Accessibility links
Regina G. Barber Regina G. Barber is a co-host of Short Wave.
Regina Barber, photographed for NPR, 6 June 2022, in Washington DC. Photo by Farrah Skeiky for NPR.
Stories By

Regina G. Barber

Friday

What history's hidden grandmother of climate science teaches us today

There are no lasting photos of Eunice Foote. Her experiments set the foundation for climate science. Carlyn Iverson/NOAA Climate.gov hide caption

toggle caption
Carlyn Iverson/NOAA Climate.gov

Short Wave

What history's hidden grandmother of climate science teaches us today

Today, most climate science is done with satellites, sensors and complicated computer models. But it all started with a pioneering female physicist and two glass tubes. Eunice Foote, the woman behind that glass tube experiment, has largely been left out of the history books. Until about 10 years ago, John Tyndall was seen as the grandfather of climate science for setting the foundation for the understanding of the greenhouse gas effect. But Eunice's experiment, done three years prior, showed that air with more "carbonic acid," or carbon dioxide, both heated up faster and cooled down slower than regular air.

What history's hidden grandmother of climate science teaches us today

Listen · 11:53
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1167213683/1200392889" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Perennial rice: Plant once, harvest again and again

The perennial rice 'Yunda 107' is harvested in the Yunnan Province of China. Perennial rice can be harvested for successive regrowth seasons, maintaining a relatively stable yield and greatly reducing labor input. China News Service/China News Service via Getty Ima hide caption

toggle caption
China News Service/China News Service via Getty Ima

Short Wave

Perennial rice: Plant once, harvest again and again

Rice is arguably the world's most important staple crop. About half of the global population depends on it for sustenance. But, like other staples such as wheat and corn, rice is cultivated annually. That means replanting the fields year after year, at huge cost to both the farmers and the land. For years, scientists have been tinkering with rice strains to create a perennial variety – one that would regrow after harvest without the need to be resown. Today, Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber takes a look at one promising perennial rice effort. It's one of a series of interviews we conducted live at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Perennial rice: Plant once, harvest again and again

Listen · 12:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1165680024/1200392897" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

News Round Up: algal threats, an asteroid with life's building blocks and bee maps

Leading our news round up is news of a giant floating mat of grassy brown algae called Sargassum. It has grown from small patches in the Sargasso Sea and can now be seen from space. THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images

Short Wave

News Round Up: algal threats, an asteroid with life's building blocks and bee maps

After reading the science headlines this week, we have A LOT of questions. Why did the Virgin Islands declare a state of emergency over a large blob of floating algae? What can a far-off asteroid tell us about the origins of life? Is the ever-popular bee waggle dance not just for directions to the hive but a map?

News Round Up: algal threats, an asteroid with life's building blocks and bee maps

Listen · 10:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1165621697/1200392901" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Venus and Earth: A tale of two 'twins'

This computer-generated 3D model of Venus' surface shows the summit of Maat Mons, the volcano that is exhibiting signs of activity. A new study found one of Maat Mons' vents became enlarged and changed shape over an eight-month period in 1991, indicating an eruptive event occurred. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption

toggle caption
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Short Wave

Venus and Earth: A tale of two 'twins'

Planetary scientists announced some big news this week about our next-door neighbor, Venus. For the first time, they had found direct evidence that Venus has active, ongoing volcanic activity.

Venus and Earth: A tale of two 'twins'

Listen · 14:27
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1164376096/1200392917" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

What is life? For scientists, asking is easier than answering

LOS ANGELES - JAN 8: Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data in the STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION episode, "The Hunted." Season 3, ep 11. Original air date, 1/8/90. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images

Short Wave

What is life? For scientists, asking is easier than answering

In this Back To School episode we consider the "List of Life": the criteria that define what it is to be a living thing. Some are easy calls: A kitten is alive. A grain of salt is not. But what about the tricky cases, like a virus? Or, more importantly, what about futuristic android robots? As part of our Black History Month celebration, developmental biologist Crystal Rogers and scientist-in-residence Regina G. Barber dig into what makes something alive, and wade into a Star-Trek-themed debate.

What is life? For scientists, asking is easier than answering

Listen · 10:56
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1158848956/1200393017" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

After another earthquake in Turkey, what scientists know about aftershocks

A 6.4-magnitude quake hit the Hatay province in southern Turkey, in Antakya, on February 21 — two weeks after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit near Gaziantep, Turkey, in the early hours of February 6, followed by another 7.5-magnitude tremor shortly thereafter. The initial quakes caused widespread destruction in southern Turkey and northern Syria and has killed more than 44,000 people. Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images

Short Wave

After another earthquake in Turkey, what scientists know about aftershocks

Monday another earthquake struck southeastern Turkey, near the Syrian border. This time, the quake registered as a magnitude 6.3 — an order lower than the initial, devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake and the magnitude 7.5 aftershock that struck the area two weeks ago on Feb. 6. A magnitude 6.3 is still considered strong, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). And as NPR previously reported, some locals were inside buildings trying to recover belongings lost in the initial quake when Monday's aftershock hit.

After another earthquake in Turkey, what scientists know about aftershocks

Listen · 10:17
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1158432074/1200393021" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

News Round Up: FDA chocolate assessment, a powerful solar storm and fly pheromones
NASA/SDO

Short Wave

News Round Up: FDA chocolate assessment, a powerful solar storm and fly pheromones

After reading the science headlines this week, we have A LOT of questions. Is chocolate really that good for your health? How do solar flares affect life on earth? And what's the big deal about scientists identifying the chemical motivation for tsetse fly sex? Luckily, it's the job of Short Wave co-hosts Emily Kwong and Aaron Scott and Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber to decipher the science behind the headlines. Hang out with us as we dish on some of the coolest science stories in this Valentines-themed installment of our regular newsy get-togethers!

News Round Up: FDA chocolate assessment, a powerful solar storm and fly pheromones

Listen · 12:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1155584777/1200393033" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

A newly identified type of tomato has been hiding in plain sight

Tanisha Williams and Chris Martine examine an Australian bush tomato in the Rooke Science Building greenhouse. Emily Paine/Bucknell University hide caption

toggle caption
Emily Paine/Bucknell University

Short Wave

A newly identified type of tomato has been hiding in plain sight

A few years ago, a team of scientists set out on a field expedition in the rugged, dry Northern Territory of Australia. There, they found a plant that was both strange and familiar hiding in plain sight. After careful research during the pandemic, the newly described tomato recently made its debut in PhytoKeys, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal. Today, Short Wave Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber talks to lead author Tanisha Williams about the plant's journey from the side of a trail in the Australian Outback to a greenhouse in rural Pennsylvania.

A newly identified type of tomato has been hiding in plain sight

Listen · 10:02
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1156756977/1200393041" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Scientists shoot lasers into the sky to deflect lightning

A photograph taken from the French riviera city of Nice, shows lightning flashes in a supercell thunderstorm over the Mediterranean sea in August 2022. Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images

Short Wave

Scientists shoot lasers into the sky to deflect lightning

Every year, lightning is estimated to cause up to 24,000 deaths globally. It starts forest fires, burns buildings and crops, and causes disruptive power outages. The best, most practical technology available to deflect lightning is the simple lightning rod, created by Benjamin Franklin more than 250 years ago. But lightning rods protect only a very limited area proportional to their height. So today's show, why a group of European researchers are hoping the 21 century upgrade is a high-powered laser. Plus: Regina makes incremental progress on conquering her irrational fear of lightning.

Scientists shoot lasers into the sky to deflect lightning

Listen · 12:18
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1152663841/1200393053" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Who gets the first peek at the secrets of the universe?

Clouds of material funnel into a growing protostar, photographed in near-infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope Observatory. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI hide caption

toggle caption
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Short Wave

Who gets the first peek at the secrets of the universe?

The James Webb Space Telescope is by far the most powerful space-based telescope ever deployed by the United States. But it is only one instrument, and scientists all over the world have to share. The JWST's managers received more than 1,600 research proposals for what the telescope should look at.

Who gets the first peek at the secrets of the universe?

Listen · 11:10
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1154859107/1200393065" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

What physical blind spots can teach us about social blind spots

Physicist Desiré Whitmore teaches workshops to help teachers better communicate science. As part of that, Desiré uses optical illusions to explain how social blind spots come into play in the classroom. Scott Barbour/Getty Images for NGV hide caption

toggle caption
Scott Barbour/Getty Images for NGV

Short Wave

What physical blind spots can teach us about social blind spots

Everyone sees the world differently. Exactly which colors you see and which of your eyes is doing more work than the other as you read this text is different for everyone. Also different? Our blind spots – both physical and social. As we continue celebrating Black History Month, today we're featuring Exploratorium Staff Physicist Educator Desiré Whitmore. She shines a light on human eyesight – how it affects perception and how understanding another person's view of the world can offer us a fuller, better picture of life.

What physical blind spots can teach us about social blind spots

Listen · 13:16
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1153963899/1200393069" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

6 doctors swallowed Lego heads for science. Here's what came out
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Short Wave

6 doctors swallowed Lego heads for science. Here's what came out

As an emergency physician at Western Health, in Melbourne, Australia, Dr. Andy Tagg says he meets a lot of anxious parents whose children have swallowed Lego pieces. Much like Andy so many years ago, the vast majority of kids simply pass the object through their stool within a day or so. But Andy and five other pediatricians wondered, is there a way to give parents extra reassurance ... through science?

6 doctors swallowed Lego heads for science. Here's what came out

Listen · 15:45
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1150888553/1200393097" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Time is so much weirder than it seems
LUVLIMAGE/Getty Images

Short Wave

Time is so much weirder than it seems

Time is a concept so central to our daily lives. Yet, the closer scientists look at it, the more it seems to fall apart. Time ticks by differently at sea level than it does on a mountaintop. The universe's expansion slows time's passage. "And some scientists think time might not even be 'real' — or at least not fundamental," says NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel. Geoff joined Short Wave Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber to bend our brains with his learnings about the true nature of time. Along the way, we visit the atomic clocks at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, consider distant exploding stars and parse the remains of subatomic collisions.

Time is so much weirder than it seems

Listen · 13:45
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1148240811/1200393137" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Space

An astronaut tells NPR what life is like on the ISS

Short Wave's scientist in residence Regina Barber talks with NASA astronaut Josh Cassada about daily life on the International Space Station.

An astronaut tells NPR what life is like on the ISS

Listen · 4:33
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1149646978/1149646979" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Humans want to make everything better — but sometimes different is just as good
Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images

Short Wave

Humans want to make everything better — but sometimes different is just as good

Are humans ever satisfied? Two social psychologists, Ethan Ludwin-Peery and Adam Mastroianni, fell down a research rabbit hole accidentally answering a version of this very question. After conducting several studies, the pair found that when asked how things could be different, people tend to give one kind of answer, regardless of how the question is asked or how good life felt when they were asked. Short Wave's Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber digs into the research—and how it might reveal a fundamental law of psychology about human satisfaction.

Humans want to make everything better — but sometimes different is just as good

Listen · 12:50
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1148845276/1200393160" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript