The plight of penguins in Antarctica

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Short Wave – "The Plight of Penguins in Antarctica"

Date: January 23, 2026
Hosts: Emily Kwong, Regina Barber
Guest: Elsa Chang (All Things Considered)

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Episode Overview

In this dynamic and engaging episode of Short Wave, hosts Emily Kwong and Regina Barber, along with guest Elsa Chang, explore the surprising ways Antarctic penguins are responding to rapid climate change, dive into a longstanding scientific debate on why ice is slippery, and investigate the science behind how parents become desensitized to gross things like dirty diapers. The episode is fast-paced, creative, and packed with accessible science – all delivered with Short Wave’s trademark curiosity and humor.

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1. Penguin Breeding Shifts in Antarctica

Segment start: [02:44]

• Main Discovery:
  A new study in the Journal of Animal Ecology reveals that Antarctic penguins are breeding much earlier than in past decades.

  • Adelie and Chinstrap penguins now breed about 10 days earlier
  • Gentoo penguins breed almost two weeks earlier than before

  Quote:

  "A new study in the Journal of Animal Ecology found that they're breeding earlier than ever in the Antarctic spring."
  — Emily Kwong [02:49]

• Why the Shift?
  Penguins time breeding to environmental cues like temperature, sea ice, and food availability. The Antarctic Peninsula is heating rapidly due to climate change, likely sparking this earlier breeding.

  Quote:

  "With climate change, the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming areas of the world, and that could be a driver."
  — Emily Kwong [03:14]

• How Was The Data Collected?
  Tom Hart and his team set up 77 cameras across 37 penguin colonies, snapping hourly photos over a decade. This approach allowed long-term tracking otherwise impossible in the extreme Antarctic.

  Quote:

  "It was a very clever methodology... this camera method is a great way to get long term data in Antarctica."
  — Regina Barber [03:50]

• Future for Penguins?
  Gentoo penguins, adapted to warmer climates and a broader diet, seem resilient. Adelie and Chinstrap penguins may face tougher times as warming continues.

  Quote:

  "Some penguins might thrive. For example, the Gentoo penguins are suited for warmer climates and eat a wider variety of fish."
  — Emily Kwong [04:10]

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2. The Science of Slippery Ice

Segment start: [04:32]

• Historic Debate:
  Since Victorian times, physicists have debated whether a thin water layer makes ice slippery, even below freezing. Is it always there? How thin is it?

  Quote:

  "There's been this idea that ice has a thin layer of water on top which makes it slippery. And physicists have been arguing about it ever since."
  — Regina Barber [04:41]

• Breakthrough Study:
  New research published in the Journal of Chemical Physics by Luis Gonzalez McDowell combines historical studies and advanced computer simulations:

  • Confirms a permanent, ultra-thin water layer (about 1 nanometer – 100,000 times thinner than paper) exists on ice surfaces.
  • Present down to -10°C.

  Quotes:

  "There is a very, very thin layer of water on the ice, even though the ice itself is frozen."
  — Regina Barber [05:20]
  "The surface of ice, which is solid, is always lubricated."
  — Luis Gonzalez McDowell (via Emily Kwong) [05:41]

• Implications for Winter Sports:

  • Ice skates and hockey blades increase pressure, causing frictional melting, which thickens the slippery layer.
  • Humidity can change the thickness/thinness of this water film, impacting how ice feels at major events like the Winter Olympics.

  Quotes:

  "When that happens, the water layer actually gets thicker, because the friction of the skate blades causes more melting."
  — Regina Barber [06:09]
  "If the humidity isn't quite right, that could also affect the slipperiness."
  — Emily Kwong [06:19]

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3. Habituation to Disgust: The Dirty Diaper Study

Segment start: [06:41]

• Background:
  Disgust is a basic survival emotion, but some things (like dirty diapers) people get used to. Scientists call this habituation.

  Quote:

  "Disgust is really important to our survival as humans because it helps us avoid all kinds of substances that would otherwise make us, like, sick."
  — Emily Kwong [06:53]

• The Study:
  Researchers at University of Bristol and Whitman College tested 99 parents and 50 non-parents by tracking eye movements as they viewed pairs of images: one neutral (e.g., towels), one disgusting (e.g., vomit, soiled diapers).

  Quote:

  "They showed them two photos at once... a photo of something neutral... and the other side, photos of gross things, like vomit on a sidewalk and... dirty diapers."
  — Regina Barber [08:06]

• Key Findings:

  • Non-parents: Tended to avoid looking at the disgusting images
  • Parents: Showed little to no avoidance—even parents who hadn’t changed a diaper in years.

  Quote:

  "Parents showed little to no avoidance. They would look at those pictures of soiled diapers with little aversion, including parents who hadn't changed a dirty diaper in decades, which is like, similar to me. I am not bothered."
  — Emily Kwong [08:37]

• Why It Matters:
  This lasting desensitization has practical benefits in jobs exposed to unpleasant sights and smells—nursing, daycares, surgery. It could help reassure trainees.

  Quote (author):

  "Even if we can reassure people, hey, it feels a bit gross now, but you'll get used to it over time. Hopefully that ultimately either helps or can lead to things that do help."
  — Edwin Dallmeier, lead author [09:25]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On penguins adapting:

  "It seems that Gentoos are doing better than the other species, which could struggle with warmer temperatures."
  — Emily Kwong [04:10]

• On lifelong parent superpowers:

  "You're like habituated for life once you have a child."
  — Elsa Chang [08:58]

• On what superpower to have:

  "If I had to pick my superpower, this is probably not the one I would pick."
  — Elsa Chang [09:06]

• On managing annoyance:

  "I wonder if it applies to people who are annoying. You just get used to them over time and they stop bothering you."
  — Elsa Chang [09:37]

• On Elsa's welcome on the show:

  "But you, Elsa, are always welcome and not annoying us."
  — Emily Kwong [09:43]

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Key Segment Timestamps

• [02:44] — Penguin breeding changes and climate adaptation
• [03:37] — Methodology: Camera study in Antarctica
• [04:32] — Why is ice slippery?
• [05:20] — New chemistry findings: Nanolayer on ice confirmed
• [06:41] — The science of disgust and parental habituation
• [08:06] — The dirty diaper study and long-term effects

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Tone & Takeaway:
Short Wave delivers complex science—from the crisis facing Antarctic penguins to the physics behind ice skating and the quirks of human psychology—in a lively, relatable style. With firsthand research, fun exchanges, and practical implications, this episode captures listeners’ curiosity about how both wildlife and humans adapt to a changing world.

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Transcript

[NPR Sponsor Announcer]

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[Regina Barber]

You're listening to Short Wave from NPR.

[Emily Kwong]

Hey, Shortwavers. Regina Barber here and Emily Kwong with our bi weekly science news roundup featuring the hosts of All Things Considered. And today we the glamorous, the brilliant, Elsa Chang.

[Elsa Chang]

Aw, thank you, guys.

[Regina Barber]

Hi, Elsa.

[Elsa Chang]

So glad to be here. Okay, so I heard that we are talking about penguins adapting to climate change in the Antarctic today.

[Regina Barber]

Yes. And we're gonna get into a debate about ice skating that may now have an answer.

[Emily Kwong]

And how dirty diapers train parents in the art of disgust.

[Elsa Chang]

Oh, interesting. I can't wait.

[Emily Kwong]

All of that on this episode of Short Wave, the science podcast from foreign.

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[Elsa Chang]

Okay, kick us off with the Antarctic penguins. What's going on with these guys?

[Emily Kwong]

So, a new study in the Journal of Animal Ecology found that they're breeding earlier than ever in the Antarctic spring. Adelie and Chinstrap penguins are breeding an average of 10 days earlier, and Gentoo penguins almost two weeks earlier. Over the decade, the research researchers observe them.

[Regina Barber]

And while two weeks may not seem like a lot of time, researchers say it's actually a radical shift in the penguins breeding season.

[Elsa Chang]

Wait, so what's causing the shift?

[Emily Kwong]

So penguins time their breeding period to environmental conditions like temperature outside, or whether there's ice on the ground or what food is available. And with climate change, the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming areas of the world, and that could be a driver.

[Elsa Chang]

Interesting. So how did they collect all of this data? Like 10 years feels like a very long time to be in Antarctica.

[Emily Kwong]

Yeah. So one of the study's authors, Tom Hart, says they set up 77 cameras across 37 penguin colonies and each camera took photos every hour for a decade.

[Elsa Chang]

Surveillance system.

[Regina Barber]

Yes. It was very clever methodology. We spoke to another penguin researcher who wasn't involved in the paper, Bill Fraser, and he said this camera method is a great way to get long term data in Antarctica, because a lot of work in this region is restricted to human observations. Huh.

[Elsa Chang]

Okay, so then what does all of this mean for the future of Antarctic penguins, you think?

[Emily Kwong]

Well, Tom says that's something they're trying to figure out for future work. Some penguins might thrive. For example, the Gentoo penguins are suited for warmer climates and eat a wider variety of fish. So it seems that Gentoos are doing better than the other species, which could struggle with warmer temperatures.

[Elsa Chang]

Okay, going from Antarctic penguins to the Winter Olympics, which are just a few weeks away.

[Regina Barber]

Yes.

[Emily Kwong]

Yeah.

[Elsa Chang]

And I think, like, this would be a great time then to talk about ice science. Tell us, Emily, what is new about ice?

[Regina Barber]

Well, since Victorian times, there's been this idea that ice has a thin layer of water on top, which makes it slippery. And physicists have been arguing about it ever since. Is there a thin film of water even at temps below zero degrees Celsius? And, like, how thick is this layer of water?

[Emily Kwong]

And there might be an answer now published in the Journal of Chemical Physics. This week, Luis Gonzalez McDowell, a chemist at Complutense University of Madrid, looked at research all the way back to the 1930s to address this debate. He also ran computer simulations to see how ice freezes or melts, really looking at what happens to that surface.

[Elsa Chang]

And what did he find? Like, is that thin film of water there?

[Regina Barber]

DRUMROLL There is a very, very thin layer of water on the ice, even though the ice itself is frozen. And this is true down to minus 10 degrees Celsius that layer of water is about a nanometer thick. And to put that in perspective, a sheet of paper is 100,000 times thicker than that layer of water.

[NPR Sponsor Announcer]

Wow.

[Regina Barber]

Here's Luis.

[Emily Kwong]

The surface of ice, which is solid, is always lubricated. You have always, before you start sliding, already a lubrication layer. And this is interesting because some past theories thought that maybe the pressure from, like, let's say an ice skate may be the thing creating that layer of water on the ice. And he says it's always there down to negative 10 degrees Celsius.

[Elsa Chang]

Okay, so then to apply this to the Winter Olympics, say, what does this mean for winter sports like ice skating or hockey?

[Regina Barber]

Yeah. Well, ice skates, they put pressure on the ice, and when that happens, the water layer actually gets thicker because the friction of the skate blades causes more melting.

[Elsa Chang]

Interesting.

[Additional Announcer]

Yeah.

[Emily Kwong]

And Luis's computer models also took into account humidity and found that humidity levels can also affect the formation and thickness of that water layer. Looking ahead to the Winter Olympics in Italy, there's already been some concern about the ice rinks and whether the ice is smooth enough to skate on. And according to Luis's work, if the humidity isn't quite right, that could also affect the slipperiness. Hmm.

[Additional Announcer]

Okay.

[Elsa Chang]

Going from the pristineness of ice surfaces to dirty diapers.

[Regina Barber]

What a pivot.

[NPR Sponsor Announcer]

Yeah.

[Elsa Chang]

I am so glad to be child free. What do we got here on this front? Dirty diapers. Talk to me.

[Emily Kwong]

This is inspired by the psychology of disgust. So disgust is really important to our survival as humans because it helps us avoid all kinds of substances that would otherwise make us, like, sick. Remember, disgust was one of the five basic emotions in that movie, Inside Out.

[Additional Announcer]

Yeah.

[Emily Kwong]

Caution, There is a dangerous smell, people. Yucky. I just saved our lives. Yeah, you're welcome.

[Elsa Chang]

I love disgust.

[Regina Barber]

She's an icon. However, there are some kinds of disgusting things that people can get used to. Like the contents of their kids diapers.

[Elsa Chang]

No.

[Regina Barber]

Scientists call this habituation. When you're repeatedly exposed to something, you're.

[Emily Kwong]

Less sensitive to it, especially if you're a parent, which I am. And scientists at the University of Bristol and Whitman College wanted to know, how long do parents hold on to their tolerance for these gross things?

[Elsa Chang]

Okay. I can't help but feel a parallel to owning a dog, because the amount of times I have gotten stuff on my hands, like, I just don't even care anymore, you know? So I am curious for love. Yeah, exactly. But if I were a human parent, I mean, a parent of a human, like, even after my kids have Grown up, would I retain the superpower, this resistance to disgust?

[Regina Barber]

Yeah. So to study that very question, the research team recruited 99 parents and 50 non parents. And they showed them two photos at once on a computer screen. On one side, a photo of something neutral like a stack of towels or clean sink, and on the other side, photos of gross things like vomit on a sidewalk and of course, dirty diapers.

[NPR Sponsor Announcer]

They're all produced by my children, by the way. So big shout out to my kids.

[Elsa Chang]

Aww.

[Regina Barber]

This is the study's lead author, Edwin Dallmeier, who published these results in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology.

[Emily Kwong]

By tracking the volunteers attention as they, like, looked at these photos, his team found out that the non parents tend to avoid the disgusting photos, whereas the parents showed little to no avoidance. They would look at those pictures of soiled diapers with little aversion, including parents who hadn't changed a dirty diaper in decades, which is like, similar to me. I am not bothered.

[Regina Barber]

Oh, wow.

[Elsa Chang]

So you're like habituated for life once you have a child.

[Emily Kwong]

Maybe.

[Regina Barber]

This superpower does seem to last a while according to this work.

[Elsa Chang]

I mean, if I had to pick my superpower, this is probably not the one I would pick. But big picture, why does this work matter? What would you say?

[Emily Kwong]

Yeah, I mean, discuss. Habituation is actually a good thing in all kinds of jobs. Think about nurses or surgeons or custodians. Edwin would love to see his work be used in those professions.

[NPR Sponsor Announcer]

Even if we can reassure people, hey, it feels a bit gross now, but you'll get used to it over time. Hopefully that ultimately either helps or can lead to things that do help.

[Elsa Chang]

This is fascinating. I wonder if it applies to people who are annoying. You just get used to them over time and they stop bothering you.

[Emily Kwong]

I don't know. But you, Elsa, are always welcome and not annoying us. So thank you so much for coming on the show.

[NPR Sponsor Announcer]

Thanks for having me.

[Elsa Chang]

You're so welcome.

[Emily Kwong]

You can hear Elsa on consider this NPR's afternoon podcast about what the news means for you.

[Regina Barber]

And for more science stories just like this one, follow Shortwave on whatever app you are listening to.

[Emily Kwong]

I'm Emily Kwong. And I'm Regina Barber. Thank you for listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from npr.

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[Emily Kwong]

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