Jonathan Lambert

The Millennium Challenge Corporation, focused on boosting economic growth abroad, could essentially shutter.

A fish walks into a pharmacy ... well, not exactly. Fish aren't being prescribed anti-anxiety drugs. But they are experiencing the effects. Researchers have found more than 900 different pharmaceutical ingredients in rivers and streams around the world, though they're not yet sure how this could change the behavior of fish and other aquatic animals in the wild. "We can't, you know, dump a bunch of pharmaceuticals into the river," says Jack Brand, biologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Instead, Jack's team did the next best thing – with some surprising results. This episode was reported by NPR science correspondent Jon Lambert. Check out more of his reporting. Want to hear more stories about animal behavior? Email us and let us know at shortwave@npr.org. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

The Trump administration is reinterpreting a key word in the Endangered Species Act that could have big consequences for species at risk.

The Trump administration is reinterpreting a key word in the Endangered Species Act that could have big consequences for the habitats of species at risk.

New research suggests that pharmaceutical pollution can change the behavior of salmon in the wild.

Salmon exposed to anxiety medication in the wild behaved more boldly, according to new research in Science.

A new study suggests genetic changes allow horses to produce more energy, while minimizing the toll the energy takes on cells.

Most iguanas are indigenous to the Americas. So how did the Fijian species end up on the island, nearly 5000 miles away in the South Pacific? According to a new study in the journal PNAS, it was probably via raft ... that is, on clump of floating trees. And this rafting hypothesis isn't entirely unprecedented. After hurricanes Luis and Marilyn hit the Caribbean in the 1990s, researchers found that a group of iguanas had floated over 180 miles away from Guadeloupe to the territory of Anguilla. Want to hear more about iguanas? Or rafts? Or evolutionary biology? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

A genetic change that boosts a cell's aerobic capacity while also protecting it from excess stress could explain how horses became such powerful athletes, according to a new study in Science.

New research suggests seals sense oxygen levels in their blood to know when to come up for air.