Your Breathing Pattern Is Like A Fingerprint

Summary

Short Wave Episode Summary: "Your Breathing Pattern Is Like A Fingerprint"

Release Date: June 13, 2025
Hosted by: Regina Barber and Rachel Carlson
Guest Expert: Mary Louise Kelly, Host of NPR's All Things Considered

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Overview

In this episode of Short Wave, hosts Regina Barber and Rachel Carlson explore three intriguing scientific stories: the uniqueness of human breathing patterns akin to fingerprints, the surprising contents of a sauropod dinosaur's stomach, and the escalating severity of droughts driven by atmospheric changes. Guest Mary Louise Kelly joins the conversation to provide expert insights into each topic.

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1. Unique Nasal Fingerprints: Breathing Patterns as Individual Identifiers

Timestamp: 02:04 - 04:30

Mary Louise Kelly introduces the groundbreaking idea that each person's breathing pattern is as unique as a fingerprint. She explains, "We view the world through the nose. When you inhale, namely sniff, then you have information" (02:24). This perspective highlights the critical role of the olfactory system in how our brains interpret and interact with the environment.

Neurobiologist Noam Sobel, a co-author of the study published in Current Biology, emphasized that nasal breathing is integral to brain function. The study involved monitoring the airflow of 100 individuals over 24 hours using devices resembling small oxygen tubes. The findings revealed that breathing patterns could predict levels of depression and anxiety. For instance, "people who scored higher on anxiety questionnaires also had shorter inhales" (03:31).

Rachel Carlson raises a thought-provoking question: "If we can change the way we breathe, could that change our health?" (04:17). While the current study doesn't establish causation, Sobel suggests that future research may explore therapeutic applications of altering breathing patterns to address mental health issues.

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2. Sauropod Dinosaur's Last Meal: Insights into Ancient Diets

Timestamp: 04:41 - 06:31

The conversation shifts to paleontology with the revelation of a sauropod dinosaur's preserved gut contents. Mary Louise Kelly explains that sauropods, like Judy from Queensland, Australia, were long-necked herbivores traditionally understood based on their physical traits. However, paleontologist Stephen Porapat and his team made a remarkable discovery: preserved stomach contents containing a variety of plants, including flowering plants from the Cretaceous period.

Stephen Porapat comments, "We know from other fossils what kind of plants were available, but we wouldn't necessarily expect all of them to be on the menu" (05:58). This finding suggests a possible co-evolution between flowering plants and sauropods, indicating a more diverse diet than previously thought. Despite being based on a single specimen, this discovery provides valuable insights into sauropod ecology and their interactions with the evolving plant life of their time.

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3. Worsening Droughts: The Thirsty Atmosphere and Climate Change

Timestamp: 06:42 - 09:07

The final story addresses the intensifying global drought conditions. Mary Louise Kelly references recent research published in Nature, explaining that the atmosphere is becoming "thirstier" due to rising temperatures, which allows it to hold more moisture. Regina Barber elaborates, "As nitrogen and oxygen molecules heat up, they bounce around more and that leaves more space in between them for water vapor" (07:00).

Using comprehensive computer models, the study analyzed rainfall and evaporation data from 1981 to 2022, revealing that global drought areas increased from 10% to 30%. In some regions like Africa, South America, Australia, and the Southwest U.S., drought conditions worsened by up to 60% (07:51). Hydrologist Yadu Prakrel comments on the implications: "Because this effect has gotten worse in the last five years of the study, it indicates that this may further intensify in the coming five years, 10 years, and we may have a dire situation" (08:50).

Understanding the role of an increasingly "thirsty" atmosphere allows for better anticipation and preparation for potential famines and impacts on agriculture and livestock. This knowledge is crucial for developing strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of worsening droughts.

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Key Takeaways

• Breathing Patterns as Unique Identifiers: Human nasal breathing patterns are unique and can potentially indicate mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

• Sauropod Diet Diversity: Analysis of sauropod stomach contents reveals a more varied diet, including unexpected flowering plants, suggesting co-evolution with plant species during the Cretaceous period.

• Exacerbating Droughts: Climate change-induced warmer atmospheres hold more moisture, leading to more severe and widespread droughts, which could have dire consequences for global agriculture and water resources.

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Notable Quotes

• Mary Louise Kelly (02:24): "We view the world through the nose. When you inhale, namely sniff, then you have information."

• Mary Louise Kelly (04:08): "Noam says he wonders if this tool could be used to help identify mental or physical health problems in the future."

• Stephen Porapat (05:58): "We know from other fossils what kind of plants were available, but we wouldn't necessarily expect all of them to be on the menu."

• Yadu Prakrel (08:50): "Because this effect has gotten worse in the last five years of the study, it indicates that this may further intensify in the coming five years, 10 years, and we may have a dire situation."

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This episode of Short Wave offers a deep dive into the intricate connections between human biology, ancient ecosystems, and contemporary environmental challenges, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of these diverse scientific topics.

Transcript

[NPR Sponsor]

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[Regina Barber]

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey, Shortwavers. Regina Barber here and Rachel Carlson with our bi weekly science news roundup featuring the hosts of All Things Considered. And today we have the the great, the legendary Mary Louise Kelly.

[Rachel Carlson]

Way to lay on the pressure.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Thank you.

[Regina Barber]

Lots and lots of pressure.

[Rachel Carlson]

Yeah, so I am told we are going to get to a story about how humans have unique nasal fingerprints. Looking forward to that.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Plus what's really in a dinosaur's stomach.

[Regina Barber]

And an unexpected reason why droughts are getting worse.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

All that on this episode of Shortwave, the science podcast from npr.

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[Regina Barber]

All right, Mary Louise, where do you want to start?

[Rachel Carlson]

I gotta go straight to the nasal fingerprints. What do you have?

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Yeah. Okay, Mary Louise, Gina, I want you both to take a big breath through your noses.

[Regina Barber]

Yeah. Let's breathe.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

So that sniff you.

[Rachel Carlson]

Can we breathe out?

[Mary Louise Kelly]

I need to breathe out. Breathe out.

[Rachel Carlson]

Okay, we're ready.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Okay. That sniff you just took is giving your brain information about your environment, the studio you're in. We view the world through the nose. When you inhale, namely sniff, then you have information. And if you're not sniffing, you don't have information, period. That's Noam Sobel. He's a neurobiologist and one of the study authors for this paper that came out this week in the journal Current Biology. He told me the olfactory system, like our noses, nasal breathing, our sense of smell, is really important for how the human brain functions. Every breath we take is linked to how we interpret and move through the world. Like, for one example, when we're planning out our language or even during this conversation we're having, now our noses are involved. We have to figure out when to breathe or when we're doing things like working out. Our noses are important, basically.

[Regina Barber]

So Noam says since people's brains are unique, he and other researchers wondered if human nasal breathing patterns were like, also unique. So he and his team developed this device that monitored 100 people's airflow for 24 hours. And participants wore it while they went through their daily activities. It kind of looked like those small oxygen tubes that go in your nose.

[Rachel Carlson]

I am picturing this. Okay. But I am struggling to wrap my head around the idea that we humans all have unique nasal fingerprints. Explain that.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Yeah. So they saw that just based on people's breathing patterns, they could tell how participants were likely to score on levels of depression, the kind of sleep they were getting, anxiety. So, for example, people who scored higher on anxiety questionnaires also had shorter inhales than people who scored lower on those questionnaires, even though none of the participants had actually been diagnosed with anxiety. So Noam says he wonders if this tool could be used to help identify mental or physical health problems in the future.

[Rachel Carlson]

Well, and I'm wondering about what's cause and what's effect here. If we can change the way we breathe, could that change our health?

[Regina Barber]

So this study can't tell researchers that, but Noam says hopefully with more research and new tools, we can learn more about, like, whether breathing could make a difference for things like anxiety or depression.

[Rachel Carlson]

All right, my yoga instructor and I will be paying close attention.

[Regina Barber]

I think many people will.

[Rachel Carlson]

Future studies. All right, Breathing deeply through my nose. Moving on. Dinosaurs eating. Yeah, Gina, what we got?

[Regina Barber]

Yeah, Specifically we're going to talk about a sauropod's last meal.

[NPR Sponsor]

So.

[Regina Barber]

So sauropods are huge dinosaurs, like over 50ft tall with long necks, small heads. They also eat plants. Think little foot from land before time. Or like the Sinclair oil logo.

[Rachel Carlson]

This is like your stereotypical classic brontosaurus looking dinosaurs. Go on.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Yeah. And paleontologists have labeled them herbivores, vegetarians, based on educated guesses from things like their teeth and their body shape.

[Stephen Porapat]

There's a reason every kid knows that sauropod dinosaurs ate plants. It's because, first of all, it's hard to imagine them eating anything else. But also because scientists have thought about exactly how they were able to do that. They don't chew, they snip and Swallow, and then they ferment.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

That's paleontologist Stephen Porapat, who's the lead author on a study published in the journal Current Biology. For the first time, Stephen and a team of paleontologists and volunteers in Queensland, Australia, found the preserved gut contents of a sauropod.

[Rachel Carlson]

The preserved gut contents, what were they?

[Regina Barber]

Yeah. So once they confirmed that these fossils were truly just from the stomach, they saw a variety of plants, like even conifers, like pine trees we have today.

[Stephen Porapat]

We know from other fossils what kind of plants were available, but we wouldn't necessarily expect all of them to be on the menu.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

So Stephen says he was surprised to see flowering plants in the gut, which had just shown up during the Cretaceous period when this dinosaur lived. So he says the evolution of flowering plants might have affected the evolution of.

[Regina Barber]

Sauropods too, and vice versa. By the way, they named the dinosaur Judy after one of the founders of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum in Winton, Queensland. And we should say that Judy the dino is like one data point. It's what Judy last ate. So Stephen and other paleontologists are like, cautious about generalizing all sauropod diets based on this, like one finding. But it's a good start.

[Rachel Carlson]

All right, topic three. Let's move on to our last one. This is why droughts are getting worse. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and venture this might be linked to climate change.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Yes, but it's not only because there's less rain. So recent work published in the journal Nature found that one reason droughts could be getting worse is because atmosphere is getting thirstier.

[Rachel Carlson]

Thirstier. Explain that.

[Regina Barber]

Yeah. One climate scientist who worked on the study, Chris Funk, says it has to do with the chemistry of the atmosphere.

[Charles Schwab]

As nitrogen and oxygen molecules heat up, they bounce around more and that leaves more space in between them for water vapor.

[Regina Barber]

So when the air is warmer, like with climate change, the atmosphere can hold more moisture. It can pull water from, like, rivers, lakes and soil. Scientists have known that both of these things happen, but since with climate change, extreme rainfall events are also also increasing, they didn't know how big of an effect it was having.

[Rachel Carlson]

So how did they figure that out? Which effect was was the more powerful.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

They used a big computer model, which is something lots of other climate studies do. The scientists fed it both rainfall and evaporation data from a 40 year span, 1981 to 2022. And then they looked at drought trends, and they found that the global drought area jumped from 10 to 30%, with drought levels really accelerating in the last five years of the study, and because.

[Regina Barber]

Of the warmer and thus like thirstier atmosphere, droughts got 40% worse in the period they studied. And in some places droughts were 60% worse because of it, like in Africa, South America, Australia, and the Southwest U.S.

[Rachel Carlson]

Okay, so let me try to just get this in layman's terms. You're telling me droughts are getting worse and we think this is because the atmosphere is warmer, so it can suck up water faster than rainfall can replace it?

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Yes. Which means dry areas are getting drier, but wet areas are also getting drier. We talked to hydrologist Yadu Prakrel, who wasn't involved in the work, and he says because this effect has gotten worse in the last five years of the study, it indicates that this may further intensify in the coming five years, 10 years, and we may have a dire situation. He also mentioned that future work could include looking at different categories of drought other than atmospheric drought. So like water availability in streams, aquifers or soil.

[Rachel Carlson]

Well, it does sound dire. Now that they've figured this out or think they've figured it out, what can scientists actually do with this information?

[Regina Barber]

Yeah, understanding how this atmospheric thirst affects drought can help people anticipate when it could cause famine, which will give people a heads up to prepare for impacts to their crops and livestock.

[Rachel Carlson]

Crops and livestock. Okay. Love it.

[Regina Barber]

Mary Louise, thank you so much for coming to hang out with us and talking about sign stories and breathing deeply.

[Rachel Carlson]

For the rest of the day.

[Regina Barber]

You can hear more of Mary Louise Kelly on consider this NPR's afternoon podcast about what the news means for you.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Also, make sure you never miss a new episode of our podcast, Short Wave by following us on the NPR app or your podcasting platform of choice. It really helps the show out, just like sharing it with a friend.

[Regina Barber]

This episode was produced by Jeff Pierre and Burleigh McCoy. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez, Justine Kennan and Christopher Intaliata.

[Mary Louise Kelly]

Tyler Jones checked the facts. Tiffany Vera Castro was the audio engineer. I'm Rachel Carlson.

[Regina Barber]

And I'm Regina Barber. Thank you for listening to Short Wave, the science podcast from NPR.

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