Why Big Numbers Break Our Brains

Ask any coffee aficionado, and they’ll tell you: A good cup is about more than the beans. The flavor is affected by lots of things – the roast and fermentation of the beans, the coarseness of the grind, the brewing temperature and even the chemicals in the water used to brew it. ...  Show more

After the success of Artemis II, we at Short Wave definitely have moon fever. So, we brought NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce onto the show to talk about where we’re headed. What will future Artemis missions look like and what needs to happen next for people to be a ...  Show more

We live in a world where bigger is often seen as better - and the size of someone's brain is no exception. But a listener in Nairobi wants to know, does size really matter when it comes to grey matter? CrowdScience presenter Marnie Chesterton is on a mission to find out if the ...

As floods, wildfires, and heatwaves hit many parts of the world, signs of climate change seem to be all around us. Scientists have been warning us for years about the looming threat of a warming planet. And yet it’s really hard for many of us to wrap our minds around this exis ...

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by comedian Alan Davies and neuroscientists Prof Uta Frith and Prof Sophie Scott. They discover the secret to why humans are such social creatures and why two brains are definitely better than one. Our brains are wired to learn from and mimic o ...  Show more

For decades scientists have warned us about the risks of climate change. Yet humans are badly psychologically designed to face up to the challenge of changing our behaviour. Research shows that constant threats of impending doom make us hit the snooze button rather than waking ...