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Friday

How India's COVID-19 Outbreak Got So Bad, And Why It May Be Even Worse Than We Know

Indians who lost their lives to COVID-19 are cremated in funeral pyres in New Delhi. The aerial photo was taken on Monday. Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images

Consider This from NPR

How India's COVID-19 Outbreak Got So Bad, And Why It May Be Even Worse Than We Know

Things have gone from bad to worse in the pandemic's global epicenter. India reported nearly 400,000 new COVID-19 cases on Friday — and the death count is likely higher than current estimates. Lauren Frayer, NPR's correspondent in Mumbai, explains why. Follow more of her work here or on Twitter @lfrayer.

How India's COVID-19 Outbreak Got So Bad, And Why It May Be Even Worse Than We Know

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What Is An 'Internal Wave'? It Might Explain The Loss Of An Indonesian Submarine

An image taken by NASA's Aqua satellite as it passes over Indonesia, captures evidence of an internal wave in the same general area where the KRI Nanggala submarine disappeared earlier this month. Jeff Schmaltz/, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC hide caption

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Jeff Schmaltz/, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC

What Is An 'Internal Wave'? It Might Explain The Loss Of An Indonesian Submarine

No cause has been established for the sinking earlier this month of the KRI Nanggala with 53 people aboard, but officials have suggested that it may have been due to an undersea wave.

Sonia Altizer: What Can We Learn From The Migration Of Monarch Butterflies?
University of Georgia

TED Radio Hour

Sonia Altizer: What Can We Learn From The Migration Of Monarch Butterflies?

Monarch butterflies fly the longest two-way migration of any insect species. Ecologist Sonia Altizer shares how these intrepid butterflies make the journey — and how it's being threatened.

Sonia Altizer: What Can We Learn From The Migration Of Monarch Butterflies?

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Carolyn Freiwald: What Can Our Teeth Tell Us About Where We Come From?
Courtesy of TED

TED Radio Hour

Carolyn Freiwald: What Can Our Teeth Tell Us About Where We Come From?

Much of our ancestral histories can be found in our bones. Archaeologist Carolyn Freiwald traces the story of human migration through the hidden clues in our bones and our teeth.

Carolyn Freiwald: What Can Our Teeth Tell Us About Where We Come From?

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An Alzheimer's Drug May Boost Cognition In People With Fragile X Syndrome

Fragile X syndrome involves changes in the X chromosome, as pictured in the four columns of chromosomes starting on the left. The fifth column, on the far right, shows two normal X chromosomes. Richard J. Green/Science Source hide caption

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Richard J. Green/Science Source

Shots - Health News

An Alzheimer's Drug May Boost Cognition In People With Fragile X Syndrome

An experimental medicine seems to ease symptoms of Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder that is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disabilities and autism.

An Alzheimer's Drug May Boost Cognition In People With Fragile X Syndrome

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Why Having Diverse Government Scientists Is Key To Dealing With Climate Change

Tia Tate is a computational biologist currently working in a postdoctoral position at a federal agency in North Carolina. Cornell Watson for NPR hide caption

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Cornell Watson for NPR

Why Having Diverse Government Scientists Is Key To Dealing With Climate Change

Climate and health policies rely on scientific expertise. But the federal science workforce has been shaped by decades of political interference, underfunding and race and gender bias.

Why Having Diverse Government Scientists Is Key To Dealing With Climate Change

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The Viral TikTok Explaining mRNA Vaccines With ... Forks!

Some of Vick Krishna's recent videos explaining different aspects of the coronavirus vaccines have gone viral. The first was an explainer of the mRNA vaccines. hotvickkrishna TikTok/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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hotvickkrishna TikTok/Screenshot by NPR

Short Wave

The Viral TikTok Explaining mRNA Vaccines With ... Forks!

We at Short Wave are sometimes a little too aware of how difficult it can be to explain science to a general audience. So when we came across Vick Krishna's viral TikTok breaking down how the mRNA vaccine works, we were impressed and immediately like, "We've got to get him on the show!" Today's that show. Vick breaks down the inspiration, the science and his newfound responsibility as an accidental science communicator.

The Viral TikTok Explaining mRNA Vaccines With ... Forks!

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Thursday

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster: 10 Years Later

Wildlife has moved into deserted towns in Fukushima prefecture, after people evacuated due to the nuclear accident a decade ago. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

Short Wave

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster: 10 Years Later

In 2011, villages and towns around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant in Japan were evacuated because of a series of meltdowns caused by a tsunami. Ten years later, some of the villages and towns are slowly reopening. Geoff Brumfiel talks with producer Kat Lonsdorf about the Fukushima nuclear accident, its lasting effects on Japan, and the future of nuclear power.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster: 10 Years Later

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Wednesday

The CDC's New Mask Guidance, Explained, And A Look At How Long Vaccines Protect Us

The latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear a mask when they're outdoors unless they're in a crowded space. Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images hide caption

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Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Consider This from NPR

The CDC's New Mask Guidance, Explained, And A Look At How Long Vaccines Protect Us

Fully vaccinated people can ditch the mask outdoors, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week — unless they're at a crowded event. Dr. Anthony Fauci explains the new guidance to NPR and weighs in on how soon children under 16 might be eligible for vaccines.

The CDC's New Mask Guidance, Explained, And A Look At How Long Vaccines Protect Us

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Biden Signs Bill To Restore Regulations On Climate-Warming Methane Emissions

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, joined by Sens. Ed Markey (left) and Martin Heinrich, discusses legislation in April to reimpose regulations to reduce methane pollution from oil and gas wells. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

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J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Environment And Energy Collaborative

Biden Signs Bill To Restore Regulations On Climate-Warming Methane Emissions

The Trump administration rolled back the regulations last year, a move that was so controversial even some oil companies opposed it. Methane is an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Biden Signs Bill To Restore Regulations On Climate-Warming Methane Emissions

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25 Down And 71,632 To Go: Scientists Seek Genomes Of All Critters With A Backbone

The newly sequenced Canada lynx genome has already offered hints of how the North American wildcat might adapt — or not — to climate change, researchers say. Keith Williams/Flickr hide caption

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Keith Williams/Flickr

Shots - Health News

25 Down And 71,632 To Go: Scientists Seek Genomes Of All Critters With A Backbone

Biologists say newly efficient and accurate gene sequencing techniques have allowed them to fairly quickly detail full genomes and find overlooked genes in a broad range of 25 important species.

25 Down And 71,632 To Go: Scientists Seek Genomes Of All Critters With A Backbone

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California's 'White Gold' Rush: Lithium In Demand Amid Surge In Electric Vehicles

Rod Colwell, CEO of Controlled Thermal Resources, is among many hoping to transform the area around California's Salton Sea into a domestic source of lithium for electric car batteries. Benjamin Purper/KVCR hide caption

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Benjamin Purper/KVCR

Energy

California's 'White Gold' Rush: Lithium In Demand Amid Surge In Electric Vehicles

KVCR

Automakers worry about a shortage of key minerals just as production of electric vehicles is set to spike. The Biden administration has called for boosting domestic production of them.

California's 'White Gold' Rush: Lithium In Demand Amid Surge In Electric Vehicles

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5 Ways To Cut Carbon Emissions At Home

This Brooklyn building is going green--Dan Charles has tips on how to make one's home more environmentally friendly. Dan Charles hide caption

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Dan Charles

Short Wave

5 Ways To Cut Carbon Emissions At Home

Feeling green? If you'd like to do something to slow down climate change, even if it's just a small thing, you can get started in your own apartment or house. With the help of our friends over at Life Kit, NPR correspondent Dan Charles shares five ways to cut carbon emissions in your own home.

5 Ways To Cut Carbon Emissions At Home

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Tuesday

Here Come The Cicadas

Periodical Cicadas spend 17 years underground feeding on tree sap. Now, billions of cicada nymphs are once again preparing to emerge from the earth and take to the treetops of 15 states across the East Coast and Midwest. Ed Reschke/Getty Images hide caption

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Ed Reschke/Getty Images

Here Come The Cicadas

WAMU

People in D.C. and other cities are starting to see periodical cicadas. The red-eyed flying insects known as Brood X emerge every 17 years.

Here Come The Cicadas