More than 61 million people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. We're also now averaging over 3 million shots per day. But at the same time, in at least 20 states, reported cases are on the rise again. So today, NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey rounds up some of the latest coronavirus news – on vaccines, CDC guidance on travel, the possibility of a fourth wave, and more.Have questions or concerns around the pandemic? Email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Currently, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. But research shows that suicide is preventable. Host Emily Kwong talks with NPR health correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee about the signs that someone you know may be thinking about dying, the ways you can support them, and how to possibly prevent suicide.To read more of the story, find Rhitu's reporting here.You can email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We ask allergy expert Dr. Juanita Mora if seasonal allergies are getting worse. Plus, some quick tips for managing those pesky allergy symptoms.Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Many skin conditions, from rashes to Lyme disease to various cancers, present differently on dark skin. Yet medical literature and textbooks don't often include those images, pointing to a bigger problem in dermatology. Today on the show, we take a close look at how the science of skincare has evolved to better serve patients of color, but still has a long way to go.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When lightning strikes the ground, it can leave behind a root-like rock called a fulgurite. Host Maddie Sofia talks with NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce about what lightning and its funky rock creation can reveal about the origins of life. To read more of the story, check out Nell's reporting here. You can email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Our colleagues at the TED Radio Hour introduce us to wildlife filmmaker Ariel Waldman. She says the coldest continent is brimming with invisible life that can only be seen through microscopes, including tardigrades (one of Maddie's favorite critters).Listen to the full TED Radio Hour episode, Through The Looking Glass, here.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel takes us to IonQ, one of the companies betting on a quantum computing future. Along the way, Geoff explains what little researchers know about how we might actually use this technology. There are hints though quantum computing could change everything from discovering new drugs to developing advanced materials. Want us to cover another promising, complicated technology? Email us — we're at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer explains how scientists are getting creative to deal with the hordes of urchins overtaking kelp forests in the Pacific Ocean — and why this kind of drastic ecological change may become more common as the climate gets hotter. Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The cicadas are coming! After 17 years, Brood X is emerging this spring to mate. If you're in the eastern part of the United States, get ready to be surrounded by these little critters! Host Maddie Sofia talks with entomologist Sammy Ramsey, aka Dr. Buggs, about what cicadas are, where they've been for the last 17 years, and — of course — why they're so loud.Email Short Wave at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

(Encore episode.) In 2006, while hiking around the Root Glacier in Alaska, glaciologist Tim Bartholomaus encountered something strange and unexpected on the ice — dozens of fuzzy, green moss balls. It turns out, other glaciologists had come across glacial moss balls before and lovingly called them "glacier mice." NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce and Short Wave reporter Emily Kwong talk about glacial moss balls and delve into the mystery of how they seem to move as a herd. Read more of Nell's reporting on glacier mice here. Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

NPR's international correspondent Lauren Frayer takes us on a tour of the factory of the world's largest vaccine maker: Serum Institute of India. The company aims to manufacture 100 million doses a month of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and export them globally. Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In North Carolina, a rural electric cooperative is reliving its New Deal history, bringing technologies like fast Internet and clean, low-carbon heating to communities that some have abandoned.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

(Encore episode.) The coronavirus is all over the headlines these days. Accompanying those headlines? Suspicion and harassment of Asians and Asian Americans. Our colleague Gene Demby, co-host of NPR's Code Switch podcast, explains that this is part of a longer history in the United States of camouflaging xenophobia and racism as public health and hygiene concerns. We hear from historian Erika Lee, author of "America For Americans: A History Of Xenophobia In The United States."LEARN MORE:Check out Code Switch's full digital story and podcast episode.And here's a collection of NPR's coverage on the rise in violence against Asian Americans. Erika Lee's book "America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States"As always, reach out to the show by emailing [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's been about a year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. The world has learned a lot in that time — about how the virus spreads, who is at heightened risk and how the disease progresses. Today, Maddie walks us through some of these big lessons.Reach the show by emailing [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Submarines can descend thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean, but to do so, they have to deal with an enormous amount of pressure. In this episode, engineer and pilot Bruce Strickrott of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explains some of the fundamental engineering principles that allow submarines to dive so deep without imploding under the pressure.Have any questions you'd like us to try answering? Send us an email, [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Encore episode. The surface of the Earth is constantly recycled through the motion of plate tectonics. So how do researchers study what it used to look like? Planetary scientist Roger Fu talks to host Maddie Sofia about hunting for rocks that can tell us what Earth looked like a few billion years ago, in the early days of the evolution of life.Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's been about a year since the coronavirus pandemic started to take hold in the United States. Recently, NPR science correspondent Rob Stein has been talking to infectious disease experts, epidemiologists, public health officials, medical historians and for the first time, many are cautiously offering hope. They say the worst may be finally over — but factors like vaccination rates, changes to public health policy and variant resistance to vaccines could upend that recovery.Reach the show by emailing [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the year since the pandemic began, the coronavirus has severely impacted inmates and staff in U.S. jails and prisons. According to The Marshall Project, in the last year, over 380,000 prisoners tested positive for the coronavirus. Of those, 2,400 died. The close quarters make social distancing nearly impossible, leaving the incarcerated population vulnerable. Josiah Bates, staff writer at TIME, reflects on how the pandemic has played out behind bars — in both jails and prisons. We also hear from Ronnie Hoagland Jr., who contracted COVID-19 while incarcerated in a Texas county jail.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Alzheimer's disease affects more than 6 million Americans and a disproportionate number are Black. NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton explains why Black Americans may be at higher risk, and how diversifying Alzheimer's research could lead to a better understanding of the disease in Black Americans, and new treatments for everyone. Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The CDC released new guidance Monday, allowing people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to resume some pre-pandemic activities, including gathering indoors with other vaccinated people without wearing masks. Health correspondent Allison Aubrey walks us through the new recommendations and what precautions fully vaccinated people still need to take. Read the CDC's guidance.Email the show your questions and concerns about the coronavirus at [email protected]. We might cover it in our ongoing coverage of the pandemic.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Shark scientist Melissa Christina Marquez explains just how important sharks are to keeping the oceans healthy, including their role in mitigating climate change. Plus, there may be some talk about shark poop.Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

More than 4 million U.S. homes face substantial risk of expensive flood damage, according to new research. On top of that, NPR climate reporter Rebecca Hersher found that communities where flood insurance is already unaffordable face potentially catastrophic damage — including to mental and physical health.Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A lot of us were taught that conception happens with a survivor-style sperm race — the fastest and strongest sperm fight to make it to the egg first. In this Back To School episode, we revisit this misleading narrative and learn just how active the egg and reproductive tract are in this process. You can find Ariela @arielazebede, Lisa @CampoEngelstein, and Kristin @kristin_hook on Twitter. Email us at [email protected] Note - The introduction of this episode has been updated to reflect anthropologist Emily Martin's crucial role in first making this issue widely known.REFERENCES:The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles, Emily Martin (1991)Revisiting "The fertilization fairytale:" an analysis of gendered language used to describe fertilization in science textbooks from middle school to medical school, Lisa Campo-Engelstein & Nadia Johnson (2014)Misconceptions about Conception and Other Fallacies: Historical Bias in Reproductive Biology, Virginia Hayssen (2020)Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A growing number of cities are looking at restricting the use of gas in new buildings to reduce climate emissions. But some states are considering laws to block those efforts, with backing from the natural gas industry.Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The coronavirus has disrupted all of our lives, and that's especially true for healthcare workers. We hear reflections from Dr. Jamila Goldsmith and Mariah Clark, two emergency room workers. They tell us what the first year of the pandemic has been like for them, how their lives have changed, and what's around the corner as more people become vaccinated. Are you a healthcare worker who would be willing to share your experience with the Short Wave team? Email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Biden Administration has prioritized speed in its COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Also, a priority...distributing those doses to the populations most impacted by the coronavirus. Host Maddie Sofia talks with NPR science reporter Pien Huang about the challenges underserved communities face in getting the vaccine and the Biden Administration's plans to address vaccine equity in the pandemic.For more reporting on the COVID-19 vaccine, follow Pien on Twitter at @Pien_Huang. You can email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Today, we present a special episode from our colleagues at Code Switch, NPR's podcast about race and identity. As the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines unfolds, one big challenge for public health officials has been the skepticism many Black people have toward the vaccine. One notorious medical study — the Tuskegee experiment — has been cited as a reason. But should it be?Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

There are lots of misconceptions around urine. Can urine cure athlete's foot? Or really treat a jellyfish sting? Today on the show — we'll talk about what it actually is, debunk some common myths, and share some urine facts.Plus, we dive into some listener mail — which you can send to us by emailing [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Descendants of trauma victims seem to have worse health outcomes. Could epigenetics help explain why? Bianca Jones Marlin and Brian Dias walk us through the field of epigenetics and its potential implications in trauma inheritance. You can follow Ariela Zebede on twitter @arielazebede. Email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's likely there's a magnet wherever you're looking right now. In fact, the device you're using to listen to this episode? Also uses a magnet. Which is why today, NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel is taking us "back to school," explaining how magnetism works and why magnets deserve more respect.If you're secretly hoping we cover a basic science concept near and dear to your heart, spill the tea! We'd love to know and can be reached via email at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

James West has been a curious tinkerer since he was a child, always wondering how things worked. Throughout his long career in STEM, he's also been an advocate for diversity and inclusion — from co-founding the Association for Black Laboratory Employees in 1970 to his work today with The Ingenuity Project, a non-profit that cultivates math and science skills in middle and high school students in Baltimore public schools. Host Maddie Sofia talks to him about his life, career, and about how a device he helped invent in the 60's made their interview possible.Email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Can people who are vaccinated still carry and transmit the coronavirus to other people? How effective are the vaccines against coronavirus variants? And what's the deal with side effects? In this episode, an excerpt of Maddie's appearance on another NPR podcast, It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, where she answered those questions and more. Listen to 'It's Been A Minute with Sam Sanders' on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

To round out our celebration of Black History Month, we're bringing you a special episode featuring acclaimed science fiction writer Octavia Butler from our friends at NPR's history podcast Throughline.Octavia Butler's alternate realities and 'speculative fiction' reveal striking, and often devastating parallels to the world we live in today. She was a deep observer of the human condition, perplexed and inspired by our propensity towards self-destruction. Butler was also fascinated by the cyclical nature of history, and often looked to the past when writing about the future. Along with her warnings is her message of hope — a hope conjured by centuries of survival and persistence. For every society that perished in her books, came a story of rebuilding, of repair. Read Throughline's article about Octavia Butler.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Today, what happens in your brain when you notice a semantic or grammatical mistake, according to neuroscience. Sarah Phillips, a neurolinguist, tells us all about the N400 and the P600 responses. Plus, we dive into some listener mail — which you can send to us by emailing [email protected]. (Encore episode)Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In June 2020, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM announced that they were limiting some uses of their facial recognition technology. In this encore episode, Maddie and Emily talk to AI policy analyst Mutale Nkonde about algorithmic bias — how facial recognition software can discriminate and reflect the biases of society and the current debate about policing has brought up the issue about how law enforcement should use this technology.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Some of the most prestigious scientists in history advanced racist and eugenicist views, but that is rarely mentioned in textbooks. Maddie and Emily speak with science educators about how to broaden science education--including how they tap into kids' sense of justice by incorporating ethics into experiments and how they share contributions of scientists who may be less famous than the big names. (Encore episode)Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Author and neuroscientist Theanne Griffith talks with Maddie about her children's book series, The Magnificent Makers, which follows two intrepid third graders as they race to complete science-based adventures. (Encore episode)Follow host Maddie Sofia on Twitter @maddie_sofia. Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In honor of Black History Month, Short Wave is focusing on Black scientists and educators — people doing incredible work and pushing for a world where science serves everyone. Enjoy!Follow Maddie and Emily on Twitter, @maddie_sofia and @emilykwong1234. Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Happy Valentine's Day from Short Wave! We've got something special for the holiday, Maddie and Emily exchange the gift of science facts - from the process of farming and fermenting cacao to the courtship rituals of scorpions and loggerhead shrikes.Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Archival records may help researchers figure out how fast the sea level is rising in certain places. Millions of people in coastal cities are vulnerable to rising sea levels and knowing exactly how fast the water is rising is really important. But it's a tough scientific question. NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer explains how scientists are looking to historical records to help get at the answer. For more of Lauren's reporting, follow her on Twitter @lesommer. Email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Global Witness documented that 212 environmental and land activists were murdered in 2019. Over half of those documented murders took place in Colombia and the Philippines, countries where intensive mining and agribusiness has transformed the environment. NPR Short Wave reporter Emily Kwong speaks with three activists about the intersection between natural resource extraction and violence, and what keeps them going in their work.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Why is it so hard to feel the difference between 400,000 and 500,000 COVID-19 deaths—and how might that impact our decision making during the pandemic? Psychologist Paul Slovic explains the concept of psychic numbing and how humans can often use emotion, rather than statistics to make decisions about risk. Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Three in 10 people in America have a tattoo, and those in the 18 - 34 age bracket, it's almost 40 percent. But what's in those inks, exactly? NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce talks about what researchers currently know about tattoo inks. It's not a lot, and researchers are trying to find out more. Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're going "Back To School" today, revisiting a classic at-home experiment that turns lemons into batteries — powerful enough to turn on a clock or a small lightbulb. But how does the science driving that process show up in household batteries we use daily? Emily Kwong and Maddie Sofia talk battery 101 with environmental engineer Jenelle Fortunato.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

People of color experience more air and water pollution than white people and suffer the health impacts. The federal government helped create the problem, and has largely failed to fix it. NPR climate reporter Rebecca Hersher talks about the history of environmental racism in the United States, and what Biden's administration can do to avoid the mistakes of the past. Read Rebecca's reporting on how Biden hopes to address the environmental impacts of systemic racism.Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Drug overdose deaths are on the rise all around the country, including in Chicago, Illinois. ProPublica Illinois reporter Duaa Eldeib explains how the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the opioid epidemic, and the challenges that public health officials are facing as they work to reduce opioid-related deaths.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

With a lot of us stuck at home, trying to physically distance from each other, one part of daily life has largely disappeared: bumping into strangers. On today's show, Maddie talks with Yowei Shaw, co-host of NPR's Invisibilia, about the surprising benefits of stranger interactions. And Short Wave tries out QuarantineChat, a workaround to our current strangerless existence. (Encore episode) Follow Maddie Sofia @maddie_sofia and Yowei Shaw @yowei_shaw on Twitter. Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The year 2020 saw a record-breaking wildfire season. With those wildfires came many destroyed homes. Rebuilding with fire-resistant materials reduces the risk of future fires burning down a house, but as NPR science correspondent Lauren Sommer explains, only three Western states require building with fire-resistant materials. Without such improvements, communities face increased risks with the next fire.Read Lauren's reporting on rebuilding after a wildfire.Email the show at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy