Science

Park Fire in California could continue growing exponentially, Cal Fire officer says

8:09pm July 26, 2024

by Ezra Romero

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.

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Science

Researchers are revising botanical names to address troubling connotations

8:08pm July 26, 2024

by Ari Daniel

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.

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Could you go a whole week without buying new plastic?

4:45pm July 26, 2024

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?

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Two chimpanzees groom each other — a behavior that can involve several gestures.

Science

What chimpanzee gestures reveal about human communication

3:01am July 26, 2024

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.

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Science

This week in science: Chimpanzee 'conversations,' deep ocean oxygen and rogue waves

10:25pm July 25, 2024

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.

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Octopus farming in the U.S. would be banned under a new bill in Congress

5:01pm July 25, 2024

by Bill Chappell

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.

Science

NASA still doesn't know when two astronauts will be able to come home

4:24pm July 25, 2024

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

NASA still is not sure when two astronauts might come home in Boeing's new Starliner spacecraft.

Tested: Running in Circles

10:24am July 25, 2024

by Rose Eveleth

Episode 4: In 2009, South African sprinter Caster Semenya won gold at the World Championships. But instead of a celebration, she endured endless speculation about her body, her biology, and her gender. And soon, sports organizations would launch a new round of regulations, lead to multiple court cases, and require sporting organizations to justify their claim that DSD athletes have an unfair advantage.

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California's newest state park is like a time machine

5:02am July 25, 2024

California's newest state park just opened this summer — and a visit is like stepping into a time machine as its creators reimagine what a state park can be.

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California's newest state park is like a time machine

10:20pm July 24, 2024

In the Central Valley, California’s first new state park in a decade opened this summer and it re-imagines what a state park can be.

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