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Science

How Decedents' Quality Of Life At The Time Of Death Affects Others

4:25pm April 06, 2016

by Shankar Vedantam

Research indicates when a partner dies happy and contented, that stays with the other person a long time, but when a partner dies unhappy and in pain, those feelings stay with the other one, too.

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UVA Study Links Disparities In Pain Management To Racial Bias

5:53pm April 05, 2016

NPR's Audie Cornish speaks to Kelly Hoffman, a doctoral student in social psychology at the University of Virginia. Hoffman recently published a paper that links disparities in pain management to racial bias.

Kids' Grades Can Suffer When Mom Or Dad Is Depressed

7:29am April 04, 2016

by Patti Neighmond

Children with a depressed parent do worse in school than peers, a study finds. But other research shows that early diagnosis and treatment can help turn that around for the whole family.

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How Cacti Can Clean Drinking Water

8:15am April 02, 2016

NPR's Scott Simon asks engineering professor Norma Alcantar about how the innards of a cactus can filter water. She got the idea from her grandmother, who knew about its unique cleansing properties.

Study Finds More Adults Are Obese Than Underweight

6:58pm April 01, 2016

NPR's Ari Shaprio speaks with James Bentham, a research associate at the Imperial College London. He's one of the authors of a report on global obesity published in the journal Lancet. He says the study shows there are now more obese people than underweight people worldwide.

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A man holds Peruvian quinoa. New studies of detailed data gathered by Peru's government find that the global quinoa boom really was good both for Peruvians â both those who grow it and those who eat it.

Your Quinoa Habit Really Did Help Peru's Poor. But There's Trouble Ahead

3:04pm March 31, 2016

by Jeremy Cherfas

Headlines once warned the global quinoa boom was putting the nutritious crop out of the reach of those who grow it. New studies put those fears to rest. But bad news may loom for Andean farmers.

Dr. Dorry Segev (right), of Johns Hopkins Medicine, led the team of doctors that transplanted an HIV-positive liver and kidney into two different HIV-positive patients this month.

New Source Of Transplant Organs For Patients With HIV: Others With HIV

2:31pm March 31, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

The organ donor and both recipients in the procedure this month were all HIV-positive — a first in the U.S. Using HIV-positive organs for some patients could enable a thousand more transplants a year.

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Fatty plaque (shown here in yellow) blocks about 60 percent of this coronary artery's width. The increasing thickness of artery walls is just one factor that can increase vulnerability to a heart attack or stroke.

Possible Heart Benefits Of Taking Estrogen Get Another Look

8:05pm March 30, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

Evidence has ping-ponged over the decades on the effects of hormone therapy on a woman's arteries. The latest study suggests a brief stint on hormones might be helpful — if given at the right time.

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Paul Hornback was a senior engineer and analyst for the U.S. Army when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six years ago at age 55. His wife, Sarah, had to retire 18 months ago to care for him full time.

Big Financial Costs Are Part Of Alzheimer's Toll On Families

4:36pm March 30, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

A survey of more than 3,500 people caring for family members with dementia finds that many are spending down personal savings and cutting into their own basic needs to meet their loved one's expenses.

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This USGS map displays potential to experience damage from natural or human-induced earthquakes in 2016. Chances range from less than 1 percent to 12 percent.

U.S. Geology Maps Reveal Areas Vulnerable To Man-Made Quakes

5:59pm March 29, 2016

by Christopher Joyce

Parts of Oklahoma and Texas have about the same risk of an earthquake as parts of California, the maps show. Why? Wastewater that oil and gas operations are pumping into wells adds pressure on faults.

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