Category: ScienceNews

The sci-fi film Dune: Part Two is out in theaters now. The movie takes place on the harsh desert planet, Arrakis, where water is scarce and giant, killer sandworms lurk just beneath the surface. But what do planetary scientists and biologists think about the science of these worms, Arrakis and our other favorite sci-fi planets?

Today on the show, Regina G. Barber talks to biologist (and Star Trek consultant!) Mohamed Noor and planetary scientist Michael Wong about Dune, habitable planets and how to make fantasy seem more realistic.

Want more of the science behind your favorite fictional worlds? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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The All of Us Research Program is undergoing the herculean task of gathering genomic data from over one million people living in the United States, from widely different backgrounds, in the hopes of accelerating health care research. However, within the scientific community many, including Ewan Birney, deputy director general of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, are concerned that the way some of this data has been framed in a recent paper could reinforce racist beliefs. We also learn about the program and hear a response to the criticism from Josh Denny, the CEO of the All of Us Research Program.

Over the past two years, a deadly version of bird flu, H5N1, has been spreading around the globe, killing hundreds of thousands of birds and mammals in the process. Isolated from the rest of the world, animals in Antarctica have been safe from the virus so far. But, virologist Antonio Alcamí, who is located on the continents Spanish base, confirms that bird flu has reached them, infecting Antarctic skua seabirds.

And, on a less serious note, can the smell of a female cause premature death? Maybe in mice. Researcher Mike Garratt goes over the intriguing results in his new mouse study.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Colorful diverse crowd in modern collage. Credit: Dedraw Studio via Getty Images)

As the leap year helps to keep us in sync with the sun, we turn our attention to the natural world. There is no simple solution to stop forces like climate change that are sending nature out of sync. We’re seeing flowers such as Japan’s famous cherry blossom blooming early because of warmer weather. Some pollinators are emerging only to find the plants they rely on have been and gone. But, within the natural world, there also incredible stories of animal synchrony that offer hope and that we could learn from. We meet the Cape Ground Squirrels who appear to be adapting to sweltering summers, fireflies who offer a model for understanding the relationships between objects and hear about a ‘perfect’ solar system in which all planets are in sync.

Plus, the underwater mountain range discovered in Chile, a listener asks a question about keeping time and we hear what you’ve been getting in touch about over the past week.

According to the United Nations, about ten percent of the world is undernourished. It's a daunting statistic — unless your name is Hannah Ritchie. She's the data scientist behind the new book Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet. It's a seriously big thought experiment: How do we feed everyone on Earth sustainably? And because it's just as much an economically pressing question as it is a scientific one, Darian Woods of The Indicator from Planet Money joins us. With Hannah's help, Darian unpacks how to meet the needs of billions of people without destroying the planet.

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An Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos can be considered "extrauterine children" under state law has major implications for how in vitro fertilization, commonly called IVF, is performed. Since the first successful in vitro fertilization pregnancy and live birth in 1978, nearly half a million babies have been born using IVF in the United States. Reproductive endocrinologist Amanda Adeleye explains the science behind IVF, the barriers to accessing it and her concerns about fertility treatment in the post-Roe landscape.

Read more about the science of IVF.

Questions or ideas for a future episode of Short Wave? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

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Why do humans have wisdom teeth if so many of them get removed soon after they appear?

Wisdom teeth, the third molars in the back of our mouths, are so called because they normally appear in late teenage, early adulthood – the time in life we supposedly have learned some wisdom. But around 25% of people don’t develop all four. Of those that do emerge, it is not uncommon for them to appear at nasty angles, jutting into the tooth next door causing potentially dangerous infections and pain. Because of this, for decades many people have them surgically removed.

Listener Khaleel was preparing to have his remaining wisdom teeth removed when he wrote to CrowdScience to ask about them. Given that they can seem to cause more harm than good, why has evolution resulted in these troublesome teeth? But many people have perfectly uneventful relationships with their wisdom teeth, so have we perhaps removed more than we needed to over the years?

Anand Jagatia chews it over with the help of surgeons and dentists to try to extract the truth – why DO we have wisdom teeth?

Featuring: Tanya M Smith, Professor in the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University, Australia Patrick Magennis, Consultant Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon at University Hospitals Aintree, Liverpool UK Verena Toedtling, Dentist and Specialist Oral Surgeon, UK

Presented by Anand Jagatia Produced by Alex Mansfield

In the green tree canopies of forested areas in Myanmar, you might wake up to the sounds of gibbons singing love songs. Gibbons start their day with passionate duets and, though these love songs may sound a little different than the ones in your playlists, they just helped researchers figure out that Myanmar has the largest population of an endangered gibbon species on Earth. They're called skywalker gibbons, and until recently, scientists thought there were fewer than 200 of them – all living in southwestern China.

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A monumental Covid vaccine safety study of 99 million vaccinated people confirms just how rare adverse effects are and combats growing vaccine misinformation. Co-director of the Global Vaccine Data Helen Network goes through the results of this massive study.

This week, Science in Action is bringing you not one, but two extraordinary astronomical discoveries. First, Webb Fellow Olivia Jones on the star hidden in the heart of only supernova visible from Earth. Second, astrophysicist Samuel Lai on what is possibly the brightest object in our universe – a whopping 500tn times brighter than our sun – a star eating quasar.

And Roland chats with biologist Charlotte Houldcroft who was one of the first to blow the whistle on an absurd, AI generated image which somehow made it through the peer review process.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: A health worker injects a man with a shot of the Inavac vaccine for Covid-19. Credit: BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)

A scientific tribute to to the successes and potential of Kelvin Kiptum, the best marathon runner to ever take to the roads. Marnie and the team take time to reflect on the tragic loss after Kelvin's death and looks at the science behind his record breaking performances.

Why do East African long distance runners continue to dominate the world stage? Can one group of indigenous people in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico, really run 100km without getting tired? And what makes you fall off the back of a treadmill when you just can't keep going? Is the limiting factor in endurance sports found in the body or the mind?

We also hear how one small insect is having a mighty impact on African ecosystems, and Marnie ponders the future of AI. What happens when we are no longer able to trust our eyes and ears in a world of deepfakes.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Philistian Mwatee and Tristan Ahtone Producer: Harrison Lewis, with Dan Welsh, Tom Bonnett, Katie Tomsett and Jack Lee

We are at the height of the Sun's activity in its eleven year cycle, known to astronomers as the solar maximum. This means that over the next several months there's going to be a lot of solar activity. It's got us thinking back to 1859. That's when astronomer Richard Carrington was studying the Sun when he witnessed the most intense geomagnetic storm recorded in history. The storm, triggered by a giant solar flare, sent brilliant auroral displays across the globe causing electrical sparking and fires in telegraph stations. This encore episode, Regina talks to solar physicist Dr. Samaiyah Farid about what's now known as the Carrington event and about what may happen the next time a massive solar storm hits Earth.

Want to hear us cover other parts of the solar system? Email the show at shortwave@npr.org to let us know!

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