Have you ever wanted to be an astronaut without risking your life in space? If so, we have the perfect opportunity for you. NASA is calling for people with a science background to apply for a simulated mission to the Moon and Mars. Four adults will spend a year isolated in two enclosures meant to simulate both traveling through deep space and living on Mars. Learn whether you fit the profile and what NASA researchers hope to learn from the mission in this episode.
Interested in more space news? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org and we may cover it in an upcoming segment.
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Short Wave
In Senegal, rice farmers are trying to kill three birds with one stone – er, fish. Rice and fish are already a natural combination; they’re even the main ingredients of thieboudienne, the delicious na...
Hacking has been on the rise around the world. In 2025, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 1 million complaints of cybercrime, a record high in the US. Hackers are always getting...
Have you ever wanted to be an astronaut without risking your life in space? If so, we have the perfect opportunity for you. NASA is calling for people with a science background to apply for a simulate...
With parts of the U.S, Canada, Spain and France all ablaze with wildfires, you might be wondering: Are wildfires on the rise? If so, know that you mind-melded with the entire Short Wave staff. We had...
Leopard sharks have nearly vanished from the waters in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. The country is one of the largest shark fishing nations in the world. Now, a first-of-its-kind conservation project is wor...
There’s the flu vaccine. The covid shot. The RSV shot… What if all of these—and more—could be combined into one universal vaccine? That’s what immunologist Bali Pulendran is working on in his lab. For...
Did you know that when you pick up avocados at the supermarket, make avocado toast at home or order guacamole in your burrito, you’re probably consuming only one genetic type of avocado? Yep, it’s the...
Synthetic peptides are getting some serious hype, from fitness influencers on your FYP to people seeking new options for chronic conditions. And while the human body already makes peptides, like insul...
What’s small, round and could give you explosive diarrhea? Cyclospora parasites. The diarrheal disease they cause is wreaking havoc on thousands this summer in what is the largest known flare up in th...
A race started by President Trump is leading to the rapid construction of new, experimental nuclear reactors. If they work, they could power data centers for artificial intelligence. But critics worry...
Yamal and Messi aren’t the only stars of the World Cup finals. If you’ve been watching any of the games, you’ve probably stared directly at a huge, unsung hero: the turf. Turf grass science is a real...
At Short Wave, we love a good brain. Which is why we’ve had a lot of conversations over the years with NPR’s neuroscience reporter, Jon Hamilton. Jon’s been writing about brains for over 15 years, fro...
What if there were a great ape species that could live over 1,000 years? That’s basically Heliconius in the butterfly world. The insects live around 25 times longer than their butterfly cousins, and s...
In the age of AI, what differentiates humans from robots? What makes humans … human? To find answers, many people are studying consciousness: our capacity for experience. But doctors and researchers s...
Maybe you’ve wondered about it late at night as a mosquito buzzes in your ear. Or when you kick over a rock and watch dozens of little critters crawl away: How many types of insects are there in the w...
A valuable NASA satellite observatory is falling to Earth faster than scientists expected. It’s called the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, or “Swift” for short, and it can respond to celestial events...
Every dog lover’s greatest fear is inevitably losing their pet to time. We want our furry pals to stick around as long as they can. That wish may soon become reality with a new pill from a company cal...
Taking an air taxi to the airport may become as simple as ordering a ride share today. In our first episode in our summer series Tech Camp, we explore how a futuristic vehicle that transforms from hel...
Independence Day is approaching!Imagine if someone has procured illegal fireworks from a couple of states over. Are you:1. first in line to light them?2. content to watch while others set them off?3....
The U.S. generates 292 million tons of trash each year – and that trash has to go somewhere. Sometimes, that’s to an incinerator, where it’s burned and turned into electricity. Proponents of incinera...
In the grand scheme of things, Lyme disease is a fairly new scientific discovery. It was first traced back to ticks in the late 70s and early 80s. The tick-borne illness can cause a rash, fever, pain,...
For many, being able to work from home is a boon: saving time on your commute, working in your sweatpants, throwing in a load of laundry before a meeting. People say it makes them happier. But a new s...
There’s an object in space 25 times the size of Jupiter that’s stumped scientists for years. They haven’t been able to figure out if it’s a planet or a failed star. But scientists are one step closer...
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is growing – and is likely larger than official numbers show. The deadly disease spreads through bodily fluids, on average killing half the peopl...
One evening in May of 2011, tornado sirens went off in a small Missouri city called Joplin. Thousands of homes were destroyed in the tornado, about a third of the town’s 50,000 residents were displace...
Janet Jones has been fascinated by horses since childhood. She’s now a horse trainer and a neuroscientist, which allows her to explore the minds of the animals to which she’s devoted her life. She eve...
Two tiny transforming robots landed on the moon! These baseball-sized bots accompanied Japan's first successful lunar lander. They rolled out of SLIM as balls and transformed into a rover. The bots cr...
The war in Iran has disrupted the global fuel supply. That has sent airline prices soaring and cancelled scores of flights. This got Short Wave host Emily Kwong wondering: Could another fuel source he...
Summer is here, your windows are open and the smell of…car exhaust and the latest wildfire are wafting in. This air pollution is harmful to almost every organ, including the brain. Today on Short Wave...
Could standardizing chocolate help small-scale farmers? Chocolate scientist Julien Simonis thinks it could help persuade consumers to pay for higher quality chocolate, in turn helping out these grower...