Madeline K. Sofia
Madeline Sofia is the host of Short Wave — NPR's daily science podcast. Short Wave will bring a little science into your life, all in about 10 minutes. Sometimes it'll be a good story, a smart conversation, or a fun explainer, but it'll always be interesting and easy to understand. It's a break from the relentless news cycle, but you'll still come away with a better understanding of the world around you.
Before hosting Short Wave, Sofia hosted the NPR video show "Maddie About Science." The show takes viewers behind the scenes with scientists, revealing their motivations and sharing their research — from insect mimics to space probes headed for the sun. Sofia also co-developed the worldwide NPR Scicommers program, which supports scientists interested in building their communication skills.
Before working at NPR, Sofia received her Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Rochester Medical Center. She studied Vibrio cholerae, a fascinating bacterium that has haunted the human race.
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Finally getting out from under the flu? Just because you're feeling better doesn't mean you can't get other people sick. You can spread the flu for longer than you might think.
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Ayanna Howard was 27 when she headed her first team at NASA. She talks about feeling like an outsider, and discovering that diversity drives innovation.
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Hahna Alexander initially invented a shoe that could charge a battery, but no one wanted to use it. "You have to invent something that people can't live without," she says.
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North America's largest amphibian, the Hellbender salamander, is in trouble. They are endangered in several states. A team in Ohio is trying to save them before it's too late.
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The blood thinner warfarin, which prevents blood clots, owes its existence to some cows who got very sick after eating spoiled hay — and to a chemist who spent years trying to figure out why.
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A new study reveals that elephant seals memorize the rhythm and pitch of individual voices. That means that the massive sea mammals know who's who, just by the sound of their voice. -
Over half of the 7.5 billion humans on Earth live in just seven countries. What will the planet's population picture look like in 2100?
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The scientists who developed the anti-reflective film were inspired by tiny, light-trapping structures on moth eyes that help the insects avoid predators.
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Join NPR's Madeline Sofia on a tour of the largest collection of whale bones in the world. Curator Nick Pyenson takes us backstage to see Smithsonian specimens that aren't on display in museums.
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Whales might be the largest animals on the planet, but they haven't always been so huge. Researchers say the ocean giants only became enormous fairly recently, and over a short period of time.
