Short Wave

Jurassic Park: Rebirth is the latest installment in the Jurassic World series. And while dinosaur paleontologist Matt Lamanna [https://carnegiemnh.org/research/matthew-lamanna/] has loved dinos — and the Jurassic Park franchise — his whole life, he says some of the films are more accurate than others. So how accurate are the ones unveiled in this latest movie? Matt gets into it with Short Wave host Regina G. Barber, who got a tour of the dinosaur exhibits where Matt works: the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. [https://carnegiemnh.org/research/matthew-lamanna/] They also discuss the accuracy of the beloved giant creatures in the newest Jurassic World film, as well as some of the hits from the franchise's archive — like the dinosaur he was partially responsible for discovering. Want us to cover more natural history? Tell us by emailing shortwave@npr.org [shortwave@npr.org]! We'd love to know what you want to hear from us. 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 [http://plus.npr.org/shortwave]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices] NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

For this second installment of the Sea Camp [https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-75877/short-wave-sea-camp] series, we explore the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It's the largest of five gigantic garbage patches in the sea. These patches hang out at the nexus of the world's ocean currents, changing shape with the waves. These areas were long thought to have been uninhabited, the plastics and fishing gear too harmful to marine life. But researchers have uncovered a whole ecosystem of life in this largest collection of trash. Today, with the help of marine biologist Fiona Chong, we meet the tiny marine life that calls this place home. Also, exciting news!! WE HAVE A NEWSLETTER! It lets you go even deeper with the marine research each week of Sea Camp. Sign up here! [https://www.npr.org/newsletter/sea-camp?utm_source=feeddescription] Interested in hearing more sea stories? Tell us by emailing shortwave@npr.org [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 [http://plus.npr.org/shortwave]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices] NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

A rare visitor from another star system has been spotted: the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS! It was detected July 1 by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS. Most known comets orbit the Sun and are bound by the gravity of the solar system ... but this object came from far beyond the pull of our Sun, traveling 137,000 miles per hour from another star. Now, scientists are racing to get a good image of it, in the hopes it can answer big questions like: What is the universe like where this comet is from? Is the solar system we live in unique? Want us to cover more space news? Tell us by emailing shortwave@npr.org [shortwave@npr.org]! We'd love to know what you want to hear from us. 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 [http://plus.npr.org/shortwave]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices] NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the Scopes "Monkey Trial" — where a teacher was charged with the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. At the time, it was illegal in Tennessee [https://sharetngov.tnsosfiles.com/tsla/exhibits/scopes/images/Butler%20Act.pdf] to "teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals." The trial, which was orchestrated to be a media spectacle, foreshadowed the cultural divisions that continue today and led to a backlash against proponents of evolution. Read more [https://www.npr.org/2025/07/08/nx-s1-5430760/evolution-scopes-creationism-monkey-trial] of science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce's [https://www.npr.org/people/4494969/nell-greenfieldboyce] reporting on the story. Want us to cover more science history? Less? Either way, tell us by emailing shortwave@npr.org [shortwave@npr.org]! We'd love to know what you're hearing — and want to hear from us! 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 [http://plus.npr.org/shortwave]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices] NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

Short Wave producer Hannah Chinn [https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-4958/hannah-chinn] has adult-onset eczema. They're not the only one. Up to ten percent of people in the United States have it, according to the National Eczema Association — and its prevalence is increasing. Despite its ubiquity, a lot about this skin condition remains a mystery. So today, Hannah's getting answers. In this encore episode, they sat down with Raj Fadadu [https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/raj-fadadu], a dermatologist at the University of California, San Diego, to ask: What is eczema? What triggers it in the first place? And might climate change make it worse sometimes? If you liked this episode, check out our episode on the science of itchiness [https://www.npr.org/2023/09/25/1198908044/itch-hives-eczema-scratch]. Also, follow us! That way you never miss another episode. Interested in hearing more about climate change and human health? Email us at shortwave@npr.org [shortwave@npr.org] — we'd love to hear your feedback! 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 [http://plus.npr.org/shortwave]. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices] NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]