Short Wave Folgen

Speaking to Short Wave from about 250 miles above the Earth, Josh Cassada outlined his typical day at work: "Today, I actually started out by taking my own blood," he said. The astronauts aboard the International Space Station are themselves research subjects, as well as conductors of all sorts of science experiments: Gardening in microgravity, trapping frigid atoms, examining neutron stars. Then, there's the joy of walks into the yawning void of space. Speaking from orbit, Cassada told fellow physicist and Short Wave Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber about research aboard the station, what it takes to keep the ISS going and which countries' astronauts make the best food. Curious about the other goings-on in space? Beam us an email at shortwave@npr.org — we might answer it in a future episode!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Time is woven into our personal memories. If you recall a childhood fall from a bike, your brain replays the entire episode in excruciating detail: The glimpse of wet leaves on the road ahead, that moment of weightless dread and then the painful impact. This exact sequence has been embedded into your memory thanks to some special neurons known as time cells. Science correspondent Jon Hamilton talks to Emily about these cells — and why the label "time" cells is kind of a misnomer.Concerned about the space-time continuum? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — using science, we might be able to set you at ease in a future episode.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

To ring in the new year, producer Berly McCoy brings host Emily Kwong this homemade science mad lib!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy