Science

President-elect Donald Trump's promises to bring back miner jobs and open mines again appealed to many voters in coal country.

Coal Country Picked Trump. Now, They Want Him To Keep His Promises

6:30pm January 01, 2017

Voters in coal country overwhelmingly chose Donald Trump. They liked his promises to create jobs, even if they didn't like his other rhetoric. Now, they're waiting to see if coal can make a comeback.

The genes in mitochondria, which are the powerhouses in human cells, can cause fatal inherited disease. But replacing the bad genes may cause other health problems.

Unexpected Risks Found In Editing Genes To Prevent Inherited Disorders

5:00am January 01, 2017

by Jill Neimark

In 2016, scientists combined the genes of three people in an effort to make a baby free of an inherited disease. But the process doesn't wipe out all faulty mitochondria, and could pose new risks.

It's sometimes hard to assess the value of health claims about yoga, but if it relieves some pain, that may be enough.

A Skeptic Fact-Checks Yoga's Health Claims And Goes With The Om

10:00am December 31, 2016

by Ann Finkbeiner

Yoga has been promoted as the cure for many ills, from diabetes to insomnia. Scientific proof is mixed. But this skeptic says if yoga makes climbing the stairs hurt less, that's good enough.

An Egyptian fruit bat flies in an abandoned quarry near the village of Mammari, Cyprus, in 2007.

Science

When Bats Squeak, They Tend To Squabble

7:53am December 31, 2016

by NPR Staff

Researchers have found new clues to how bats communicate. And it turns out they tend to argue — a lot. The research could lead to a broader understanding of animal communication.

By Returning To Farming's Roots, He Found His American Dream

7:00am December 31, 2016

by Dan Charles

David Fisher's farm is a kind of American Dream. Not the conventional one of upward economic mobility. This is the utopian version, the uncompromising pursuit of a difficult agrarian ideal.

From Psychedelics To Alzheimer's, 2016 Was A Good Year For Brain Science

5:00am December 31, 2016

by Bret Stetka

A woman with ALS was able to type just by thinking about the letters, and people with cancer found their anxiety and depression erased by a single encounter with magic mushrooms.

Pan Pan sniffs a birthday cake made of ice for his 30th birthday, at the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda in Dujiangyan, on Sept. 21, 2015.

'Panda Grandpa' Pan Pan Dies In China

4:23pm December 30, 2016

by Maggie Penman

Pan Pan, who died this week at the age of 31, was known as the "panda grandpa": He has some 130 descendants worldwide, accounting for a quarter of the world's captive giant pandas.

How long do Americans, on average, keep a phone before buying a new one?

QUIZ: Test Your Knowledge Of NPR's Tech Stories From 2016

11:06am December 30, 2016

by Alina Selyukh

A bar owner who wants patrons to put away their phones, Internet users tracking down a vandal, a project to analyze hundreds of Rembrandt paintings — can you remember (or guess) what happened?

A diet high in saturated fats and sugars can affect the parts of the brain that are important to memory.

The Wrong Eating Habits Can Hurt Your Brain, Not Just Your Waistline

10:13am December 30, 2016

by Alan Yu

A diet high in saturated fats and sugars can affect the parts of the brain that are important to memory. Diet-linked brain changes can also make people more likely to crave unhealthful food.

Science

As A Rough Year Ends, We Turn To The Cosmos For Some Perspective

6:00am December 30, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

As 2016 winds down, we take a moment to contemplate the billions of years that led to 2017 and the billions more yet to come.