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From floor routine to vault, here's the science behind Simone Biles' Olympic gold

Friday, August 02, 2024

Another Olympics, another set of stellar performances by the U.S. women's artistic gymnastics team. Thursday, the team won two medals in the women's all-around final: a gold for Simone Biles and a bronze for Sunisa Lee. The medals add to the team's overall count, which also includes a gold for the women's team final. Simone and Suni are expected to lead the team to more medals in the coming days. Each day the gymnasts compete, we are left to pick our jaws off the floor and wonder: How do they do that? So we called up one of our favorite science communicators, Frederic Bertley, to explain just that. He's the CEO of the Center of Science and Industry and our gymnastics physics guide for the day.

Follow NPR's 2024 Paris Olympics coverage.

Want us to cover the science powering other Olympians? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. We'd love to hear from you!

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From the physics of g-force to weightlessness: How it feels to launch into space

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

We kickoff our series Space Camp with a look at space launches. What does hurtling into space feel like? What physics are involved? And what's the "junk" in Earth's orbit?

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From the physics of g-force to weightlessness: How it feels to launch into space

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

It feels like this is the summer of space launches. So, it's only appropriate that we kick off our new series Space Camp 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?

Space Camp episodes drop every Tuesday in the Short Wave feed in addition to our regular episodes happening every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

For a full explainer of Newton's third law of motion, g-forces and visuals on his cannonball thought experiment, check out our digital story.

Have a particular aspect of space you want us to cover in a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

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This week in science: Sneaky fish, shouting into space and waves getting taller

Thursday, August 10, 2023

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Regina Barber and Berly McCoy of the Short Wave podcast about stealthy fish, a recent communication hiccup with Voyager 2 and why waves are getting taller in California.

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How your brain copes with grief, and why it takes time to heal

Monday, December 20, 2021

Grieving is a form of learning, says a scientist who studies the brain's response to loss. When someone you love dies, you have to learn new rules for navigating the world and your brain has to adapt.

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Should Hyping Edible Bugs Focus On The Experience Instead Of The Environment?

Thursday, January 10, 2019

A new study shows that when ads made hedonistic marketing claims, such as "exotic" or "delicious," rather than targeting environmental interests, more people were willing to try eating insects.

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