For a few weeks in late spring, thousands of fireflies emerge at the Congaree National Park in South Carolina to blink in synchrony. Scientists are trying to learn their secrets and to protect them.
Each year 84,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with melanoma. About 90% of these skin cancers are linked to the ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Sunscreen does protect the skin, but dermatologists have found six very common mistakes people make when it comes to using it. NPR science correspondent Allison Aubrey talks to host Regina G. Barber about the science behind sunscreen and how to avoid making these mistakes this summer. They also get into which sunscreens may be better than others.
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After the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 triggered Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began fleeing from the North of Gaza to the South. As they fled, many Palestinians reported passing through checkpoints with cameras. Israel had previously used facial recognition software in the West Bank, and some Palestinians reached out to The New York Times reporter Sheera Frenkel to investigate whether the same was happening in Gaza.
Science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel talks to Frenkel about how Israel launched this facial recognition system in Gaza late last year with the help of private companies and Google photos.
The goal is to have a treaty to present at a major World Health Organization meeting next week. But the countries of the Global South and the Global North aren't exactly seeing eye to eye.
ADHD is an ongoing and expanding public health concern, according to researchers studying the disorder. One million more U.S. children were diagnosed in 2022 compared to 2016, a new study shows.
Some otters rely on tools to bust open hard-shelled prey items like snails, and a new study suggests this tool use is helping them to survive as their favorite, easier-to-eat foods disappear.
A study of tiger beetles has found a possible explanation for why they produce ultrasound noises right before an echolocating bat swoops in for the kill.
Fibroids are benign uterine tumors. So why does it matter that the majority of people with a uterus will have one before they are 50 years old? Physician Rachell Bervell, founder of the Black OBGYN Project, explains that when symptoms arise, they can be quite serious — from extreme menstrual bleeding to fertility problems. Plus, why they're very likely to affect you or a loved one.
Almost 40 percent of caregivers of older adults are men, and a third of that group is Black. But African American men face some issues other guys don't.
At 80 miles across, Thwaites is the world's widest glacier. It has been nicknamed the "Doomsday Glacier" for the catastrophic effects its thawing could have on global sea-level rise.
Scientists are testing the limits of artificial intelligence when it comes to language learning. One recent challenge? Learning ... whale! Researchers are using machine learning to analyze and decode whale sounds — and it's just as complicated as it seems.
Curious about other mysteries of nature? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
Ed Dwight, a former Air Force test pilot who was passed over to become an astronaut in the 1960s, described his flight aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard as "life changing."
Baobabs are sometimes called the "tree of life" with their thick trunks, crown of branches and flowers that only open at twilight. But theories about their geographic origin was divided among three places: the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa, the Kimberley region of western Australia and the dry forests of the island nation of Madagascar. To solve this mystery, a global research team led by scientists at the Wuhan Botanical Garden at the Chinese Academy of Sciences examined high-quality genomic data from all eight baobab species.
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