News

Nerd has been part of our lexicon for three-quarters of a century, its geeky meaning embodied by some of the most recognizable characters in film and TV, but its origin story is a bit murky.

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An Israeli official said that the military will be operating in parts of Gaza City where the Israeli military has not yet operated and where Hamas is still active.

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There’s been an era-defining race underway between two types of batteries used in electric vehicles: lithium batteries that use cobalt, and ones that use iron phosphate. Cobalt, a metal with a checkered human rights record, has been in the lead. Until recently. 

Henry Sanderson’s book on the elements that build electric vehicles is Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green.

Related episodes: 
The race to produce lithium 
How batteries are already changing the grid 
How batteries are riding the free market rodeo in Texas 
How EV batteries tore apart Michigan (Update) 
Batteries are catching fire at sea 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

Thirty years ago, park rangers reintroduced grey wolves into Yellowstone National Park. They wanted to restore the ecosystem and get the elk population, which had decimated the plant community, in check. And it worked – or so the popular narrative suggests. But is it really so simple? Today on the show, we explore how the Yellowstone ecosystem has changed since wolves returned and whether those changes can really be pinned solely on wolves. Plus, how the narrative of the Yellowstone wolf legacy could affect wolf reintroduction elsewhere.

Curious about other science controversies? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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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The risk from the recalled shrimp is "quite low," said Donald Schaffner, a food safety expert at Rutgers University. Cesium-137 is a byproduct of nuclear reactions.

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A growing number of 20-somethings are trying to stop wrinkles from forming on their face with a preventative treatment known as "baby Botox," which freezes facial muscles to limit movement.

Samuel Kangethe has lived in the U.S. for nearly two decades, but an unresolved immigration case has made him deportable. He's decided to return to Kenya, leaving his wife and three children behind.

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President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and seven European leaders met at the White House to talk about ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. The meeting followed a summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week. We dive into the proposals to end the war and how each side might react to them. We hear from NPR’s correspondent in Moscow and Ukraine’s former foreign minister.

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The politics of air conditioning in France, as the country basks in yet another heatwave.

The home-improvement chain is now one of the companies most caught up in Trump's immigration crackdown. The retailer's history with day laborers is long. So far, it's choosing to keep its distance.

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Forecasts nudge Erin's likely path to the west, increasing the risks at U.S. beaches. Experts say the storm's massive size, rather than its windspeeds, is what makes it a threat.

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Air Canada said it will gradually restart operations after reaching a deal with the flight attendants' union to end a strike that disrupted the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of travelers.

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The fires have ravaged small, sparsely populated towns in the country's northwest, forcing locals in many cases to act as firefighters. About 2,382 square miles have burned across Spain and Portugal.

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Trump says there are plans underway for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet to discuss an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine. And, Trump wants to stop states from voting by mail.

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NPR marks World Photography Day with images of everyday moments of gathering from communities across the U.S. taken by photographers from the network's member stations.

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A study in Poland found that doctors appeared less likely to detect abnormalities during colonoscopies on their own after they'd grown used to help from an AI tool.

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A lot of companies want the EPA in charge of setting national climate regulations because it helps shield them from lawsuits and creates a predictable environment in which to make investments.

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The suffering of America's gun violence crisis is concentrated in Black neighborhoods damaged by decades of disinvestment and racial discrimination. Trump is unravelling efforts to solve the problem.

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Imagine, you’re a toxic toad hanging around South America. No other animals are gonna mess with you, right? After all, you’re ~toxic~! So if anyone tries to eat you, they’ll be exposed to something called a cardiotonic steroid — and may die of a heart attack. Well, unfortunately, for you, some animals have developed adaptations to these toxic steroids. Evolutionary biologist Shabnam Mohammadi has spent her career studying how these adaptations work — and says even humans have used these toxins to their advantage since ancient Egypt. So today on Short Wave, we get a little… toxic (cue Brittney Spears). Host Regina G. Barber talks to Shabnam about how some predators can get away with eating toxic prey. 


Curious about biology? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.


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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A range of crime data has been going around to make the argument that Washington, D.C., is — or isn't — safe. We talk to crime experts to make sense of it all.

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