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The USPS has changed the way mail is postmarked. Learn how to make your gift count in 2025.

This week in science: Swearing, bird bills and the pandemic, and whale breath samples

By Emily Kwong,

Berly McCoy

Published December 25, 2025 at 5:09 PM EST

Emily Kwong and Berly McCoy of NPR's Short Wave talk about why swearing might improve physical performance, how birds' bills changed during the pandemic and why scientists are sampling whale breath.

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