NPR Health&Science
Evolution Saves Cockroaches From Taking The Bait
A new study unravels the mystery of a peculiar transformation: sometime in the 1990s, the insects developed a sudden aversion to sweet-tasting poisons.
The Weight Of A Med Student's Subconscious Bias
A test of third-year medical students in North Carolina revealed biases against the obese. The author of the study says these thoughts, often subconscious, could affect how doctors treat their patients and whether those patients trust them.
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'Extremely Active' Atlantic Hurricane Season Predicted
Officials are forecasting that hurricane activity will be "above normal" this season, with 13 to 20 named storms. As many as six of those could be major hurricanes. Warm ocean waters and the lack of El Nino conditions are partly to blame.
Inside A Tart Cherry Revival: 'Somebody Needs To Do This!'
The revival is partly based on the humble sour fruit's growing reputation as a superfood. And in Michigan, a scientist is on a quest to introduce a whole new world of hardier, tastier tart cherries by breeding American trees with ancestral varieties from Eastern Europe.
Descending Into The Mariana Trench: James Cameron's Odyssey
At nearly seven miles below the water's surface, the Mariana Trench is the deepest spot in Earth's oceans. And the site north of Guam is where director and explorer James Cameron fulfilled a longtime goal of reaching the bottom in a manned craft.
Why You Have To Scratch That Itch
Itch can be a useful warning sign, or a maddening symptom with no cure. But the origins of itch have long been a mystery.Scientists think they've come closer to understanding the origins of itch in a molecule that makes mice scratch like mad.
Why You Have To Scratch That Itch
Itch can be a useful warning sign, or a maddening symptom with no cure. But the origins of itch have long been a mystery.Scientists think they've come closer to understanding the origins of itch in a molecule that makes mice scratch like mad.
NOAA Predicts Above-Average Hurricane Season
Forecasters predict as many as six major hurricanes in the Atlantic this year due in part to warmer-than-average ocean temperatures.
Researchers Find Bird Flu Is Contagious Among Ferrets
The virus's ability to move between these mammals might not bode well for humans. So far, it appears that H7N9 doesn't pass easily between people, but it could mutate over time and pose more of a threat.
Seeing Double: Errors In Stem-Cell Cloning Paper Raise Doubts
Biologists said last week that they had overcome a major obstacle in stem-cell research by cloning human embryos. But several images in the published study were duplicated and labeled incorrectly, prompting questions about the authenticity of the results.
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Scientific Tooth Fairies Investigate Neanderthal Breast-Feeding
Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, breast-feed their offspring for several years. Some baby orangutans nurse until they are 7 years old. Researchers found a way to test ancient teeth for clues about when humans cut nursing short.
Scientific Tooth Fairies Investigate Neanderthal Breast-Feeding
Our closest relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, breast-feed their offspring for several years. Some baby orangutans nurse until they are 7 years old. Researchers found a way to test ancient teeth for clues about when humans cut nursing short.
Could African Crops Be Improved With Private Biotech Data?
A plant scientist at Mars Inc. has appealed to the world's biggest life sciences companies to help him — by sharing what they already know about 100 crops that could provide better nutrition in Africa. But can the kings of agricultural intellectual property get onboard with open source agricultural information for Africa?
The First Web Page, Amazingly, Is Lost
Ironically, there's one piece of Web history that can't be found online: the very first page. Now, a team at the lab where the World Wide Web was born is on a hunt for old hard drives and floppy disks that might hold copies of the missing files.
Research Reveals Yeasty Beasts Living On Our Skin
While studying microorganisms on humans is not new, tracking fungi is. In a census of sorts, scientists checked the skin of healthy volunteers. They found an expansive ecosystem of silent inhabitants.
How Benjamin Franklin Invented A Weight Loss Program, Using Balloons
"Someone asked me," Benjamin Franklin once said, "what's the use of a balloon?" They don't do much. They just float. What are they good for? And Franklin replied, "What's the use of a new-born baby?" They just sit there. They don't do much. You have to imagine possibilities. This is Franklin, in the 1780s, thinking about balloons.
How Genomics Solved The Mystery Of Ireland's Great Famine
Although scientists have known that a funguslike organism caused the potato blight that triggered the Great Famine in Ireland in the 1840s, they didn't know which strain was the culprit. But they do now, thanks to the genes in some 19th century potato samples.
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Quantum Or Not, New Supercomputer Is Certainly Something Else
NASA and Google have come together to buy a new kind of computer that the manufacturer says runs on the strange laws of quantum mechanics. But some physicists counter that the machine, known as the D-Wave Two, has never demonstrated a phenomenon known as "quantum entanglement."
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Storm Chasers Seek Thrills, But Also Chance To Warn Others
When disaster strikes, our natural instinct is to take cover and seek shelter. But in severe weather, especially the type that breeds tornadoes like we saw in Oklahoma and parts of the Midwest this week, there are those who ride toward the storm.
Vertical 'Pinkhouses:' The Future Of Urban Farming?
Architects have come up with spectacular concepts for vertical farms that would grow crops in city skyscrapers. But many horticulturists think the future of vertical farming isn't in skyscrapers, but rather in large, indoor warehouses lit up magenta by superefficient LEDs.
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