You're listening to shortwave from NPR.

Surfs up, Duterino. Shortwave is going to Waco, Texas.

Look at that, it's too bright.

I'm Emily Kwong and I'm here with NPR Senior Surfing Correspondent, John Hamilton.

Hi, Emily.

So, typically you cover neuroscience? Like, what are you doing on this story?

Emily, I am the Senior Brain Correspondent in public radio.

Oh, I'm sorry.

But I grew up surfing in Southern California. This was long ago when

Dr. Delt still filled the skies.

So, I've been following the evolution of artificial surfing waves as kind of a hobby.

And the science of wave making has come a long way.

I'm into this artificial waves surfing science. Let's do it.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. In nature, it takes this really complicated interaction between an ocean

swell and the underwater contours of the shore to produce a great surfing wave.

The best waves break in places where these really large ocean swells that have traveled

hundreds or even thousands of miles suddenly encounter shallow water, like a reef.

That increases the waves height, what a scientist would call its amplitude.

Right, and the higher it is, the sooner I fall off, in my experience.

Yes. And if the amplitude increases fast enough, the top of the wave will actually

pitch out toward the shore, and that creates what surfers call a barrel or tube.

It is hard to replicate all that in a wave pool, but it's starting to happen in Texas.

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