Science

Science

NASA's Voyager Program Turns 40

7:59am August 06, 2017

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to Ed Stone, a chief scientist at NASA, about the Voyager program as it approaches its 40th anniversary. He's 81 years old and has spent half his life on the project.

Science

The Call-In: Genetic Engineering

7:59am August 06, 2017

Last week, a new study was released confirming that scientists had successfully modified human embryos to eliminate a genetic defect. We asked you for your questions.

Science

What Changes In Birthing Mean For Evolution

7:59am August 06, 2017

Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with biological anthropologist Julienne Rutherford about the long term evolutionary changes possible from a shift in birth practices in the U.S.

Science

10-Year-Old Spots Museum Error

7:59am August 06, 2017

Ten-year-old Charlie Edwards got a jump start on his paleontology career when he noted a mistaken label at the Natural History Museum in London.

Children walk through a rice field outside the town of Kelilalina in eastern Madagascar. Rice is the dominant food and the dominant crop on the Indian Ocean island, but changing weather patterns are disrupting production in some parts of the country.

Erratic Weather Threatens Livelihood Of Rice Farmers In Madagascar

7:59am August 06, 2017

by Jason Beaubien

Climate change is complicating the lives of subsistence rice farmers in Madagascar. For years, the wet and dry seasons arrived predictably. No more. To survive, farmers are looking to diversify.

The MD Brush toothbrush forces users to hold it at the optimal angle relative to their gums.

Brush Yourself Off And Try Again: An Invention Story

6:53pm August 04, 2017

by Joe Palca

Inventing even the simplest product is a fraught process. Mike Davidson and Mike Smith have learned that lesson the hard way as they seek to change the way teeth get cleaned.

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New Human Embryo Editing Research Reignites Ethical Debate

4:33pm August 04, 2017

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Dr. George Daley, the dean of Harvard Medical School, about the ethical discussions surrounding editing the DNA of human embryos and what the future of the technology might look like.

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Shannon McGrath, pictured with her son Rayder, says it has been a lot easier to make her medical appointments recently, thanks to help from a "patient navigator" — assigned to her by Kaiser Permanente — who arranged McGrath's transportation.

Your ZIP Code Might Be As Important To Health As Your Genetic Code

3:02pm August 04, 2017

by Kristian Foden-Vencil

Health care forms increasingly ask about more than just medical history. That's because doctors are beginning to understand that patients' stress, and how and where they live, influence health, too.

Finding some change in the blood of an Alzheimer's patient that accurately reflects the damaging changes in the brain has been tough.

Scientists Aim For Better, Cheaper Tests For Alzheimer's

1:43pm August 04, 2017

by Shirley S. Wang

The goal is to find accurate, painless tests that can help doctors diagnose Alzheimer's early and track the progression of the illness and any response to treatment. A few tests seem promising.

The Haven for Hope, a homeless shelter in San Antonio, is one of dozens of locations around 20 South Texas counties where people are now being tested for latent tuberculosis infections.

South Texas Fights Tuberculosis One Blood Test At A Time

1:21pm August 04, 2017

by Wendy Rigby

Texas has one of the highest rates of TB among U.S. states. A sweeping effort is underway, largely funded by Medicaid, to diagnose and treat people who don't know they harbor the lung infection.