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Autism: myth-busting and what scientists still don't know : Short Wave
Autism has a long history of misinformation that continues to today. The Trump administration has perpetuated some of this misinformation in the last year. Among other things, officials have claimed certain groups of people don’t get the condition and that taking Tylenol while pregnant causes autism to later develop in children. Today, NPR Science Correspondent Jon Hamilton sets the record straight with host Emily Kwong on what scientists do and don’t know about autism. If you liked this episode, check out our episodes on an Autism researcher’s take on Trump’s claims about Tylenol and a Fragile X treatment that may be on the horizon.Interested in more science in the news? Email us your question at 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.This episode was produced by Berly McCoy. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Damian Herring.
DOE scientists blasted climate report ordered up by boss
Secretary Chris Wright handpicked five climate contrarians to write about global warming. Department experts pushed back on the findings.
Here’s Brunch, a pop-up, weekend email about the 2026 Legislative Session
Your Sunday buffet of Florida politics, food, culture & more.
New emails show New York Giants owner asked Epstein to connect him with women
New York Giants owner and American filmmaker Steve Tisch sought out Jeffrey Epstein’s help connecting him with women more than a decade ago, according to emails released Friday by the Justice Department.
Cloud storage payment scam floods inboxes with fake renewals
Over the past few months, a large-scale cloud storage subscription scam campaign has been targeting users worldwide with repeated emails falsely warning recipients that their photos, files, and accounts are about to be blocked or deleted due to an alleged payment failure.
‘Food is medicine’ and the $800M shortfall: How WV hopes to change rural health care
With West Virginia now poised to lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually in federal health care funding, Gov. Patrick Morrisey plans to embrace a “food-is-medicine” movement to bridge the gap and make the state’s residents healthier so they’re less reliant on the health care system.
Bill Gates denies allegations in Epstein email about 'trysts' and STD
A recently released email suggests that Bill Gates had asked for antibiotics to "surreptitiously" give to his now ex-wife, Melinda.
Paramount+ plans move into short-form video, UGC: internal docs
Paramount executives want to add short-form video and user-generated content to Paramount+, according to leaked emails and presentations.
Read the email Amazon is sending to laid-off employees
The notifications state that employees will receive full pay and benefits for 90 days.
How scientists predict big winter storms : Short Wave
This past weekend, Winter Storm Fern struck the States. Sleet, snow and ice battered Americans all the way from New Mexico to New York. Scientists predicted its arrival in mid-January, and in anticipation of the storm, more than 20 state governors issued emergency declarations. But how did scientists know so much, so early, about the approaching storm? NPR climate reporter Rebecca Hersher says it has to do with our weather models… and the data we put into them. Which begs the question: Will we continue to invest in them?Interested in more science behind the weather? Check out our episodes on better storm prediction in the tropics and how the Santa Ana winds impact the fire season this time of year. Have a question we haven’t covered? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. We’d love to consider it for a future episode! 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.This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by our showrunner Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones and Rebecca Hersher checked the facts. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez. News clips were from CBS Boston, Fox Weather, Fox 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, and PBS Newshour.
Emails show Bank of America struggles with Nvidia AI Factory adoption
Internal emails show Bank of America having difficulties with Nvidia's AI Factory, showing the challenges of integrating AI in regulated industries.
In downtown Wilmington, Live Oak shutting down inclusive small business center
Live Oak Bank is turning Channel off. Described by Live Oak as an inclusive small business center, Channel opened in November 2021 to serve as a free resource for small business owners, helping numerous minority-owned and other small businesses from its headquarters downtown at 106 Market St. "After careful consideration, we’ve decided to bring Channel ... to a close at the end of this month. Live Oak determined that the needs of Wilmington’s small business community have evolved. Since Channel opened, the local small business ecosystem has grown significantly, with many strong organizations now offering education, technical assistance and community programming for entrepreneurs," stated Claire Parker, managing director of corporate communications for Live Oak Bank, in an email Monday. "With those resources firmly in place, Live Oak is refocusing on what we do best – providing banking and financing solutions that help small businesses grow and thrive." Channel's demise also resulted in the elimination of two positions – those of Channel's director, Chakema Clinton-Quintana, and Atiba Johnson, the certified professional business advisor (CPBA) at Channel. On Monday, Clinton-Quintana, who was elected to the Wilmington City Council in November, said of her immediate plans after Channel: "I will continue my work serving the public while I look for other full-time opportunities." She said Channel "served over 1,000 small business owners in the greater Wilmington area, as well as some of the surrounding areas, such as Brunswick and Pender. A lot of folks had reached out to us needing those resources because they were free, and we were able to assist them in that capacity." Johnson said he will be devoting his time to the Wilmington Minority Chamber of Commerce, which is not affiliated with the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. The minority chamber is celebrating its launch from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Wilmington Sportsman Club, 1111 Castle St., Wilmington. Johnson, the founder and executive director of the new chamber, said about 50 businesses are on board to join the Wilmington Minority Chamber of Commerce. According to a news release, the new chamber "was established to foster growth, networking, and advocacy for underrepresented business owners. By providing essential resources and community engagement, the chamber aims to build a more inclusive and prosperous local economy." Johnson said the creation of the new chamber is in response to "lapses in funding, education, advocacy for minority businesses...Some of the things that are going on now just don't reach all the way down to those businesses." For Lynne Jones, owner of LJ Design Studio LLC, the loss of Channel also means a reduction in income. She had contracted with Channel to run the center's social media and to provide some marketing for small business owners. "It's pretty disappointing to hear that it is closing...it was a place to connect with other small business owners and collaborate. It was like a family for those of us who were there. If you had issues or things that you needed to talk through concerning your business, there was always someone there that you could sit down with and talk things through, recalibrate, and they set you off on your way to make that pivot and move in a different direction," Jones said Monday. She said she worked with many Channel participants creating their websites and will miss seeing the joy on their faces when those websites were up and running. Dawn McDowell, owner of Creatively Covered Co. LLC, credits Channel with helping her business grow and regrow after her social media pages were hacked and shut down in 2023. "Channel was a great resource for small businesses, for women-owned businesses, for minority-owned businesses; they provided a lot of assistance, especially when you needed it," McDowell said. "If it wasn't for Channel, I don't know if I'd be where I am now, in my business, and regrowing my business and even finding out about some of the certifications and things that were out there for small businesses that I just didn't know about ... because there was no one really sharing that information for small businesses, for minority- and women-owned businesses in particular." Parker said shutting down Channel was not part of an overall cost-cutting plan. She stated in the email, "Live Oak’s commitment to Wilmington remains strong. We are continuing to support entrepreneurs by focusing our efforts where we deliver the greatest value – through specialized banking and financing solutions aligned with our mission to be America’s small business bank." As for Channel's downtown office, Live Oak had leased the 5,000-square-foot space above Seabird restaurant in 2021. The bank’s lease for the office is up in March, Parker said.
149M logins exposed in unsecured database, inc 900k Apple accounts
A database containing 149 million account logins has been found sitting unsecured on a cloud service. The records include 900,000...
AI has arrived in Gmail. Here’s how to make it work for you
If the new AI technology becomes adopted by Gmail users, this could be the biggest change to email in decades. It may transform the way people check their inboxes into a more streamlined experience.
US Health Department pauses about $5 billion in state public health grants, Bloomberg News reports
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has sent notices to states and partners pausing public health grants that add up to about $5 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing an email.
US Health Department Pauses About $5 Billion in State Public Health Grants, Bloomberg News Reports
Jan 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has sent notices to states and partners pausing public health grants that add up to about $5 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing an email. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. (Reporting ...
Google says it's working to fix Gmail issue that's led to flooded inboxes and increased spam warnings
Gmail users have reported problems with their automatic filters that typically separate promotional emails from the main inbox.
Gmail’s spam filter and automatic sorting are broken
Gmail’s spam filter is broken, leading to inboxes flooded with promotional emails and warnings to “be careful.”
Gmail Glitch Appears to Break Email Filtering, Tabbed Inboxes
Marketing emails that should appear in the Promotions tab are flooding people's Primary inboxes.
The Best Use for Smart Glasses Might Have Nothing to Do With Entertainment
It's not all about getting email notifications plastered on your eyeballs.
Microsoft Outlook Outage Leaves Users Without Email; Tech Company Working On Resolving Issue
Microsoft has found what caused an outage that crippled its services like Outlook and Teams.
Microsoft 365 outage: Outlook, Teams, Exchange down. What we know.
Outlook users are reporting that emails won't send.
Google AI Mode can now customize responses with your email and photos
Personal Intelligence is optional and rolling out first to AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers.
Attackers With Decompilers Strike Again (SmarterTools SmarterMail WT-2026-0001 Auth Bypass)
Well, well, well - look what we’re back with. You may recall that merely two weeks ago, we analyzed CVE-2025-52691 - a pre-auth RCE vulnerability in the SmarterTools SmarterMail email solution with a timeline that is typically reserved for KEV holders. The plot of that story had everything; * A
Here’s Brunch, a pop-up, weekend email about the 2026 Legislative Session
Your Sunday buffet of Florida politics, food, culture & more.
Rackspace raises email hosting prices by as much as 706 percent
Rackspace tells Ars that hosted email is still a part of its "mission."
10 breakthrough technologies to expect in 2026 : Short Wave
Wanna know where tech is headed this year? MIT Technology Review has answers. They compile an annual list called "10 Breakthrough Technologies". Today, host Regina G. Barber speaks with executive editor Amy Nordrum about the list, and they get into everything from commercial space stations and base-edited babies to batteries that could make electric vehicles even more green. We also do a lightning round of honorable mentions you won't want to miss out on!Check out the full list from MIT Technology Review.Interested in more science? Check out our episode on last year’s top 10 technologies to watch and our episode on building structures in space.Email us your questions at 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.This episode was produced by Berly McCoy. It was edited and fact-checked by Rebecca Ramirez. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.
Research in Yale Science Building paused due to ventilation failure
A Wednesday email announced that the building — except for Marsh Lecture Hall and concourse-level physics research labs — would be closed until further notice.
Gmail users must make major decision regarding new AI features in their email
Several new Gmail features are driven by AI, which includes options to have the AI read your emails and offer suggestions.
Ravenscroft School to hold celebration of life service for science teacher
The head of school, Derrick Willard, shared in an email that as the community continues to process the "senseless loss" of Zoe Welsh, the community has been reminded of the bright light she brought to the campus for generations of students.
Gemini's new beta feature provides proactive responses based on your photos, emails, and more
Personal Intelligence is off by default, as users have the option to choose if and when they want to connect their Google apps to Gemini.
UNLV and Las Vegas Aces To Host Girls and Women In Sports Day Clinic January 31
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV athletic department and women's sports teams along with the Las Vegas Aces organization will come together to honor the 40th annual celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Saturday, January 31, by hosting free sports clinic prior to the Lady Rebels' home contest that afternoon against Colorado State at The Pavilion.
The ozone layer is still healing…thanks to science : Short Wave
In the mid-1980s, scientists published a startling finding–a giant hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. That’s the protective shield that blocks large amounts of harmful UV radiation. And without it, the rate of cancer, cataracts and crop failure would skyrocket. Today on the show, we dive into ozone science and examine how scientists successfully sounded the alarm and solved an Antarctic mystery.Check out our episode on an Antarctic plankton mystery. And, listen to our monthly series Nature Quest.Interested in more atmospheric science? Email us your question at 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.This episode was produced by Berly McCoy. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Becky Brown.
Hargett issues new warning about third-party solicitors targeting business renewals
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett issued a new warning today about unaffiliated mail and email solicitations involving annual business reports on the rise.
Anthropic’s new Cowork tool offers Claude Code without the code
Built into the Claude Desktop app, Cowork lets users designate a specific folder where Claude can read or modify files, with further instructions given through the standard chat interface.
The sludge in your shower drain? That could be scientists’ next big find : Short Wave
Microbes are little alchemists that perform all manner of chemical reactions. A team of microbiologists co-founded a non-profit to try to harness those abilities to solve some of the world’s big problems — from carbon capture to helping coral reefs to cleaning up waste. Recently, the team turned their attention to the microbes living in people’s homes — on and in shower heads, drip pans, and hot water heaters. These rather extreme environments may have pressured microorganisms into surviving in ways that could be advantageous to humans. Science reporter Ari Daniel takes us on a treasure hunt in miniature.This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.Interested in learning more about the weird and wonderful world of microbes? Email us your question at 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.
The sludge in your shower drain? That could be scientists’ next big find : Short Wave
Microbes are little alchemists that perform all manner of chemical reactions. A team of microbiologists co-founded a non-profit to try to harness those abilities to solve some of the world’s big problems — from carbon capture to helping coral reefs to cleaning up waste. Recently, the team turned their attention to the microbes living in people’s homes — on and in shower heads, drip pans, and hot water heaters. These rather extreme environments may have pressured microorganisms into surviving in ways that could be advantageous to humans. Science reporter Ari Daniel takes us on a treasure hunt in miniature.This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.Interested in learning more about the weird and wonderful world of microbes? Email us your question at 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.
A galaxy cluster hotter than the surface of the sun is shocking researchers : Short Wave
Most astronomers agree that young galaxy clusters should be relatively cool compared to older ones. But researchers recently found a very young cluster that’s hotter than the surface of the sun. More on why the finding is so shocking, plus elephant’s remarkable sniffing abilities and a new discovery about butterfly migration in this episode of Short Wave. Interested in more science news? Email us your question at 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.
Greater Cleveland Partnership's small business group names new board chair
Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE), the small business group of Greater Cleveland Partnership, has named a new board chair. Taylor Evans, the president of Rust Belt Recruiting, took the position this month, succeeding Cheryl Perez, CEO of Cheryl C Perez Brand of Companies, who finished her two-year term with the group. Evans steps into the role following a long history with COSE, initially joining the organization in the summer of 2018 and becoming a board member six months later, the organization said in a news release."Taylor has an incredible passion for small business," Megan Kim, executive director of COSE, said in an emailed statement to Crain's. "He is equally invested in the growth of his own business and the business community in Greater Cleveland. He is well connected, collaborative, and a natural leader."
Google Is Adding an ‘AI Inbox’ to Gmail That Summarizes Emails
New Gmail features, powered by the Gemini model, are part of Google’s continued push for users to incorporate AI into their daily life and conversations.
FEMA planning exercise envisioned deep workforce cuts, adding to uncertainty around agency’s future
Federal Emergency Management Agency leaders were told to prepare for a possible gutting of their workforce — by as much as half — in the coming months, according to an internal email sent to top FEMA officials last month.
The science of losing weight : Life Kit: Health
When it comes to weight loss, there are many misconceptions about what works. So if you want to lose weight this year, here's what the science says about the potential health benefits, GLP-1 drugs, exercise and more.Sign up for Life Kit's Guide to Building Strength here: npr.org/strongerFollow us on Instagram: @nprlifekitSign up for our newsletter here.Have an episode idea or feedback you want to share? Email us at lifekit@npr.orgSupport the show and listen to it sponsor-free by signing up for Life Kit+ at plus.npr.org/lifekit
The science of losing weight : Life Kit: Health
When it comes to weight loss, there are many misconceptions about what works. So if you want to lose weight this year, here's what the science says about the potential health benefits, GLP-1 drugs, exercise and more.Sign up for Life Kit's Guide to Building Strength here: npr.org/strongerFollow us on Instagram: @nprlifekitSign up for our newsletter here.Have an episode idea or feedback you want to share? Email us at lifekit@npr.orgSupport the show and listen to it sponsor-free by signing up for Life Kit+ at plus.npr.org/lifekit
The science of losing weight : Life Kit
When it comes to weight loss, there are many misconceptions about what works. So if you want to lose weight this year, here's what the science says about the potential health benefits, GLP-1 drugs, exercise and more.Sign up for Life Kit's Guide to Building Strength here: npr.org/strongerFollow us on Instagram: @nprlifekitSign up for our newsletter here.Have an episode idea or feedback you want to share? Email us at lifekit@npr.orgSupport the show and listen to it sponsor-free by signing up for Life Kit+ at plus.npr.org/lifekit
Exclusive: DHS begins slashing FEMA disaster response staff as 2026 begins
The Trump administration is abruptly cutting dozens of staff who are at the forefront of disaster response and recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week, according to internal emails obtained by CNN and sources familiar with the plan.
The Athletic has free newsletters across many sports. Sign up here!
Did you know The Athletic has a bunch of email newsletters with millions of subscribers? Well, now you do!
It’s been a difficult year for science. Here’s what researchers say about the future : Short Wave
Science in the United States took some big hits this year. The Trump Administration disrupted federal funding for all kinds of scientific pursuits. Administration officials say those changes were a step towards reinvigorating federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health. But many scientists disagree. NPR health and science correspondents Rob Stein and Katia Riddle chat with host Emily Kwong about what these cuts could mean for the future of science.Interested in more stories on the future of science? Email us your question at 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.
The best AI-powered dictation apps of 2025
AI-powered dictation apps are useful for replying to emails, taking notes, and even coding through your voice
Kratom and 7-OH products are widely available. They’re also at the heart of a public health debate. : Short Wave
Kratom and 7-OH products are available in many smoke shops. But earlier this year, the FDA recommended certain 7-OH products be scheduled alongside opioids. This isn’t the first time kratom has come under scrutiny. Nearly a decade ago, the DEA wanted to make certain active ingredients in kratom controlled substances. Meaning products would go from being widely available to highly restricted. After a massive wave of protest, the DEA decided not to move forward. Producer Rachel Carlson joins host Emily Kwong to talk about what could happen this time around, and what scientists know – and don’t know – about kratom and 7-OH. Interested in more of the science behind drugs and supplements? Email us your question at 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.
Gmail to Let Users Change Their Addresses While Keeping Data
In recent days, though, Google has quietly started to roll out a way for users to change their Gmail addresses ending with @gmail.com, and keep all their emails — no matter how old their account.
How Trump is leveraging sports and sports culture for his political brand : Consider This from NPR
President Trump is using his position to access sporting events across the country and embed himself with teams and fans. And he’s leveraging sports and American sports culture to build up and amplify his political brand. NPR’s Tamara Keith speak with Christine Brennan, a longtime sports columnist and author, about the president and the significance of his strong ties to sports.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre and Henry Larson. It was edited by Sarah Robbins, Dana Farrington and Rebekah Metzler. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
How Trump is leveraging sports and sports culture for his political brand : Consider This from NPR
President Trump is using his position to access sporting events across the country and embed himself with teams and fans. And he’s leveraging sports and American sports culture to build up and amplify his political brand. NPR’s Tamara Keith speak with Christine Brennan, a longtime sports columnist and author, about the president and the significance of his strong ties to sports.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre and Henry Larson. It was edited by Sarah Robbins, Dana Farrington and Rebekah Metzler. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
Google is at last letting users swap out embarrassing Gmail addresses without losing their data
Google has finally answered users' cries, allowing Gmail users to swap out embarrassing teenage email addresses.
Google is letting some people change their @gmail address
Google is letting some people change their @gmail address, and they can swap back to their old email at any point.
Google is rolling out a new feature allowing users to change their Gmail address
Google says it is rolling out a feature that lets users change their Gmail addresses in a long-requested update to their email policy.
Why scientists are catching whale breaths....with drones : Short Wave
Scientists in the Arctic are catching the exhaled breaths of whales to better understand their health. How? Drones. Whales breathe through their blowholes, which are the equivalent of nostrils on their heads. By studying the microbes in exhaled whale breaths, scientists are piecing together how deadly diseases spread in whale populations. Host Emily Kwong and producer Berly McCoy talk to All Things Considered host Juana Summers about what scientists can do with this information, from reducing stress on whales and monitoring ocean health to warning people who could be in close proximity to whales carrying zoonotic diseases. Interested in more science on charismatic megafauna? Email us your question at 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.
Why scientists are catching whale breaths....with drones : Short Wave
Scientists in the Arctic are catching the exhaled breaths of whales to better understand their health. How? Drones. Whales breathe through their blowholes, which are the equivalent of nostrils on their heads. By studying the microbes in exhaled whale breaths, scientists are piecing together how deadly diseases spread in whale populations. Host Emily Kwong and producer Berly McCoy talk to All Things Considered host Juana Summers about what scientists can do with this information, from reducing stress on whales and monitoring ocean health to warning people who could be in close proximity to whales carrying zoonotic diseases. Interested in more science on charismatic megafauna? Email us your question at 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.
She goes to police calls in a Prius. It’s part of a new approach to mental health emergencies
Briana Fair, a mental health clinician with the San Mateo Police Department, received a dozen voicemails from the same distressed caller over a single weekend this month.
Google Now Allows Users to Change Your @gmail.com Email Address
For years, one of the most persistent frustrations for Google users has been the inability to alter their primary email address without creating an entirely new account.
Google To Let Users Change Gmail Address — What You Need To Know
A Google support document has revealed that Gmail users will soon be able to change their @gmail.com email address.
Google May Soon Let You Change That Old, Silly Gmail Address
As per Google's support page in Hindi, you may soon be able to change the email address of your old Google account, which is a welcome feature.
The long wait to change your Gmail address might soon be over
Ditch that cringey teenage email address
Mad about Science: The solarwinds hack » Sandpoint Reader
By Brenden BobbyReader Columnist It’s important to practice good cybersecurity when you’re at home or at your job. Don’t click links you can’t verify. Don’t open emails from people you don’t recognize trying to...
Science funding was hit in 2025. What does that mean for the future? : Consider This from NPR
2025 was a hard year for science. The Trump administration upended federal funding for all kinds of scientific pursuits, slashing budgets across agencies like NASA, NIH and NOAA. NPR's Rob Stein and Katia Riddle spoke to scientists and officials who worry that those cuts could cause the United States to lose its competitive edge as a global hub for research and innovation, and steer future generations away from careers in science. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Michael Levitt, with audio engineering by Zo vanGinhoven. It was edited by Sarah Handel, Scott Hensley and Amina Khan. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
After 70 years of business, Circle Furniture is closing its doors
On Tuesday morning, employees received an email confirming they’re being laid off.
I'm 'Shark Tank' investor Kevin O'Leary. I wake up at 5 a.m. with no alarm and refuse to answer emails.
"Shark Tank" and "Marty Supreme" star Kevin O'Leary explains his daily routine, which includes eating protein, biking, taking naps, and avoiding email.
From CIA officer to Governor: Abigail Spanberger on intelligence and politics : Sources & Methods
Virginia governor-elect Abigail Spanberger will be the first woman and the first former CIA officer to lead the commonwealth.Host Mary Louise Kelly talks to Spanberger about her unconventional career path that took her from Langley to D.C. and now to Richmond, and how some of her skills from gathering intelligence come in handy in politics. Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.orgNPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.
If not pet, why pet shape? Science says raccoons aren't quite there : Short Wave
Dogs are man’s best friend. And it’s no secret that we at Short Wave love cats (Regina has four)! Both of these iconic pets have been domesticated – evolved and adapted to live alongside humans – for millennia. And a recent study suggests that the common raccoon may be on its first steps towards joining them. So how do scientists look for signs of domestication and what do those signs mean? And could you have a litter box trained raccoon in your lifetime? We talk to the study’s lead author, Raffaela Lesch, to find out.Interested in more animal science stories? Email us your question at 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.
Quantum entanglement could connect drones for disaster relief, bypassing traditional networks
Any time you use a device to communicate information—an email, a text message, any data transfer—the information in that transmission crosses the open internet, where it could be intercepted. Such ...
Google warns staff with US visas against international travel due to embassy delays, Business Insider says
Alphabet's Google has advised some employees on U.S. visas to avoid international travel due to delays at embassies, Business Insider reported on Friday, citing an internal email.
Google's new invite-only AI tool emails you morning briefings based on your Gmail, Calendar, and Drive. I tried it.
Google Labs debuted its new productivity tool, CC, which generates morning briefings using AI. It was great for sifting through my spam folder.
RELEASE: DELAWARE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CONSORTIUM HIRES ADMINISTRATOR - State of Delaware News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Media Contact: Alexis Wrease Email: alexis.wrease@delaware.gov Phone: (302) 622-2677 Delaware Behavioral Health Consortium Hires Administrator Wilmington — The Delaware Behavioral Health Consortium (BHC) is excited to welcome Katie Leibel-Marin as its Administrator. With extensive experience in strategic development, budget management, community engagement, and board management, Leibel-Marin […]
Knicks win the NBA Cup behind a balanced team effort
In today's edition: Knicks win NBA Cup, Crawford retires from boxing, the parallels between Pete Golding and Steve Fisher, NFL power rankings, emailing with the Warriors owner, and more.
Google's New AI Agent Helps You Get Ahead With a Morning Briefing
The new experiment, CC, sends you a daily email summarizing the meetings and tasks you need to get to.
The family business: President Papps follows in dad's footsteps as education leader
Davenport President Richard J. Pappas, Ed.D. discussed his views on education and other issues during his appearance on a recent episode of "CEO Thought Leadership Series on LinkedIn Live," hosted by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR). The series is produced in conjunction with the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For and Corp!
Google tests an email-based productivity assistant
Google's new email based assistant will be available to 18+ AI Pro and Ultra plan users in North America
Mesa business loses access to all social media accounts after wrongful suspension
Let ABC15 Know has received dozens of emails from people who were devastated that their social media accounts were suspended.
A record Medicare drug payout, and the JPM dodgers
This is the online version of STAT's weekly email newsletter Health Care Inc.
Quantum science research is full of promises. When will they happen? : Short Wave
This year, quantum science and computing came up a lot. There have been broad claims that quantum science and engineering could one day help cure diseases, design new materials, optimize supply chains -- or help in other ways not yet fathomable. And, while the Trump administration has made strides to cut scientific funding, quantum research is one of two things they’ve pledged to continue investing in – along with artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, scientists have been hard at work, pushing the research to move quantum engineering from sci-fi to real-world usefulness. All of this got science correspondent Katia Riddle wondering: When will all of this effort actually pay off? She talked to a lot of scientists to figure it out -- and to figure out how much scientist really understand about quantum science. She brings everything she learned onto the show today. To hear more Short Wave reporting on quantum clocks, check out this episode: Quantum Mechanics For BeginnersInterested in more quantum science? Email us your question at 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.
New photos from Epstein’s personal collection show Trump, Clinton and much more
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Science must move from materialism to mystery
Theoretical physicist and neuroscientist Àlex Gómez-Marín argues that modern science has become trapped in a framework that mistakes matter for the whole of reality. In this wide-ranging interview, Gómez-Marín challenges the foundations of materialism, defends the scientific study of near-death experiences, and calls for a new type of science grounded in mystery and a renewed sense of the sacred. He suggests that abandoning materialism could open the door to a deeper understanding of consciousness, death, and the purpose of human existence. Simon Custer: You are both a theoretical physicist and a neuroscientist, and you have also been fiercely critical of materialist theories of mind and consciousness. What do you think the ultimate nature of reality is?Àlex Gómez-Marín: I don't know what the ultimate nature of reality is, but what I try to first assess is whether the stories that they [mainstream science] have told us about it are right, or maybe whether there are other alternatives. That's why I've been a fierce critic of materialism. As a scientist, I realized that they had sold us this idea that to be a good scientist you also had to subscribe to many other -isms, like materialism, reductionism, and even secularism. And so first I think one needs to unmount these -isms, and then, as is happening today in consciousness studies, we have a huge landscape where there isn't only one game in town, the idea that matter is the only thing that really exists. But because we are studying the hard problem of consciousness, it may be the case that other views of reality, like idealism, or even dualism, or other theories like dual aspect monism... these are philosophical ideas that now, I think, have room in science to be taken seriously. How does something like materialism relate to dualism or idealism? What is materialism in the first place?Well, materialism is the philosophical position that matter is the only really ‘real’ thing in the universe. And I think that worked kind of well because science started 400 years ago and Galileo made that split, I call it the foundational wound. It was a great business move.He said, let's start doing science on that portion of reality that lends itself more easily to mathematization and measurement. So, for some reason, the solidity of this table or the movement of planets lend themselves very well to this foundational idea of science. But as time went on, 400 years later, we realized that we had forgotten the other side, which is what really matters.What really matters is pain, is love, is feelings, sensation, consciousness, which is very hard to define, but very intimate. We all know what it is. It's that thing that disappears when we go into deep sleep and comes back in the morning. SUGGESTED VIEWING On the edges of knowledge With Michael Shermer, Rupert Sheldrake, Güneş Taylor It's what it is like to be, as Nagel said. It's the feeling of being alive. So, materialism is good to study certain things, but then when it ossifies into this ideology and then is dressed like science, now it's preventing us from understanding these key questions that are really that everybody wants to know.Why are we here? Why do we feel reality? Where do we go when we die? And so we need other ways. We need pluralism. I'm only asking for having more options on the table and taking them seriously. Why does materialism fail to explain consciousness? For example, if you were to lobotomize me, I would not be a functional human being. What do you say to someone who might think that materialism adequately explains the mind?Well, here we could speak about different things. We could talk about physics or about neuroscience. I happen to have training with both.For instance, for neuroscientists, 99% of them, I'm not included in that portion, believe that the brain can only be a productive organ. It's an organ that somehow, somewhere, consciousness emerges. It's like a lamp. And then something happens, magic happens, and then consciousness emerges.That's the position you need to be if you're a materialist because if the only really ‘real’ thing is matter, then you need to say, just give us some more time and money and we'll figure out how mind emerges or is produced from matter. There are many philosophically sophisticated ways of criticizing this.Now there's another option, which is the brain as a permissive organ. This was said by William James more than 100 years ago.Now then the brain wouldn't be like this machine, like for instance, a heat engine whose smoke is consciousness, which is what we would have in the first big model, the productive model. But in the permissive model, the brain would be a kind of a filter. And so the brain would still have a very important role in consciousness, but it wouldn't be a productive role.It would be permissive, much like a filter or much like a prism which would receive light. And - I'm speaking metaphorically - it would receive the light of the mind and then it could reflect it and refract it.Now, with these two big options on the table, I think we can make progress into what I call the edges of consciousness, which are all these experiences, weird experiences that many people have, but we don't talk about enough, like near-death experiences, precognitive dreams, synchronicities. These experiences are very important for humans and they have a place in the permissive hypothesis and they are literally impossible in the productive hypothesis. So that's yet one more reason to explore alternatives to materialism. There may be anecdotal evidence for near-death experiences, but is there robust evidence that would be accepted by the majority of scientists who subscribe to the scientific method?Sure. And the plural of anecdotes, someone said, is data.And there's a lot of data. Actually, this year is the 50th anniversary, half a century, since Dr. Raymond Moody realized that we have two ears and one mouth and started listening to what his patients had to say about their experiences while they were clinically dead.The heart had stopped, breathing had stopped in these patients. These patients would come back and tell him these amazing stories that some people may say are hallucinations, but for the patients were hyper-real, like seeing light at the end of the tunnels, seeing deceased family members waiting for them, feeling bliss.___I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain.___And so he and others started taking them seriously and writing their accounts down. And then you can do a science based on that material of experience that people have. Now, on the more objective side, more recently people have started to measure what's going on in the brain when people are clinically dead and brought back. This has opened a proper field of study, which is near-death studies.Evidence is a difficult word, because sometimes people think that when you say evidence, this is just the final proof. Evidence is like in a jury. You bring testimony, you bring pieces of data that point in one direction or another.I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain. When brains are broken or shut off, there can still be mind going on. And that's revolutionary.That would entail that when we die, it's not game over, which, by the way, is the thesis of materialism. If consciousness survives, materialism dies. It's game over for materialism if something of us continues after we die. Do you think that there is mental continuity after death?Well, I think so, and I believe so, and I could also say I may have experienced it myself, because four years ago I had a near-death experience. I was in the hospital, I lost a lot of blood, and I saw those beings at the end of the tunnel, three beings, and there was yellow light. I was in a well, I was looking upwards, and I hadn't read about NDEs by then, but when I came back from this experience, I decided I would try to integrate this also in my professional life. Not just my personal life, of course, but my professional life as a physicist and as a neuroscientist. So I may have had the experience of glimpses of what an afterlife would be, and I'm not ashamed to say it in this way, and then one can do science of it, and then one can do philosophy of it.One can think about what -isms we were discussing, what views on reality would allow those experiences to be really ‘real,’ as opposed to, well, poor guy, the brain was kind of broken, it must have been a hallucination. Do you have a view about whether individuality or “the ego” persists after death, or whether we sort of merge into some sort of cosmic consciousness instead?I don't know, but my view would be along those lines you're suggesting. I think we could speak about a kind of universal mind, and then the problem is not how we emerge from matter, but how we fragment from a more holistic consciousness into these individual eddies and then when we die, this kind of dissipates.But I'm not sure. For instance, idealism would promote that view, but then what would survive of us after these eddies just vanish and become again the big Consciousness, I'm not sure what that would be. I don't know for sure, but I would tell you I believe something of us survives.And there are other lines of research, not just near-death experience, that can address this really hard question of survival. For instance, there are children who remember previous lives. This was studied by Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia for more than 50 years.___Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.___It's amazing research. He went all over the world, especially in the East, and collected all these case studies, all these stories. In plural, these were data of kids, very young age, who would describe up to 40 items that then he could go and verify.There was no internet. There was really no way the kid could know. Why would the kid say that when I was living in this other body and I was a woman and that's how my house would look like or that's how I would die, right? Again, there is evidence, not proof, but there's evidence not only that something weird and interesting is happening as we cross the threshold, but also when we come back to this life.Scientists should not be afraid of studying this, but they are because there's stigma. There's usually stigma upon the enigma, and this is so unfortunate. And one of the reasons is because of the ideology of materialism, because those things cannot be possible. What is wrong with the politics of science such that they have generated this stigma?So many things. Science is a human activity to begin with.So it falls prey to all our passions and ego and greed. That's one thing. Science is a job for the good and for the bad.You need to get a salary. You need to get grants. Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.And then, we didn't have time to unpack this, but science for many years become entangled, as I was suggesting before, to other -isms, materialism, secularism. So anything that smells like the afterlife, people may think has to do with God, and then they freak out.Anything that suggests that there's something about the mind that may not need a physical material substrate to exist, it smells like non-materialism. So, all these -isms are ideologically blocking that kind of research, and then there are all these sociopolitical constraints as to what should be studied and what shouldn't be studied.I call it the backstage of science. Sometimes we scientists or science communicators seem to speak as if the data is the only thing that matters. We say, well, data and theory.But then there's a third leg of this stool, which is all the politics that goes behind the scenes. And we often don't speak about this, and it's quite vicious and petty, and it's very real. Why is materialism so attractive to most scientists?Well, an easy answer is because we've grown up with it.It's what the educational system promotes, and that's what you hear when you go to university. So it's like growing in a culture. It feels like the air in which you breathe.So it's very hard to begin with to detect, well, maybe there's another alternative. Maybe there are other ways of doing science, other environments in which one could do science. That's one reason.And other reasons maybe are more profound, and I'm not qualified to explain them, but I could say, looking at this 400-year history of science, since it started around 1623 with Galileo's book The Assayer, that science went and coupled with all what's going on in the West.And so the fall of religion, you could say, and science presented us this new alternative that then could be coupled very well with other -isms, and this idea of growth, and then science losing its good twin brother, which was philosophy. There's a whole natural history of science starting as philosophy, kind of emancipating or breaking out from philosophy, and then marrying technology, and then marrying other social systems.From that point of view, materialism is a very convenient idea to propose. There were attempts, like the German idealists tried to do a more romantic science. But no, the idea prevailed, like Francis Bacon said: You should pursue nature through all her corners, he said, and make her spill her secrets.Our attitude towards nature in the science that dominates is very much reflecting how we treat nature in our society, in our culture, like a resource to extract secrets by force and then dominate it. How is materialism related to the notions of growth and progress? What's wrong with having a productive citizenry?This is another very interesting and very difficult question to answer.But there's this recent book coming out by Paul Kingsnorth. In it, he explains this idea of the machine and this idea of progress. And this, again, this conflation of more is better, of we need to go forward always, and convincing us that the way to do that is to continually extract more from nature. But because we don't have the religious context anymore, because God is dead, then what do we have? We have what we can do as humans with our own gadgets.It's kind of the story of the Promethean fire. We will just build anything to make ourselves God.A good example today is transhumanism. Transhumanism is this pseudo-religion dressed in technoscientific language whose goal is very religious. They promise immortality, they promise redemption, they promise transformation of the entire natural world, but it's done by human means through technology. Are you suggesting that we can't have ethics without religion?Well, we should have ethics with or without religion. That's another pruning that has happened in science. We say, forget about aesthetics, although some physicists still think that beautiful means probably true, and forget about politics. We pretend there's no backstage of science, and even let's forget about ethics.___Science needs to be in the service of mankind.___Scientists, when they become more like engineers, they're just thinking how to make things work so that they can go to the moon, go to Mars, make machines that think, but they don't think whether that's a good idea.And also consider metaphysics. Many scientists for a long time pretended, and maybe that comes from the stream of positivisms, that really one doesn't need metaphysics at all, except that materialism is always the metaphysics running the system.You see, it's not just ethics. It's the pruning of all of these, you could say, five main legs of philosophy that just makes a kind of unconscious science, a science that doesn't really know what it's doing. It's doing it very well locally, but it just doesn't know what it's doing globally. Do you think science has to have an ultimate vision and purpose behind it for it to be effective or for it to be meaningful and transformative?Yes, a way I would say that is that science needs to be in the service of mankind. And it hasn't been that. And we can see it through, you know, when we discovered the secrets of the atom, and all of a sudden, the Manhattan Project, and then we create nuclear weapons.And now we're trying to crack how machines may think, and now we're creating this mess, right? So science needs to be in service of mankind, not in service of a few ideas that maybe want to make more money or just dominate upon nature. What about planes, trains, automobiles, and modern medicine? Hasn't science served mankind by helping us develop those technologies?Yes and no. I see where you're going, and it's fair.I came here by plane, and it's a blessing. When I almost died, the surgeons did their job, and they saved my life. But these two forced choices between Luddites and Silicon Valley types, I think, of course, it's a false dichotomy.Progress, in a way, it's good, but we often don't speak about the dark side of the moon. We say the great things that progress has brought, and we don't speak about the disasters, the side effects that it has come with, and the same when we promise new technologies. We tend to think that any technology is great, that email is going to save us so much time because we don't need to write letters and send them anymore.Is that true? I spend so many hours a week writing emails. Let's just say there are great things about it and bad things about it. People like Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, for example, argue that we've made moral progress over time because of the Enlightenment. Do you think that's totally wrong-headed?I think he's emphasizing a side of the moon, and he does that very well, and you can find tons of plots where there's a slope going up and say it's great. But I think he should also tell the not-so-friendly story.But if your ideology is just to resist and continue to explain that the Enlightenment is the best thing ever and reason is the best thing ever… this feels to me like you're worshipping these abstractions.I'm very critical of it and also of these, again, science communicators and scientists that say, Oh, science says, in the name of science, experts say. It's like, come on, let's be careful because we can shoot ourselves in the foot by putting forth to the people an image of science that we know is not really true. Recently there's been a resurgence of spirituality and of people who say that they're spiritual but not religious, especially in the United States. If materialism is going away, what is going to fill that gap? Are we going to return to traditional religion? Do you see that being connected with the rise of the political right?I'm not a fortune teller, so I don't know what's going to happen. But, yeah, we could say we're in this post-materialist age and even post-secular age. One cannot come back to the past, but maybe just to contact with the roots is a good idea.What do I mean by that? I think we need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method. We need to do so in a culture where we realize humans cannot thrive in a vacuum where there's this idea that the sacred has to be removed.Now, how do we do that without bringing in back all the vices of religion? I don't know. I'm from a Catholic country.Here we are in England, so there are differences and interreligious dialogue has always been a challenge. But I think maybe a way of putting it is: after all these conflicts and branchings I was quickly alluding to, science from philosophy and then also from religion, now there's a time of reconciliation perhaps and maybe debates in the proper sense, like exchange of ideas in service of learning and getting into something higher than both poles. We need science to talk to religious people and it's interesting when people say they're spiritual and not religious.I think this is just a way of saying, no, I don't want to go back, I want to go forward. But at the end of the day, religions have offered us practices and grounding that we now desperately need. Everybody can and should just meditate or pray or do whatever they want, but we're in a crisis and it's time for reconciliation. What do you say to critics that say you are merely projecting our need for meaning onto a fundamentally indifferent universe?Yeah, I know that the typical science communicator says something like this. But we're not projecting. Human beings feed on meaning.It's the other way around. If you're a materialist, because the only thing that there is is matter, all that comes next, free will, consciousness, meaning, this is a kind of illusion that we need to explain.They're just craving for meaning, but there isn't really for them. I would also like to remind my materialist friends that for decades, if not centuries, they've said in the name of science, we know that this and this and this doesn't really exist. I think now they sense they're forced to say, well, actually, we don't know. We've been saying, for instance, that there's nothing after you die, and now probably they need to admit that they don't know the answer.___We need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method.___So it's a moment to open up possibilities and also to gently but fiercely critique these claims that I think harm society. If you say in the name of science, get on with it, when your father dies, you'll never see him again. Well, what the F do you know about it? You haven't studied the literature, you haven't had any of those experiences, and basically what you're doing is you're just doing marketing on ideology. This needs to stop. Do you think that it's scarier for some people to entertain the thought that there might be life after death, compared to a materialist worldview where you just die, given that there might be consequences for unsavory behaviour?Well, death and dying is scary. It's maybe the ultimate ending. It's a limit on life, and when we're in this conquest mode, we don't like limits.And it also has, there's a shockwave backwards, so I think if you change your notion of what death is or may be, you live differently. It also has consequences, as you're saying, for the future because this is not our only goal here and we come back in whatever form. And again, different religions would say different things. I the East, they are more happy with the idea of reincarnation, and here in the West, there are other preferences. But in any case, it changes how we live, and that's really what matters.It's not about just projecting or imagining what we'll be after, but how we live now and also how we treat those who are dying. So it goes from the individual to the families, to the hospitals.Now in the near-death research I do, this has ramifications at all these levels, all the way to society.But our society is thanatophobic. It has a phobia of death. We don't want to hear about death, and this is another thing we need to put on the table and be willing to talk about it. Do you think that we might get closer to answering ultimate questions like why is there anything at all if we jettison materialism?That’s an excellent question, Simon. Two things: we should stop treating reality, I believe, as a great sudoku, as an enigma, as something that with intelligence, money, and time that we will crack and instead treat reality more like a mystery. And what you do for in front of a mystery is not to be the clever guy in a class and say “I’ll solve you” but more like “I will bow and you will transform me.”I know this sounds a bit like a scientist speaking like a mystic. But I think this reorientation is needed. In the end, we won’t crack the big questions, but they will transform us. If we free ourselves from this prison of materialism, the way we will explore these questions will be freer, more creative, and in service of mankind. Do you think exploring mystery is the reason why we are here?I think we are here because, and this pseudo-theological argument I’m making off the cuff, But the One, the Absolute, if there is such a thing, had everything except limitation. We are that absolute experiencing that contingency. It’s like an act of divine proprioception. It’s a wonderful adventure, it’s just incredible to be alive. Perhaps we have forgotten why we are here and the whole point is to experience the flesh.Let me end by saying this. I criticize materialism harshly. I bang on this dead horse, because I think it’s dead. But matter is a great mystery. So maybe my invitation is as follows: hey materialist friends, come here, let’s work on materialism 2.0! Consciousness is a mystery, but matter is also a mystery. The fact that we can have an intersubjective experience consensus, the fact that we can apply mathematics, that we can measure things... the physical world we take for granted, but it is a great mystery too.Maybe that’s related to your last question: why are we here? Why did spirit decide to incarnate? Being in the flesh may be a great thing if spirit decided to do so.Àlex Gómez-Marín, thank you very much.My pleasure.
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At the recent Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, summit - which was attended by the U.S. Secretary of Health and the Vice President - the agenda showed a shift toward alternative medicine, wellness and nutrition and away from conventional medication. Most of the speakers were not academic researchers or doctors. To discuss what happens when government guidance moves away from scientific consensus, Miles Parks speaks with Dr. Sandro Galea, a Distinguished Professor in Public Health, and Dean of the Washington University School of Public Health in St Louis, Missouri.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.This episode was produced by Avery Keatley and Jordan-Marie Smith. It was edited by Ahmad Damen. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.