Short Wave Podcast

What's it like to get bit by a venomous snake? "It's like a bee sting times a thousand," Tim Friede says. Tim would know. Over the past few decades, he's let himself be bitten over 200 times by all kinds of venomous snakes — black mambas, taipans, cobras, kraits and more. With time, he's gradually built immunity to multiple types of venom. Could scientists help him share that immunity with others?

Science reporter Ari Daniel joins Short Wave to explain how antivenom works, what scientists discovered and where the research may lead. Plus, what does Tim Friede have in common with Princess Bride?

Want to hear about more medical discoveries? Email us at [email protected] to tell us what areas of science you'd be interested in.

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The Trump administration is rewriting policies and reducing funding for multiple agencies that handle climate change, including NOAA, EPA and FEMA. We asked NPR reporters Lauren Sommer and Alejandra Borunda what that the implications of that are — and who the changes will affect.

Want to hear more ways research is being impacted by the new administration? Email us at [email protected] to let us know — and we may cover your idea in a future episode!

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In science fiction, wormholes are hyperspace subway tubes linking one part of a galaxy directly to another, distant point. But could they actually exist? To find out, we talk to theoretical physicist Ron Gamble, who says wormholes aren't just a matter of science fiction — and they have big implications about the shape of space itself.

Want to hear about more hypotheticals physicists have to confront in their work? Email us at [email protected] — we might turn your idea into a whole episode!

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Approximately 80% of orange cats are males, including the four orange cats owned by the Short Wave team. Scientists have long suspected that orange color was a sex-linked trait — hiding somewhere on the X chromosome. Now, scientists at Stanford University and Kyushu University in Japan have characterized the mutation responsible for orange cat coloration. Both groups published their results in the journal Cell Biology this week.

Have a question about the animals all around us? Email us at [email protected] — we'd love to hear from you!

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Most bats use echolocation to navigate and hunt, but some use their ears for another trick: eavesdropping.

"And then these frog-eating bats, for example, they are actually listening in on the mating calls of frogs that are much, much lower in frequency," says behavioral ecologist Rachel Page.

But how the bats knew this eavesdropping trick was a mystery. So she set up and experiment with baby bats and a speaker.

Have a question about the animals all around us? Email us at [email protected] — we'd love to hear from you!

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

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