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Short Wave New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — in just under 15 minutes. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join hosts Emily Kwong and Regina Barber for science on a different wavelength.

If you're hooked, try Short Wave Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/shortwave
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New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — in just under 15 minutes. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join hosts Emily Kwong and Regina Barber for science on a different wavelength.

If you're hooked, try Short Wave Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at plus.npr.org/shortwave

Most Recent Episodes

A frozen surface with a dark, star-shaped pattern in the front center. The surrounding ice is white and gray

Lake stars form when a specific set of conditions are met on a frozen lake Berly McCoy/NPR hide caption

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Berly McCoy/NPR

An icy mystery: What are lake stars?

When producer Berly McCoy was out on her local frozen lake, she saw something she'd never seen before. There were dark spidery, star-shaped patterns in the ice and they freaked her out. So, we called an expert to find out more about them. In today’s episode, geophysicist Victor Tsai tells us about lake stars and how he became the first person to scientifically prove how they form. Plus, he explains how knowing more about lake stars can potentially give us clues about the presence of water on Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons.

An icy mystery: What are lake stars?

Listen · 12:20
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Aerial view of a large whale swimming just below the surface of clear turquoise water, with a smaller whale alongside it, their bodies visible through the sunlit sea.

Scientists finally figured out why hundreds of gray whales washed up on the west coast, dead. NOAA hide caption

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NOAA

We saved gray whales from extinction. Why are so many dying again?

In 1999 hundreds of gray whales washed up along the west coast of North America. More in 2000. They lost an estimated 25% of their population. But then the whale population recovered and people moved on. Until it happened again in 2019. And 2020, and 2021. It’s still happening today. Host Regina G. Barber dives into this mystery with marine ecologist Joshua Stewart, who explains how scientists like himself solved it – and the tough questions that came up along the way. 

We saved gray whales from extinction. Why are so many dying again?

Listen · 13:11
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Illustration of seven light skinned family members standing next to each other in order of height in front of a brownish gray background. Most are wearing bright yellow tops and green bottoms

Gay people often have older brothers. In the 1990s, this was dubbed the "fraternal birth order effect. J.Stone/Imazins/Getty Images hide caption

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J.Stone/Imazins/Getty Images

Sibling order may affect sexuality and identity

Today, guest host Selena Simmons-Duffin is exploring a detail very personal to her: How the number of older brothers a person has can influence their sexuality.

SCI POD - Queer sib order ENCORE

Listen · 12:24
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A photo of a dinosaur skull, mouth open and mounted mid-air.

Historically, dinosaur ages have been estimated using the growth rings in their bones — one ring per year. But new research involving crocodiles suggests a faster pace. Tommy Trenchard hide caption

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Tommy Trenchard

What crocodile bones teach us about dinosaurs

Paleontologists have often determined how old a dinosaur was by counting the growth rings in its bones. Just like with trees, it was thought that each ring corresponded to a single year of age. But researchers who studied crocodiles at an outdoor recreation center near Cape Town appear to have poked a hole in that approach. In the crocodiles, which are some of the closest living relatives of dinosaurs, there was more than one growth ring laid down per year. The results contribute to a growing debate over the best way to age animals.

What crocodile bones teach us about dinosaurs

Listen · 11:21
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Teenager with long brown hair sleeps on a pile of notebooks.

Are US teens getting enough sleep? A new study shows that high school students' sleep is getting worse, with over three-quarters of them getting less than seven hours each night. Antonio Guillem/Getty Images hide caption

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Antonio Guillem/Getty Images

Teen sleep is getting wrecked by more than just phones

Teens aren’t getting enough sleep! And a two-decade study suggests it’s getting worse. Scientists found that the number of high schoolers getting insufficient sleep — less than seven hours a night — has increased from 69% to 77%. The throughline? There wasn’t one. Teens had bad sleep habits across most demographics, including race, gender and grade level. The findings were published this week in the journal JAMA.

Teen sleep is getting wrecked by more than just phones

Listen · 8:17
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Illustration photo of a vaccine syringe in hand.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is changing how the U.S. approaches vaccines. That is changing the global public health landscape. Daniel Dorko/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Daniel Dorko/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

The global fallout of RFK Jr.'s vaccine policies

In his role as secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is changing how the United States approaches vaccines. But those changes aren’t limited to the United States. NPR global health correspondent Gabrielle Emanuel joins Short Wave to talk about two examples of how the global public health landscape may be shifting. First, the United States’ ultimatum to an international vaccine group. Second, the uncertain fate of a vaccine trial. Some researchers are calling the trial a “unique” opportunity, and others are calling it “unethical.” 

The global fallout of RFK Jr's vaccine policies

Listen · 15:14
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A baby Japanese macaque walks upright, dragging a stuffed orangutan behind him.

Baby monkey 'Punch' drags a stuffed orangutan at Ichikawa Zoo, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters hide caption

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Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Is baby monkey Punch okay? We asked an animal expert

If you’ve been on the internet in the past few weeks, chances are you’ve seen him: a tiny gray-brown monkey dragging a big, stuffed orangutan around Japan’s Ichikawa Zoo. His name? Punch-kun, or Punch for short. His story? Early abandonment by his mother, careful treatment from local zookeepers and instant social media fame. But are all the (human) primates jumping to Punch’s defense justified? And what’s normal for Japanese macaque society, anyway? To find out, NPR’s Katia Riddle chats with psychology professor and animal expert Lauren Robinson.

Will Punch the baby monkey be okay?

Listen · 12:32
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On a completely overcast day, a man in winter clothing sits cross-legged on a small chair on top of a frozen lake, holding a fishing rod. He faces a hole in the ice, on the right side of the image, that he is preparing to fish from. A black cord runs into the hole from a small black electronic device. A white bucket containing fishing gear is in the foreground, in front of the fisherman.

Tom Cichosz fishes Lake Waubesa in Madison, Wisconsin. Berly McCoy hide caption

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Berly McCoy

Spring ice is thawing earlier in lakes. What does that mean for life below the surface?

Lakes are freezing later, thawing earlier and experiencing dramatic temperature swings in between. And all that throws off the delicate balance of life below the surface. And that has a major impact on the roughly 1.7 million ice fishers in the U.S. who spend millions of dollars buying equipment and guide services each year. Producer Berly McCoy explains how scientists are tracking those ecological changes by getting out on the ice — to fish. 

These lake ecosystems need ice, but it’s disappearing

Listen · 12:39
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Colorful kites fly over a snow-and-ice-covered lake. A crowd of people mills around the lake surface, which is fully frozen over; canopies and traffic cones are set up along the perimeter.

People gather on Lake Mendota during the Frozen Assets Festival on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in Madison, Wisconsin. Kayla Wolf hide caption

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Kayla Wolf

Lakes are losing their ice to warming. That's dangerous

Over half a billion people live by lakes that freeze over in the winter. But as the climate warms, those lakes are losing whole days of ice cover. Winters are also getting weirder, with more intense temperature swings that lead to multiple freezes and thaws. Those fluctuations make the ice less safe, and more likely for people to fall through as they walk. So, today, producer Berly McCoy gets into how these changes are altering culture, community and safety on the ice – plus, how firefighters train for rescues. 

The dangers of warming winter lakes

Listen · 12:54
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A close up of a person in a blue button-up holding a smartphone in their hands.

People over 60 years of age spend more than half of their daily leisure time in front of screens. Tim Robberts/Getty Images hide caption

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Tim Robberts/Getty Images

Screen time is increasing for people over 60. Is that a problem?

Folks over 65 are putting in a lot of screen time. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that people 60 years and older spend more than half their daily leisure time in front of screens, mostly watching TV or videos. Since the pandemic, that screen time has increased. Is addiction on the rise? And what’s the best use of screen time for any of us? We’re parsing out all the questions with Ipsit Vahia, the Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry at McLean Hospital. 

Screen Time Over 65+ is Growing

Listen · 13:05
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