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Professors and students at the University of South Florida mapped pitch, rhythm and duration to data about algae blooms and depletion of coral reefs to create an original composition.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle)

The Chinook got shook when their truck got cooked. Now the salmon are swimming — but in the wrong brook.

Illegal gold mining has ravaged the Peruvian Amazon, leaving behind pollution and denuded landscapes. A group of miners are working with a U.S. charity to restore the forest.

The U.S. and tribal governments make progress against contaminated coal mine runoff from British Columbia, which has been polluting Montana and Idaho for years.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to kill some 470,000 owls over 30 years to protect other owl species has prompted conservationists and animal welfare advocates to weigh the consequences.

(Image credit: Don Ryan Steve Legge)

Coral reefs face a dire future as oceans get hotter. Scientists are breeding corals that can handle heat better, in the hope they can survive long enough for humans to rein in climate change.

(Image credit: Marie Roman)

The Windy City has the most lead pipes of any U.S. city. A study estimates that more than two-thirds of children there are exposed to lead in their home tap water.

(Image credit: Seth Wenig)

A U.S. Forest Service burn boss was due in court on charges stemming from a controlled burn that spread onto private land in 2022. His attorneys are trying to move the case to federal court.

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan)

'It's like you've left the solar system and are looking back from some other world,' says science writer David Baron. He describes sensations you may feel when viewing the total eclipse on April 8.

European farmers have staged several protests against agricultural policies recently, the most recent one in Brussels featuring fireworks and liquid manure.

The price of cocoa is on a wild historic ride: It topped the all-time record before Valentine's Day and almost doubled since then, in time for Easter. The culprit is the weather.

(Image credit: Virginia Mayo)

Historic numbers of animals across the globe have become endangered or pushed to extinction. But some of these species sit in limbo — not definitively extinct yet missing from the scientific record. Rediscovering a "lost" species is not easy. It can require trips to remote areas and canvassing a large area in search of only a handful of animals. But new technology and stronger partnerships with local communities have helped these hidden, "uncharismatic" creatures come to light.

Have other scientific gray areas you want us to cover in a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org!

(Image credit: Nicky Souness)

Among the changes, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will reinstate a decades-old regulation that mandates blanket protections for species newly classified as threatened.

More than half of the Colorado River's water is used to grow crops, primarily livestock feed, a new study finds. The river and its users are facing tough decisions as the climate warms.

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan)

Kemmerer, Wyo., is on the front line of America's energy transition, with its coal plant slated to close and a nuclear plant in the works. But some think the rush to quit fossil fuels is impractical.

(Image credit: Kirk Siegler)

French bulldogs have soared in popularity, but they and other short-nosed dogs often have serious health problems. New Hampshire could be the first state to put health restrictions on breeders.

(Image credit: Sarah Stier)

American Lung Association’s study also found great disparity between coasts, with 10 of 11 most polluted counties in California

The climate crisis has upended progress on improving air quality, with one in three Americans currently living in areas with harmful levels of pollutants known to increase the risk of medical emergencies, pregnancy complications and premature death, new research reveals.

Almost 120 million people in the US are still exposed to unhealthy levels of soot and smog, according to the annual report by the American Lung Association (ALA), which found that people of color are almost four times more likely to live in the most polluted places than white Americans.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says Labor support for recommendations is a ‘huge blow’ to companies trying to frack in the NT

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An inquiry into major plans to exploit gas in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin has recommended the federal government commit to a national plan to offset the vast emissions the project is expected to release.

The former government made gas exploration in the Beetaloo Basin a central tenet of its plans for recovering from the Covid pandemic, using grants and tax breaks to incentivise gas corporates to begin work in the region. The basin covers about 28,000 sq km south-east of Katherine and is thought to contain huge reserves of shale gas.

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Griffith University researcher captures video of five whales doing ‘bizarre rolls’ on the sea floor as they exfoliate and socialise

Whales have been caught on camera enjoying a marine version of a day spa, returning to their favourite spot off the Gold Coast to scratch off itchy skin and parasites, and catch up with their cetacean buddies.

Griffith University whale researcher Dr Olaf Meynecke and his colleagues were trying to shed light on the behaviour of competing pods of humpbacks that use Gold Coast waters to rest, breed and socialise.

Scientists operating a submersible have discovered deep-sea coral reefs in pristine condition in a previously unexplored part of the Galapagos marine reserve. Diving to depths of 600 metres (1,970ft), to the summit of a previously unmapped seamount in the central part of the archipelago, the scientists witnessed a breathtaking mix of deep marine life. This has raised hopes that healthy reefs can still thrive at a time when coral is in crisis due to record sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification

• Scientists discover pristine deep-sea Galápagos reef ‘teeming with life’