rainforest well-fed, and Derek Fabel from the University of Glasgow tells us how dust can help us to determine the age of glaciers.

Plus, the dusty maths that took 15 years to solve, and the musician who swapped jazz for space dust.

All that, and many more Unexpected Elements.

Presenter: Caroline Steel Producers: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Minnie Harrop, Lucy Davies, and Robbie Wojciechowski

If you were a miner in California during the Gold Rush, you might have dined on a California red-legged frog. The largest native frog in the western United States, this Golden State denizen used to be found as far inland as the Sierra Nevada mountains and south, into Baja California. But today, they're listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Conservationists have worked to translocate new populations of the red-legged frog back to California in hopes that their numbers can be restored. But how do they monitor those populations' growth? Enter AI.

Want to hear more stories about critters or conservation? Let us know at shortwave@npr.org.

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.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Two black holes have collided and combined in the largest merger yet observed. Mark Hannam of Cardiff University and member of the study explains how the Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatories (LIGO) detected this ‘violent’ event through spacetime. The lifestyle of ancient humans had an impact on their risk for infectious diseases. Astrid Iversen of the University of Oxford explains how the shift away from being hunter-gatherers played a role in the origins of human pathogens.

Nitrogen fixation, or the process of organic compounds accessing nitrogen from the atmosphere via microorganisms, plays a key role in climate modelling. But prior estimations have long been missing key data to make accurate analysis. Carla Reis Ely of Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education shares the updated facts and figures on global nitrogen fixation.

How intelligent is artificial intelligence? Can AI start discovering new scientific laws in the year? Keyon Vafa of Harvard University put several AI models to the test to see if they could discover Newton’s law of gravity and understand the world around us. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Imaan Moin Production Coordinator: Jana Bennet-Holesworth

(Image: Black Hole, digital illustration. Credit: Aaron Horowitz via Getty Images)

The National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — 988 — launched on this day exactly three years ago. People who call the line seeking support are connected to a local network of crisis centers and a trained crisis counselor. And while millions of people have contacted the line since its launch, a new study shows portions of the country still don't know about it. Short Wave host Emily Kwong speaks to Jonathan Purtle, one of the lead researchers of on this study, about the findings, how the hotline differs from 911 and what its existence signals to Americans.

Want us to cover more mental health news? Tell us by emailing shortwave@npr.org! We'd love to know what you want to hear from us!

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.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Jurassic Park: Rebirth is the latest installment in the Jurassic World series. And while dinosaur paleontologist Matt Lamanna has loved dinos — and the Jurassic Park franchise — his whole life, he says some of the films are more accurate than others. So how accurate are the ones unveiled in this latest movie? Matt gets into it with Short Wave host Regina G. Barber, who got a tour of the dinosaur exhibits where Matt works: the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. They also discuss the accuracy of the beloved giant creatures in the newest Jurassic World film, as well as some of the hits from the franchise's archive — like the dinosaur he was partially responsible for discovering.

Want us to cover more natural history? Tell us by emailing shortwave@npr.org! We'd love to know what you want to hear from us.

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.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

For this second installment of the Sea Camp series, we explore the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It's the largest of five gigantic garbage patches in the sea. These patches hang out at the nexus of the world's ocean currents, changing shape with the waves. These areas were long thought to have been uninhabited, the plastics and fishing gear too harmful to marine life. But researchers have uncovered a whole ecosystem of life in this largest collection of trash. Today, with the help of marine biologist Fiona Chong, we meet the tiny marine life that calls this place home.

Also, exciting news!! WE HAVE A NEWSLETTER! It lets you go even deeper with the marine research each week of Sea Camp. Sign up here!

Interested in hearing more sea stories? Tell us by emailing shortwave@npr.org!

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.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

According to a recent study published in the journal Nature Cities, 28 of the most populous U.S. cities are sinking. It’s due to a phenomenon called land subsidence, exacerbated in many cases by humans extracting too much groundwater from underground aquifers. Ali Rogin speaks with Grist senior writer Matt Simon to learn more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Here's a conundrum that has captivated scientists: when Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, our planet was essentially a ball of molten rock. Any water that might have been present during the planet's formation would surely have boiled away immediately. Yet today, water covers about 70% of Earth's surface.

So where did all this water come from? And more intriguingly, when did it arrive? Listener Bill in the USA wants to know, and Presenter Caroline Steel is after answers.

Assistant Professor Muhammad Abdul Latif is an early earth physicist at United Arab Emirates University. He explains how his modelling has helped us to understand when water first appeared in our universe.

The early earth was not a water-friendly place - a hellscape of molten rock, volcanic eruptions and constant bombardments from comets and asteroids, with high levels of solar radiation. These conditions would have evaporated the water. And according to Professor Richard Greenwood at Open University, our earth’s molten iron core would have been a ball of rust if there had been water in the proto-earth mix.

So if the water hasn’t always been here, where did it come from?

At the Natural History Museum in London, Professor Sara Russell has been comparing the isotopic "fingerprint" of Earth's water with water found in the asteroid Bennu, captured and brought back by the recent Osiris Rex NASA mission. It’s a good match for earth’s water, but could it really be the answer to our question?

Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Marnie Chesterton Editor: Ben Motley

(Image: Man overlooking the sea from cliff top. Credit: Gary Yeowell via Getty Images)

Shark Awareness Day on 14th July sends us on a deep dive into marine biology.

First, we learn how shark-inspired materials could help make aeroplane flights more efficient.

Next, we hear about the fish that don’t flee from sharks... instead, they seek them out to help them hunt.

Bob Duke, Meyerson Professor of Music and Human Learning at the University of Texas, Austin, joins us in the studio to reveal how and why the iconic Jaws music taps into our psychology to leave us trembling.

We also hear about a couple of tiny islands in the Southern Ocean, on which an unexpected predator is wreaking havoc.

Plus, why a tiny fish is being ground up and fed to other fish.

All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Leonie Joubert and Christine Yohannes Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Imaan Moin, Minnie Harrop and Margaret Sessa Hawkins