logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2020
13m 45s

Exploring The Canopy With 'TreeTop Barbi...

NPR
About this episode
Encore episode: Pioneering ecologist Nalini Nadkarni takes us up into the canopy — the area above the forest floor — where she helped research and document this unexplored ecosystem. Plus: the story of her decades-long effort to get more women into science, and how she found a surprising ally in the fight — Barbie. Video and more from Maddie's trip to the canopy is here. Follow Maddie on Twitter @maddie_sofia. Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Yesterday
Why you'll probably be misdiagnosed in your lifetime
Nearly every person will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime. That means either a delayed diagnosis, a wrong diagnosis – or no diagnosis at all. That’s according to a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine from 2015 on diagno ... Show More
13m 25s
Sep 14
Should race affect BMI guidelines? Doctors are split
BMI is a quick, cheap way for doctors to estimate body fat and screen for conditions like heart disease and diabetes. But medicine has long known that BMI is problematic and unnuanced. By using it, groups of people have fallen through the cracks and conditions have been caught la ... Show More
13m 47s
Sep 11
How scientists discovered that animals are doctors, too
When people are sick, we seek out medications and treatments to help heal. For a long time, scientists thought that was a uniquely human ability. But it turns out, many other animals do a version of it too! And since the late 1980s, western researchers have been trying to get a p ... Show More
13m 24s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2021
The stuff I'm here to study: Life on life on life, by Nalini Nadkarni
Ecologist Nalini Nadkarni – known as the "Queen of the Forest Canopy” – has spent a career clambering around tree tops, studying the interdependence of plants and animals in an ecosystem. But when an accident in the canopy brings Nalini's work to an abrupt halt, she is forced to ... Show More
31m 8s
Feb 2022
Forests on Forests
<p>For much of history, tree canopies were pretty much completely ignored by science. It was as if researchers said collectively, "It's just going to be empty up there, and we've got our hands full studying the trees down here! So why bother?!"</p> <p>But then, around the mid-198 ... Show More
24m 9s
Apr 2022
The Secret Life of Plants
How do you capture the image of a 150-foot-tall tree in the middle of a dense rainforest? If you’re National Geographic Explorer Nirupa Rao, you pull out your paints. Rao draws from the centuries-old practice of botanical illustration to catalog and celebrate native plant life of ... Show More
24m 9s
Jan 2024
A stethoscope for the rainforest
Researchers planted microphones in a forest and walked away. Listening back could help heal rainforest ecosystems. For show transcripts, go to bit.ly/unx-transcripts For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the t ... Show More
26m 33s
Jul 2023
Barbie in Space
Unexpected Elements looks for the science behind the news, and this week the news is glittery and pink with the release of the Barbie movie.The movie has very pink aesthetic, so we get philosophical about the colour pink – does it actually exist and if so, how come it isn’t in th ... Show More
50m 15s
Nov 2021
Listen to This New Podcast: The Lost Women of Science
A new podcast is on a mission to retrieve unsung female scientists from oblivion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 
6m 3s
Aug 2017
Episode # 21 - Underwater fairy circles
Nature Middle East talks to one of the scientists behind a new research into underwater "fairy circles" found in meadows of sea grass; these can provide a doorway to understanding clonal plants anywhere, including those on land.<hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted ... Show More
7m 22s
Dec 2021
Listen to This New Podcast: Lost Women of Science
A new podcast is on a mission to retrieve unsung female scientists from oblivion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 
6m 3s