A new study on mice shows that luck in early life can determine success as an adult, especially when competition is high.

Snowflakes. These intricate, whimsical crystals are a staple of magical wintry scenes, but how big can they really get? Well, according to the Guinness World Record keepers, the "largest snowflake" ever recorded was a whopping 15 inches in diameter. It was spotted near Missoula, Montana in 1887. But Kenneth Libbrecht, a physicist at Caltech, has long been skeptical of that record. So he set out to find what makes a snowflake a snowflake and whether that 1887 record is scientifically possible. You can read more about what he discovered here. (encore) Want to share the snowflakes you've spotted this winter? Email us a photo at shortwave@npr.org.

The Geminids are one of the best and most visible annual meteor showers, when at least 120 meteors can usually be seen per hour. But 2024 will be different, thanks to the year's final full moon.

Both methods stimulate the stomach to provide a sense of fullness that is then signaled to the brain.

“Because of sea level rise — and subsidence is contributing about 15% to that — we can expect about 50 king tide flooding events per year by the year 2050,” one UMass Lowell professor told GBH News.

People with ADHD are more prone to struggle with these critical cognitive skills, but they're not the only people looking for support.

Epidemiologist Joel Schwartz is noted for his work on the acute and chronic health effects of fossil fuel air pollution.  One of his recent collaborative studies revealed that exposure to fine combustion particles in the air at concentrations well below current standards are associated with a range of conditions, including dementia, asthma, heart attacks, and lung cancer.  The study indicated that the death rate from this pollution is almost 1 in 5 deaths worldwide, about twice the previous mortality estimate.  Not surprisingly, the pollution impact falls disproportionately on poorer communities.  This research is finally leading to tighter U.S. air quality standards. In this program, Dr. Schwartz discusses the wide health effects of fossil fuel pollution and why restrictions have been so lax.  

This is a most exciting period for cosmology, especially for scientists whose focus is the early universe. The James Webb Space Telescope and other advanced technologies are providing unprecedented new insights about the early universe, especially the emergence of the first stars and galaxies and the relationship between these formations and mysterious dark matter. Professor Julian Muñoz explains both the newest discoveries and the techiques he uses to investigate the very early universe.

Studies also show that Black women have a 38% higher mortality rate from breast cancer than white women despite a slightly lower overall incidence.

From the PBS science series NOVA, a biweekly podcast digging into the science behind the headlines. Alok Patel takes you behind the scenes with the people—scientists, engineers, technologists, mathematicians and more—working to understand our world. Now it's more critical than ever to distinguish fact from fiction and find science-based answers to the most pressing questions of our time.Subscribe, and learn more by visiting pbs.org/novanowpodcast