Science
As the Great Salt Lake dries up, it's also emitting millions of tons of CO2
A new study found that the drying Great Salt Lake in Utah is now a major source of the gas emissions that are causing the climate to warm.
How an abandoned baby owl was rescued in a warm tortilla
When a Texas resident found an abandoned baby owl at a family barbecue, she acted fast to rescue it -- using a warm tortilla.
Opinion: Think you have a rough travel story? Try 52 days stuck in space
Two astronauts have been hanging out on the International Space Station since last month, waiting for the Boeing capsule that got them there to be repaired to bring them home.
Park Fire in California could continue growing exponentially, Cal Fire officer says
Cal Fire has confirmed that over a hundred structures have been damaged in the Park Fire, which grew overnight near Chico, Calif. Difficult firefighting conditions are forecast through Friday night.
Researchers are revising botanical names to address troubling connotations
Since the mid-1700s, researchers have classified life with scientific names. But some of them have problematic histories and connotations. The botanical community is trying to tackle this issue.
Could you go a whole week without buying new plastic?
The amount of plastic that we throw out really piles up. A "Morning Edition" staffer decided to find out how hard it would be to not buy any new plastic for a week. How did she do?
What chimpanzee gestures reveal about human communication
Chimpanzees are humans' closest living relatives. But does much of their communication resembles ours? According to a new study published earlier this week in the journal Current Biology, chimpanzees gesture back-and-forth in a similar way to how humans take turns speaking. The research presents an intriguing possibility that this style of communication may have evolved before humans split off from great apes, and tells researchers more about how turn-taking evolved.
Interested in more science news? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Interested in more science news? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
This week in science: Chimpanzee 'conversations,' deep ocean oxygen and rogue waves
NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Regina Barber and Emily Kwong of Short Wave about chimpanzee "conversations," oxygen from the bottom of the ocean and how a computer program may warn of rogue waves.
Octopus farming in the U.S. would be banned under a new bill in Congress
The OCTOPUS Act would ban farming the animal, and imports of farmed meat. It was introduced by a senator whose office says he learned about the plan through a story on NPR.