Emily Kwong

In honor of Halloween, we're bringing you a Short Wave ghost story — featuring an animal that has long been the stuff of conservationist legend: the American red wolf.

More than a million species are at risk of extinction, many within decades, because of human actions. Among them? The kāhuli, Hawaii's native tree snails that are some of the most endangered animals on the planet. At one point, there used to be about 750 species of snails in Hawaii — almost all of them found nowhere else. Now, they are rapidly disappearing. NPR climate reporters Lauren Sommer and Ryan Kellman join host Emily Kwong to tell the story of the small team caring for the last of some of these snail species — and their fight against extinction. Read more of Lauren and Ryan's reporting.Curious about other biodiversity news? Email us at [email protected] and we might cover your topic on a future episode!

What's your favorite apple? Maybe it's the crowd-pleasing Honeycrisp, the tart Granny Smith or the infamous Red Delicious. Either way, before that apple made it to your local grocery store or orchard it had to be invented — by a scientist. So today, we're going straight to the source: Talking to an apple breeder. Producer Hannah Chinn reports how apples are selected, bred, grown ... and the discoveries that could change that process. Plus, what's a "spitter"?Want to know how science impacts other food you eat? Email us at [email protected] and we might cover your food of choice on a future episode!

Humans have seen a significant increase in life expectancy over the past 200 years — but not in overall lifespan. Nobody on record has lived past 122 years. So, for this early Halloween episode, host Regina G. Barber asks: Why do we age and why do we die? Microbiologist Venki Ramakrishnan explains some of the mechanisms inside of our bodies that contribute to our decay — and tells us if it's possible to intervene in the process.Curious about other biology news? Email us at [email protected] and we might cover your topic on a future episode!

For years, we've been asking, "Which came first: the chicken or the egg?" Maybe what we should have been asking is, "Which came first: the frog or the tadpole?" A new paper in the journal Nature details the oldest known tadpole fossil. Ringing in 20 million years earlier than scientists previously had evidence of, this fossil might get us closer to an answer.Have another scientific discovery you want us to cover on a future episode? Email us at [email protected] — we might feature your idea on a future episode!

How did life start on Earth? The answer is a big scientific mystery scientists are actively investigating. After talking with many scientists, host Regina G. Barber found that an abundance of water on Earth is most likely key, in some way, to the origin of life — specifically, in either deep sea hydrothermal vents or in tide pools. It's for this reason some scientists are also exploring the potential for life in so-called "water worlds" elsewhere in the solar system, like some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. This episode, Regina digs into two water-related hypotheses for the origin on life on Earth — and what that might mean for possible alien life. Have another scientific mystery you want us to cover on a future episode? Email us at [email protected] — we might feature your idea on a future episode!

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Regina Barber and Emily Kwong of Short Wave about the oldest known tadpole, new proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem, and the evolutionary roots of alcohol consumption.

NPR's podcast Short Wave brings the stories of a newly identified deep sea creature, the benefits of exercise for healing our nervous system and science-backed tips for holiday eating.

In early 2000, the scientists at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) were sitting in the control room for their deep-diving remotely

Many people are gearing up for holiday conversations with loved ones who may disagree with them — on everything from politics to religion and lifestyle choices. As the conversations unfold, these divisions are visible in our brains too. These conversations can get personal and come to a halt fast. But today on the show we get into research in neuroscience and psychology showing that as much as we disagree, there are ways to bridge these divides – and people who are actively using these strategies in their daily lives. Want to hear more neuroscience and psychology? Email us your ideas to [email protected] — we'd love to hear from you!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.