Short Wave Folgen

For over a century, we've been inventing technology to catch liars in the act. To this end, the polygraph was invented and became wildly popular in the mid-20th century. Then, there was an era of "micro-expression training," which claimed person could be caught lying through a skilled analysis of their face. Now, there's talk of using artificial intelligence to analyze the human voice. But do any of these methods even work? And if not ... what are the risks? Emily and Gina investigates how deception research has changed and why it matters. Check out our episode page, where Emily linked to the experts she talked to and the papers she discussed.Got another human behavior you want us to investigate using science? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Fruit fly brains are smaller than a poppy seed, but that doesn't mean they aren't complex. For the first time, researchers have published a complete diagram of 50 million connections in an adult fruit flies brain. The journal Nature simultaneously published nine papers related to this new brain map. Until now, only a roundworm and a fruit fly larva had been mapped in this way.Read more of science correspondent Jon Hamilton's reporting here. Want to know more about the future of brain science? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might cover it on a future episode! See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Lightning: It happens all the time, and yet the exact details of how it's made has long eluded scientists. That is, until now. New research out this week in the journal Nature holds new insights into the precursor to lightning. To figure it out, researchers flew a NASA ER-2 – essentially the research version of a spy plane – over several tropical thunderstorms. What they found: The same high energy radiation is found in places like neutron stars and around black holes. Want to hear more stories about the science behind natural phenomena? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy