Short Wave Folgen

Time is woven into our personal memories. If you recall a childhood fall from a bike, your brain replays the entire episode in excruciating detail: The glimpse of wet leaves on the road ahead, that moment of weightless dread and then the painful impact. This exact sequence has been embedded into your memory thanks to some special neurons known as time cells. Science correspondent Jon Hamilton talks to Emily about these cells — and why the label "time" cells is kind of a misnomer.Concerned about the space-time continuum? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — using science, we might be able to set you at ease in a future episode.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

To ring in the new year, producer Berly McCoy brings host Emily Kwong this homemade science mad lib!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

From misty eyeballs to full-on waterworks, what are tears? Why do we shed them? And what makes humans' ability to cry emotional tears unique? Hosts Emily Kwong and Aaron Scott get into their feelings in this science-fueled exploration of why we cry. (encore) To see more of Rose-Lynn Fisher's images from Topography of Tears, visit her website.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy