In Kelly Lambert's lab at the University of Richmond, rats are trained to drive tiny cars. Researchers are studying how that training, and the anticipation associated with it, affects their brains. University of Richmond hide caption

A robot roams through rows of grapes at Cornell AgriTech's Geneva vineyards to look for signs of diseased plants. Allison Usavage/Cornell University hide caption

Aboard the International Space Station, astronauts cut their hair using a pair of electrical sheers connected to a vacuum. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio says, "It's not a pretty haircut, for sure." Getty Images hide caption

Matter and its weird, opposite antimatter annihilate each other "in a blaze of glory," says Jessica Esquivel, an experimental particle physicist at Fermilab. PeteDraper/Getty Images hide caption

It's Short Wave's 5th birthday! To celebrate, we answer our 5-year-old listeners' science questions. NickS/Getty Images hide caption

An open burr of the American chestnut tree. Functionally extinct since the mid-20th century, the American Chestnut Foundation has been spearheading a multi-pronged approach to bring the tree back to life. The American Chestnut Foundation hide caption

Many Americans are afraid of flying — yet for many, it's a key form of travel for work or get home to loved ones for the holidays. fhm/Getty Images hide caption

Towana Looney, 53, of Gadsden, Ala., gets ready to head into the operating room at NYU Langone Health in New York City to get a genetically modified pig kidney transplant. Joe Carrotta for NYU Langone Health hide caption