The not-so-secret life of plants

<p>“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s <a href="https://www.nhpr.org/document"><i>Document</i> </a>team and <a href="https://outsideinradio.org/"><i>Outside/In</i>.</a></p><p><strong>Episode 3: A Duck’s a Duck</strong></p><p>Two sets of potential crim ... Show More

<p>“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s <a href="https://www.nhpr.org/document"><i>Document</i> </a>team and <a href="https://outsideinradio.org/"><i>Outside/In</i>.</a></p><p><strong>Episode 2: Behind the Brick Wall</strong></p><p>The poaching investi ... Show More

<p>“Operation Night Cat” is a special three-part series from NHPR’s <a href="https://www.nhpr.org/document"><i>Document</i> </a>team and <a href="https://outsideinradio.org/"><i>Outside/In</i>.</a></p><p><strong>Episode 1: Why Did the Deer Cross the Road? </strong></p><p>A New Ha ... Show More

When you hear “invasive plant,” you might picture an aggressive species taking over and harming the environment. But what if the way we think about invasive plants is part of the problem? Host Rachel Feltman chats with Mason Heberling, associate curator of botany at the Carnegie ... Show More

<h2>Where Soil Grows Above The Trees</h2><p>You might be used to the feeling of Earth under your feet, but did you know that there’s soil high above your head? Way up in the treetops, where ferns, mosses, flowers, and even trees grow on top of the forest. A new <a href="https://w ... Show More

<p>In an episode we first aired in 2018, we asked the question, do you really need a brain to sense the world around you? To remember? Or even learn? Well, it depends on who you ask. Jad and Robert, they are split on this one. Today, Robert drags Jad along on a parade for the sur ... Show More

<p>In the 1920s, a Russian biologist studying onion roots made a surprising discovery: underground, down in the darkness, it seemed like the cells inside the onion roots were making their own … light. </p><p>The “onion root experiment” went on to become something of a cult classi ... Show More

Ashleigh Papp, an animal scientist turned storyteller, takes us on into the field. Conservationists and animal behaviorists were once restricted to wildlife data gathered manually. Now new technologies are expanding the amount of passively collected data—and machine learning is h ... Show More

In a hauntingly innovative exhibit, brain cells grown from the late composer Alvin Lucier’s blood generate sound. Set in a museum in Perth, Australia, the installation blurs the line between art and neuroscience. Host Rachel Feltman and associate editor Allison Parshall explore t ... Show More

Static electricity plays an invisible role in the natural world, and it may even help insects pollinate plants. To understand this hidden force, scientists have jumped through some pretty weird experimental hoops — and “walked” butterflies through literal hoops. Guests: Sam Engla ... Show More

What does the Declaration of Independence have in common with Vincent van Gogh’s sketches? The ink used to produce them came from wasps. From pests to products, insects have played an enormous role in human history. Entomologist and animal behaviorist Barrett Klein encourages a h ... Show More

Scientists now agree that COVID spreads via airborne transmission. But during the early days of the disease, public health officials suggested that it mainly did so via close contact. The subsequent back-and-forth over how COVID spread brought science journalist Carl Zimmer into ... Show More

In Lessons from Plants (Harvard University Press, 2021), Dr. Beronda Montgomery connects the science of plants to the behavior of people. She unpacks how their ability to who they are, where they are, and what they are supposed to do translates into good leadership. In the interv ... Show More