Sweating Buckets... of SCIENCE!

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2022

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sweating can be unpleasant, but consider the alternatives: You could roll around in mud. You could spend all day panting. You could have someone whip you up a blood popsicle. Sweating turns out to be pretty essential for human existence, AND arguably less gross than the ways other animals keep from overheating.

On today's episode, a small army of NPR science reporters joins host Emily Kwong to talk about how humans developed the unique ability to perspire, how sweat works in space and the neat things other animals do to beat the heat.

How have you (and the animals in your life) stayed cool this summer? Let us know at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave.
0:03.6	From NPR.
0:04.6	Hey Shortwaveers, I'm gonna cut right to the chase.
0:08.1	It has been hot.
0:10.6	I'm in Alaska right now, yet to see friends, but honestly to escape the muggy conditions
0:14.6	of Washington, DC.
0:16.3	Huh, well, lucky for me.
0:18.8	And for you, there's nothing like a nice layer of sweat to cool you down.
0:24.2	If this is gross, do not push pause.
0:26.6	Dead, thank evolution for doing you a solid, really illiquid.
0:31.0	And meet this small army of sweat avengers we've assembled to show you why sweat is sweet
0:36.1	or at least super interesting.
0:38.6	I have three reporters with me, Jeff Brumfield, Nell Greenfield Boys, and Rebecca Hersher.
0:44.1	Jeff, I'm gonna start with you because I heard that this hair-brained idea of a series
0:49.6	of sweat was yours?
0:51.4	It wasn't, it was Nell's.
0:52.4	Don't blame me.
0:53.4	Oh, there was a list.
0:55.0	Pointing fingers.
0:56.0	It's a list of options, and we voted on it, and somehow sweat one out.
1:00.7	It's true, it's true.
1:02.0	Why?
	...

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