Multiple federal and state government agencies count the number of deaths from extreme floods, wildfires, heat waves and hurricanes. They don't always agree on which deaths should be counted ..read more

The man was traveling with his four dogs when he ran off a remote road into a ravine in Oregon. One dog returned to where the man was camping with family, alerting them that something was wrong ..read more

Advisors to the Food and Drug Administration have recommended unanimously that the agency approve the Alzheimer’s drug donanemab ..read more

The Supreme Court will be issuing major rulings in the next month. Normally by this point in the term there are between four and six really big cases left. This year, there are over a dozen ..read more

It feels like this is the summer of space launches. So, it's only appropriate that we kick off our new series with a look at space launches. Throughout the series, Regina and Emily will plumb our universe to uncover the strange, wonderful things happening all around us. This episode, that entails answering a series of questions about getting to space: What does hurtling into space feel like? What physics are involved? And what's the "junk" in Earth's orbit ..read more

No one across the U.S. is consistently tracking climate-fueled deaths. One medical examiner has a new protocol on heat-deaths ..read more

Forget names like "Dumbo"—wild elephants appear to have their own unique names that other elephants use while talking to them in low rumbles ..read more

Right now, there's a "heat dome" lingering over the southwestern U.S. – a high pressure system that pushes hot air down and traps it, raising the temperature. Heat is becoming increasingly lethal as climate change causes more extreme heat. So in today's encore episode, we're exploring heat. NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer talks with host Regina G. Barber about how the human body copes with extended extreme heat and how today's heat warning systems could better protect the public. With scientists predicting a very hot summer, if you can, stay cool out there, dear Short Wavers ..read more

Hawaii's unique birds, known as honeycreepers, are being wiped out by mosquitoes carrying avian malaria. The birds' last hope could be more mosquitoes, designed to crash their own population ..read more

The new study has scientists concerned that microplastics may be contributing to reproductive health issues ..read more