Category: ScienceNews

An unlikely partnership between a utility company and climate activists managed to convert a community to geothermal heating and cooling. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on this project for our energy and climate series, Tipping Point. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Atoms are the building blocks of our world. Many have been around since right after the Big Bang created the universe nearly 14 billion years ago. And if life on Earth is made of atoms that are from all the way back then... will those atoms keep existing forever? That’s what CrowdScience Listener Rob in Australia would like to know.

Caroline Steel investigates the immortality of atoms by travelling to CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory located along the border of France and Switzerland. There, theoretical physicist Matthew McCullough explains whether the smallest atoms can decay or survive the test of time.

Physicist Marco van Leeuwen from Nikhef, the National Particle Physics Laboratory in the Netherlands, gives Caroline a behind-the-scenes tour of the ALICE experiment and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. She learns how atoms are smashed at incredibly high speeds, and whether that might spell the end of an atom.

And all life on earth is made up of atoms, but how does a collection of tiny particles become a living being? Astrobiologist Betül Kaçar from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, breaks down how life works from an atomic point of view.

Presenter: Caroline Steel

Producer: Imaan Moin

Editor: Ben Motley

(Photo: Hands cupping a glowing atom in the studio - stock photo. Credit: Paper Boat Creative via Getty Images)

Egyptian strongman Ashraf Mahrous recently pulled two ships totalling 1,150 tonnes with his teeth, setting his sights on the Guinness World Record. Inspired by this story, this week we’re tackling the science of all things strong.

First, we find out about new research that could keep our muscles strong as we age. Next up, we discover why graphene is so strong and how it could help improve data storage.

We're then joined down the line by Dr Matt Caplan, an astrophysicist from Illinois State University, who tells us about his search for a weird substance called ‘nuclear pasta’. And no, you won’t find it in your local Italian restaurant.

Plus, find out how robo-exoskeletons can help you climb hills and why Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance was weaker than expected. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Andrada Fiscutean Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies

Weather in the tropics is decidedly different than it is in the middle latitudes. It turns out, so are the weather systems – the factors that create things like the daily temperature and humidity! Historically, most weather forecasting models have been based on data from high-income countries in the northern hemisphere. But different factors drive weather and climate near the equator – meaning that these weather forecast models are much less accurate at predicting weather in the tropics. This has implications for storm readiness, flooding preparedness and more.

Atmospheric scientist Ángel F. Adames-Corraliza is aiming to change that. His research focuses on how water vapor – humidity – plays a key role in tropical weather systems. It’s earned him a spot as one of this year’s Macarthur Fellows. 

Interested in more science about how weather happens? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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The 2025 Nobel prizes are announced this week – how did Science in Action’s predictions fare? Science author and thinker Philip Ball judges.

Also, a new “Human Disease Blood Atlas” gets a boost, as described by Mathias Uhlén of SciLifeLab.

Meanwhile Nozair Khawaja of Free University of Berlin has been revisiting data from the Cassini mission to Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, back in 2008. His new analysis increases the prospects of habitable conditions deep on the ocean floor beneath the icy crust.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry explains a model during a press conference. Credit: Jonathan Nackstrand via Getty Images).

Some scientific discoveries take place in a lab. Others are made deep in the rainforest, along the ocean floor or on the dark side of the moon. And still others are made squelching through mud and ice on the northernmost island on Earth… at least, if you’re NPR climate correspondent Alejandra Borunda. Two summers ago, Alejandra followed an expedition of scientists to Greenland’s Inuit Qeqertaat, or Kaffeeklubben (“Coffee Club”) Island. The researchers with her were aiming to find what plants grew at the farthest north point of the island. Along the way, she had an adventure … and witnessed the good, the bad and the muddy realities of scientific expeditions.

Interested in more exploratory science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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From its embrace of dubious research about autism, its skepticism over vaccines and its wholesale rejection of the consensus about climate change, the Trump administration has set off alarm bells within the scientific community. William Brangham spoke with two prominent researchers about "Science Under Siege," their new book chronicling what they argue is a concerted war on science. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Usually, when two different species mate, it’s a disaster. At least, that’s what scientists had generally thought about hybrids, the offspring of these unions. But some researchers are starting to change their view as they learn of more beneficial hybrid events. The Atlantic science journalist Katie Wu details two of these hybridization examples: one in desert frogs and one in two ancient plants that <> led to the modern potato.


Interested in more biology episodes? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.


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Creepy crawly season is upon us, Short Wavers! We're welcoming fall with a contemplation of fear and anxiety. In human history, fear kept us safe. It helped us flee from predators. Anxiety made us wary of potential dangers — like venturing into a known lion-infested area. But what happens when these feelings get out of hand in humans today? And why do some of us crave that feeling from scary movies or haunted houses?

For answers, we talk to Arash Javanbakht, a psychiatrist from Wayne State University. He likes studying fear so much he wrote a whole book called Afraid. In this episode, Javanbakht gets into the differences between fear and anxiety, many of the reasons people feel afraid and why things like scary movies could even be therapeutic. (encore)


Want to know more about the science behind what keeps you up at night? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might cover it on a future episode!


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Many people leave electronic devices plugged in when they’re not in use without a second thought. But everyday items that drain energy even when they’re turned off, like coffee machines, video game consoles and laptop chargers, account for 5 to 10% of nationwide home energy use. Stephanie Sy speaks with Alexis Abramson, dean of the Climate School at Columbia University, to learn more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy