-
Pluto hasn't been a planet for almost 20 years. In the early 2000s, scientists discovered several objects of a similar size to Pluto. So, during the summer of 2006, members of the International Astronomical Union convened in Prague to reconsider what counts as a planet in our solar system. IAU members decided that there were three criteria to be a planet — and Pluto did meet all of them. But planetary scientist Wladymir Lyra says that even though it was downgraded to a dwarf planet, Pluto still has much to teach us about planet formation. This episode, he also lays out his case for Pluto — and many other objects in the solar system — to be considered a planet. This episode is part of Short Wave's space camp series about all the weird, wonderful things happening in the universe. Check out the full series. Questions about the state of our universe or smaller happenings here on planet Earth? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to consider it for a future episode!
-
Joro spiders are spreading across the east coast. They are an invasive species that most likely arrived in shipping containers from eastern Asia. Today, we look into why some people find them scary, why to not panic about them and what their trajectory illustrates about the wider issue of invasive species. Questions? You can also email those to shortwave@npr.org.
-
Democratic Congressman Andy Kim challenged the state's powerful political machine and won in court and on the ground, making him the unlikely favorite in this November's Senate race.
-
Many people lose income when they become caregivers for a family member. Some even end up losing their home.
-
With IT systems down, staff at Ascension have to use manual processes they left behind some 20 years ago. It's the latest in a string of attacks on health care systems that house private patient data.
-
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote along ideological lines, reversed a lower court decision that had struck down a South Carolina congressional district as a racial gerrymander.
-
Voting concludes Tuesday in Oregon's presidential and U.S. House primary contests. President Biden and former President Donald Trump are already their parties' presumptive nominees.
-
Voting concludes Tuesday in Kentucky's presidential and U.S. House primary contests. President Biden and former President Donald Trump are already their parties' presumptive nominees.
-
Many of us wear earbuds for hours at a time, sometimes all day long, and all that listening is taking a toll on our hearing. This episode, host Manoush Zomorodi investigates our headphone habits. She speaks with exposure scientist Rick Neitzel, who has partnered with Apple to create a first-of-its-kind study into how our daily sound exposure and listening patterns are affecting our hearing. Neitzel offers advice on safe listening habits that can help protect our ears in the long term. Later, Manoush takes us into the future of "consumer hearables" and how tech companies want us to never — ever— take our earbuds out. Interested in joining the Apple Hearing Study? Sign up here.Binge the whole Body Electric series here.Sign up for the Body Electric Challenge and our newsletter here.Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ, or record a voice memo and email it to us at BodyElectric@npr.org.
-
"Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division," the sisters wrote of the NFL kicker's controversial commencement address.
-
When a private space traveler said he wanted to take a SpaceX capsule on a mission to improve the aging Hubble telescope, NASA studied the options. Internal emails show concern about the risk.
-
Plus, six tips on how to stay alert and minimize sluggishness when traveling rapidly across multiple time zones.