Short Wave Folgen

From currency and commerce, food labels to laboratories, the metric system is the foundation of many science and math fields. To mark our 100th episode (a multiple of 10, which is the basis for the metric system!), we spoke with Elizabeth Benham, Metric Program Coordinator at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, about the presence of the metric system in our everyday lives.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This one doesn't end the way you'd expect. Inspired by the Netflix documentary series "Night On Earth," we learn everything we can about a mouse and scorpion who do battle on the regular — from two scientists who study them: Ashlee Rowe at the University of Oklahoma and Lauren Esposito at the California Academy of Sciences. If you have Netflix, you can watch the critters clash about 18 minutes into the episode 'Moonlit Plains' here. Read more about Lauren's work with scorpions here, and Ashlee's work with grasshopper mice here. And you can learn more about grasshopper mouse vocalizations from Northern Arizona University's Bret Pasch here.Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Despite quarantines and other measures, the coronavirus keeps popping up. What makes it so hard to control?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy