NPR Health and Science Podcast
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Ring Nebula Is More Like A Jelly Doughnut, NASA Says
The Ring Nebula, whose iconic shape and large size make it a favorite of amateur astronomers, can now be seen in new detail, after NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a sharp image of the nebula. Researchers say the new clarity reveals details that were previously unseen, and a structure that's more complex than scientists believed.
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Tracking Killer Tornadoes
A series of tornadoes struck the central United States this week, including a powerful storm in Oklahoma that killed at least 24 people. Marshall Shepherd, the president of the American Meteorological Society, describes the ingredients of major tornadoes, and how they are predicted.
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Tackling New Tech In The Golden Years
Smartphones, tablets and computers could help seniors stay connected to their communities and families. But a hefty price tag, steep learning curves, and designs meant for younger eyes and hands could keep some older adults from logging on. Guests discuss the best ways for seniors to tackle new technology, and how devices can be adapted to accommodate older users.
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Having a Dog May Mean Having Extra Microbes
North Carolina State University biologist Rob Dunn and colleagues surveyed people's pillow cases, refrigerators, toilet seats, TV screens and other household spots, to learn about the microbes that dwell in our homes. Among the findings, reported in the journal PLoS One, homes with dogs had more diverse bacterial communities, and higher numbers of "dog-associated" bacteria.
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'Crazy Ants' Spreading In The Southeastern US
In parts of the southeastern US, aggressive fire ants have been driven out by an even more recent arrival, the tawny crazy ant. Edward LeBrun, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, describes the newcomers and how one invasive species can out-invade another.
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Reinventing Farming For A Changing Climate
Scientists say climate change could increase pests and weeds, lengthen growing seasons and turn dry soil to dust. Farmers are already on the offensive, adopting no-till cropping methods to conserve water and experimenting with different seeds. And scientists are using a technique called gene silencing to develop new crops--without tinkering with the plants' DNA.
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Studies Question Potential Alzheimer's Treatment
Last year scientists reported that a skin cancer drug appeared to reverse the effects of an Alzheimer's-like disease in mice. But four studies out this week in Science question the original results. Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, talks about the new findings, and the hunt for Alzheimer's drugs.
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Study Is First To Chart Amphibian Populations' Decline...
Populations of frogs, salamanders and other amphibians are declining at an average rate of 3.7 percent each year, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study released this week.
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Can Eyewitnesses Create Memories?
Forensic psychologist Scott Fraser studies how we remember crimes. He describes a deadly shooting and explains how eyewitnesses can create memories that they haven't seen. Why? Because the brain is always trying to fill in the blanks.
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Can Anyone Learn To Be A Master Memorizer?
Some people can memorize thousands of numbers, the names of dozens of strangers or the precise order of cards in a shuffled deck. Science writer and U.S. Memory Champion Joshua Foer shows how anyone can become a memory virtuoso, including him.
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How Do Experiences Become Memories?
Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman goes through a series of examples from vacations to colonoscopies. He explains how our "experiencing selves" and our "remembering selves" perceive happiness differently.
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Memory Games
Memory is malleable, dynamic and elusive. When we tap into our memories, where's the line between fact and fiction? Can our memory play tricks on us? Can we train it to be more accurate? TED speakers discuss how a nimble memory can improve your life, and how a frail one might ruin someone else's.
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Who's The Best Drinker? Dogs? Cats? Or Pigeons?
You, you with your lips, throat, cheek muscles and hands, you, with no effort can drink a glass of water. But what about your cat? Your dog? They don't have the advantages you do. Nor do pigeons. And yet, through ways both brilliant and mysterious, they too can drink. Here are their secrets.
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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.
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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.
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Inside A Tart Cherry Revival: 'Somebody Needs To Do...
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.
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Descending Into The Mariana Trench: James Cameron's...
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.
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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.
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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.
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Seeing Double: Errors In Stem-Cell Cloning Paper Raise...
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...
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.
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Could African Crops Be Improved With Private Biotech...
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?
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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.
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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.
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How Benjamin Franklin Invented A Weight Loss Program,...
"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.
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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...
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...
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.
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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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'Nanogardens' Sprout Up On The Surface Of A Penny
Engineers have figured out a way to get crystals to form rose and tulip sculptures, each smaller than a strand of hair. The gardens sprout up on a penny dipped in a salt solution. The technique is similar to 3-D printing and could one day be used to make any complex shape.
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Forecasters Had Chance To Warn Moore, Okla., Before...
Melissa Block talks to Jon Hamilton about the science of tornadoes.
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Measuring The Power Of Deadly Tornadoes
Tornado strength is currently measured on what is called the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which gives the tornado a rating from 0 to 5 based on estimated wind speeds and the severity of the damage.
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The Little Metronome That Wouldn't
Take a metronome. Then take another. Then another. Set them ticking at different times. Look. Lift. (That's the key part.) Watch. Then Laugh. Because you will be dumbfounded.
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Can A Piece Of Hair Reveal How Much Coke Or Pepsi You...
People are notorious for under-reporting what they consume — they lie, forget or just guess wrong. For researchers who want to know how much soda we're drinking, a high-tech analysis technique could help.
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If Your Shrink Is A Bot, How Do You Respond?
A computer-simulated woman named Ellie is designed to talk to people who are struggling emotionally and take their measure — 30 times per second. Researchers hope their technology, which reads a person's body language and inflections, will yield diagnostic clues for clinical therapists.
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Bans Of Same-Sex Marriage Can Take A Psychological Toll
When several states passed laws banning same-sex marriages, researchers found that the mental health of gay residents seemed to suffer. Conversely, stress-related disorders dropped after the legalization of gay marriage in one state. Researchers say negative media portrayals and loss of safety were contributing factors.
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The Unsuccessful Quest For A Universal Language
Within science circles, trying to come up with a new universal language was a trendy past-time in the 17th Century. Even the man who discovered gravity, Sir Isaac Newton, took a stab at it. Arika Okrent, editor-at-large at TheWeek.com, talks about its failure to catch on with Weekends on All Things Considered host Jacki Lyden.
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David Foster Wallace Tells Us About Freedom
What do you get when you get a college diploma? To hear David Foster Wallace tell it, you get a muscle that will help you forever after — in shopping lines, overcrowded parking lots, in traffic jams. This muscle, he says, frees you when the world gets painfully dull.
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Not Your Grandpa's RV: This Roving Lab Tracks Air...
Atmospheric scientist Ira Leifer installed special air sensors on a camper, then drove from Florida to California, measuring methane levels all along the way. More than 6,000 readings later, he found some noticeable spikes, especially around petrochemical plants and urban areas like Los Angeles.
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Scientists Agree On Climate Change, Why Doesn't The...
A new study confirms that the vast majority of scientists who research the climate accept that the planet is warming and human beings are largely responsible. Yet a large slice of the American public believes that scientists are deeply split about global warming.
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When Great Scientists Got It Wrong
In Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein, astrophysicist Mario Livio explores the colossal errors committed by scientific greats, from chemist Linus Pauling's botched model of DNA, to Charles Darwin's failure to understand genetics--the very mechanism of natural selection.
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Desktop Diaries: Daniel Kahneman
Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman is the latest subject in our Desktop Diaries series, although he has no desk. Kahneman, professor emeritus at Princeton University, won the Nobel Prize in economic sciences in 2002 for his research with the late Amos Tversky on our sometimes irrational intuitions and how they affect decision-making.
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Insects May Be The Taste Of The Next Generation, Report...
A report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says insects offer a huge potential for improving the world's food security. Peter Menzel, co-author of Man Eating Bugs, describes some insect-based cuisine and the western aversion to creepy-crawly snacks.
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Researchers Report Cloning Advance For Producing Stem...
Scientists reported this week in the journal Cell that they had used somatic cell nuclear transfer techniques to create a source of embryonic stem cells from the skin cells of a patient. George Daley, director of the stem cell transplantation program at Boston Children's Hospital, and Josephine Johnston of the Hastings Center discuss the research.
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Resetting the Theory of Time
Generations of physicists have claimed that time is an illusion. But not all agree. In his book Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe, theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that time exists--and he says time is key to understanding the evolution of the universe.
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Giving It Away
You can give away almost anything — your time, money, food, your ideas. Giving helps define who we are and helps us connect with others. Thanks to the Internet and a rise in social consciousness, there's been a seismic shift not only in what we're giving, but how. In this hour, stories from TED speakers who are "giving it away" in new and surprising ways, and the things that happen in return.
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Do We Have The Wrong Idea About Charity?
Activist and fundraiser Dan Pallotta calls out the double standard that drives our broken relationship to charities. Instead of equating frugality with morality, he asks us to start rewarding charities for their big goals and accomplishments.
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When Is the Right Time To Give?
Volunteer firefighter Mark Bezos tells a story of an act of heroism that didn't go quite as expected — but that taught him a big lesson: Don't wait — give now.
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How Can You Give A Community Better Health?
Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA — in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. He hopes to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys."
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What Did I Do Last Summer? Oh, I Discovered How To Make...
Sex is nice, but can animals make babies without it? One summer, two little boys, their tutor and the tutor's two friends did an experiment to explore this question. What they discovered, back in 1740, shocked the world.
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A Small Shock To The System May Help Brain With Math
The results are preliminary, and alpha parents seeking an edge for their children shouldn't risk electrocution. Still, the findings are provocative and may lead researchers down a new road.
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Looking Ahead With The Wonders Of Krulwich
In the latest installment of our "Looking Ahead" series, NPR science correspondent and Radiolab co-host Robert Krulwich talks about reporting on big ideas in imaginative ways, the old days at NPR and what he's wondering about today.
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Human Scent Is Even Sweeter For Malaria Mosquitoes
Scientists used a Dutch woman's dirty stocking to learn that mosquitoes infected with malaria find humans hard to resist. Like a fungus that turns ants into zombies, the parasite seems to change the behavior of the mosquitoes for its own benefit.
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Stem Cell Milestone Revives Intense Ethical Debate
Scientists in Oregon have achieved something that has eluded researchers for years. They have created stem cells that are tailored to individual patients, made from cloned embryos. That would open the door to treating many diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, spinal cord injuries and many others. But researchers face ethical dilemmas.
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Cloning, Stem Cells Long Mired In Legislative Gridlock
The news that scientists have successfully cloned a human embryo seems almost certain to rekindle a political fight that has raged, on and off, since the creation of Dolly the sheep. It's a fight that has, over the past decade and a half, produced a lot of heat and light and not a lot of policy.
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Water Trapped For 1.5 Billion Years Could Hold Ancient...
Scientists have discovered water that was sealed in Canadian bedrock for nearly half of Earth's history. It may contain the descendants of ancient microbes. The discovery could give scientists new insights into early life on Earth and inform the search for life on other planets.
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NASA Says Kepler's Planet-Searching Days May Be Numbered
The mission launched in 2009 to hunt for Earth-like planets circling distant stars may be coming to an end because of a faulty part in the space telescope.
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How Researchers Cloned Human Embryos
After decades of trying, scientists say they've finally figured out how to make personalized embryonic stem cells. One day, these designer cells may help treat an array of diseases. A jolt of caffeine and and a little electric shock helped to do the trick.
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Dam Removal Ushers In New Life In Washington State
New life is coming to Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. Two dams along the Elwha River are being removed, bringing a rush of sediment downstream and exposing hundreds of acres of once-submerged land. The dams were built in the early 1900s to power nearby timber mills. But they blocked salmon migration and their power is no longer needed, so they're coming out. This story originated as part of the public media collaboration, EarthFix.
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Go Fish (Somewhere Else): Warming Oceans Are Altering...
Fish are moving away from the equator and toward the poles to maintain their preferred water temperature. That means, for example, that fishermen are seeing swordfish normally found in the Mediterranean swimming near Denmark. But in the tropics, there are no fish to replace the ones that are leaving.
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Analyzing The Language Of Suicide Notes To Help Save...
About a third of people who attempt suicide leave a note. John Pestian and others at Cincinnati Children's Hospital are merging psychology and computer analysis to see if such notes can help diagnose suicidal tendencies in the living.
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Scientists Clone Human Embryos To Make Stem Cells
The achievement is a long-sought step toward harnessing the potential power of such cells to treat diseases. But the discovery raises ethical concerns because it brings researchers closer to cloning humans.
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Road Crew In Belize Destroys Ancient Pyramid
Only a small core of the 2,300-year-old Mayan structure remains after earth-moving equipment destroyed the rest, archaeologists say.
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Huge Boost In U.S. Oil Output Set To Transform Global...
The International Energy Agency says U.S. shale output and petroleum from Canada's tar sands are transforming global energy markets.
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With Rising Seas, America's Birthplace Could Disappear
By the end of the century, ocean levels could rise by 2 or 3 feet. That's enough to flood the colonists' first settlement at Jamestown, Va. And it's putting pressure on archaeologists to get as many artifacts out of the ground as quickly as possible — before it's too late.
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'Ice Shove' Damages Some Manitoba Homes Beyond Repair
Residents of Ochre Beach, Manitoba, were surprised when heavy ice floes were pushed up on their beachfront properties last week, damaging many homes to the point of no repair. The ice event is the first for the area, but the second weather event to wreak havoc after severe flooding in 2011.
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India, China Could Soon Demand More Oil Than U.S. And...
The United States has emerged as the star performer on the global oil scene, according to the latest oil outlook from the International Energy Agency. Oil production from the United States grew at a record pace last year for a non-OPEC nations. Meanwhile, emerging economies have become the big oil buyers.
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Chris Hadfield: Space Chef In Chief
The Canadian astronaut didn't just tweet and sing his heart out during his five months as commander of the International Space Station. He also took time out to show the world what it's like to eat up there.
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The Promise And Limitations Of Telemedicine
Telemedicine is nothing new, but advancements in technology have made it even more widely available. Neurologists can now treat Parkinson's patients from miles away, therapists can reach service members overseas, and general practitioners can work in rural areas without actually going there at all.
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Maybe It's Time To Swap Burgers For Bugs, Says U.N.
A new report makes the case that insects may be essential to feeding a planet of 7 billion people. Why? They're nutritious, better for the environment than other protein sources and can generate jobs, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization.
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What Is It About Bees And Hexagons?
Bees could build flat honeycombs from just three shapes: squares, triangles or hexagons. But for some reason, bees choose hexagons. Always "perfect" hexagons. Why?
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Why Humans Took Up Farming: They Like To Own Stuff
The appeal of owning your own property — and all the private goods that came with it — may have convinced nomadic humans to settle down and take up farming. So says a new study that tried to puzzle out why early farmers bothered with agriculture.
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Is It Safe To Use Compost Made From Treated Human Waste?
Treated human waste has been used on farmland for decades, but the ick factor has not entirely faded. Some environmentalists think the treatment process may not get rid of all the harmful contaminants that could be in the waste.
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For Year-Round Buzz, Beekeepers 'Fast-Forward Darwinism'
Honeybees are in trouble across the U.S., but one association in Massachusetts is hoping to boost the population in its own area. The bees it currently uses have a hard time surviving the winter and battling other foes that have been killing bees nationwide. So beekeepers in Plympton decided to breed their own.
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Schools? How About A Science Laureate At The Super Bowl?
There's a move in Congress to name a science laureate. Astronomer Mike Brown hopes that person would do much more than visit schools to encourage kids to consider careers in science. He'd like to see a laureate reach out to the public in all sorts of ways.
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Astronauts Go On Spacewalk To Fix Ammonia Leak
NASA sent two astronauts on a spacewalk Saturday to fix an ammonia leak in one of International Space Station's power systems.
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Astronauts Plan Spacewalk To Plug Space Station Leak
The leak in a cooling system was discovered Thursday when "snowflakes" of ammonia were seen flying away from the station. Engineers on Earth were up overnight plotting an impromptu spacewalk.
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Astronomy's Little Secret: The Hidden Art Of...
If you live in North America, this week we had a crescent moon — a skinny sliver of light shaped like a toenail in the sky. Why that shape? Astronomers say it's a "phase." Most of the moon is in shadow. Pixar knows better. Meet the Moon Sweepers. A Grandpa, a dad and a boy.
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Tiny Mites Spark Big Battle Over Imports Of French Cheese
Microscopic bugs called cheese mites are responsible for the distinctive rind and flavor of the bright orange French cheese Mimolette. But now, the FDA has blocked more than a ton of Mimolette from entering the country, because the agency says the mites left on it make it unfit for consumption.
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Atop A Hawaiian Mountain, A Constant Sniff For Carbon...
Since 1958, researchers have been measuring the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the Mauna Loa Observatory. The remote outpost has just reported a carbon dioxide level of 400 parts per million — the highest it has climbed in the modern age.
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Experts Percolate on How To Brew Coffee
Sam Penix and Sam Lewontin, of Everyman Espresso in New York City, and Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking, explain how to get the most out of your grounds. The brewmasters discuss brewing devices, from wood necks to chemex, and filter out reasons you might choose one over another.
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Exploring An Ever-Expanding Universe
Saul Perlmutter shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery that the universe was expanding at an accelerating rate. Perlmutter explains how supernovae and other astronomical artifacts are used to measure the expansion rate, and explains what physicists are learning about "dark energy" — the mysterious entity thought to be driving the acceleration.
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The Myth Of Multitasking
How long can you go without checking email, or glancing at your smartphone? Clifford Nass, a psychology professor at Stanford University, says today's nonstop multitasking actually wastes more time than it saves--and he says there's evidence it may be killing our concentration and creativity too.
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Microexpressions: More Than Meets The Eye
David Matsumoto, a psychology professor at San Francisco State University, trains national security officials and police officers to recognize "microexpressions"--fleeting, split-second flashes of emotion across someone's face. Matsumoto says those subtle cues may reveal how an interview subject is feeling, helping officials to hone their line of questioning.
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Kids With Autism Quick To Detect Motion
To test a common theory about the cause of autism, researchers recently studied how kids with autism process moving images. They found that the kids saw simple movements twice as fast as their typically developing peers.
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'Dangerous Territory': Carbon Dioxide Levels Reach...
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has crossed the "psychological threshold" of 400 parts per million. That number is one of the clearest measures of how humans are changing the planet by burning fossil fuels.
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Hello....Is There Anybody Out There?
The SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute's Jill Tarter has spent decades searching for the signals that would tell us we aren't alone in the cosmos. Tarter discusses the hunt, and what the presence of intelligent life elsewhere might tell us about our own future on Earth.
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Music, Inside Out
What would it be like to be a string that made music? Not anything simple, like a guitar string or a cello string, but a magical string, a sine curve that's taut then loose, that doubles then doubles again, that sheds then dissolves into showers of notes.
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What Does 'Sexual Coercion' Say About A Society?
Anthropologists have long documented the differences in the extent of sexual coercion — including rape — in different human societies. But is it a vestige of evolutionary history, indicative of cultural activity or governed by power dynamics between females and males?
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College Divestment Campaigns Creating Passionate...
Taking a page from the playbook of decades past, college students are once again pressuring schools to pull investment funding from specific sectors. This time it's big oil and coal companies. But these campaigns have effects beyond the university — they're launching a new generation of activists.
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Big Ag Agrees to Conserve Cropland, But At What Cost?
Farmers say they are ready to compromise with some environmental groups on the issue of conservation compliance. But critics say the price tag for the taxpayer may be too high.
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Could You Talk To A Caveman? Scientists Say It's Possible
Researchers at the University of Reading are speculating that today's languages share a common root dating as far back as the last Ice Age. Words like "mother," "man" and "ashes" are categorized as "ultraconserved," meaning they are survivors of a lost language from which many modern tongues are descended.
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How Can Identical Twins Turn Out So Different?
Scientists used to think that identical twins turned out differently because they were treated differently by friends, teachers or their parents. A study of mice supports the idea that small changes in behavior can lead to larger ones and eventually even resculpt brains in different ways.
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Using Bacteria To Swat Malaria Inside Mosquitoes
Infecting mosquitoes with a specific type of bacteria makes the insects resistant to malaria. Now scientists have figured out how to get the mosquitoes to pass the infections on to their offspring. If it can done reliably, it might help interrupt transmission of malaria to humans.
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No Longer Experimental, Egg Freezing May Appeal To More...
By age 38, Sarah Elizabeth Richards had spent $50,000 to freeze 70 of her own eggs. Richards, author of Motherhood, Rescheduled, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that egg freezing put an end to the sadness she was feeling "at losing my chance" to have a child.
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Moths That Drive Cars (Really)
Welcome to the New World in which, no kidding, insects run robots. In this case, 14 moths take 14 drives in a wheeled vehicle and steer right to the target. Seeing is believing.
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With Warming Climes, How Long Will A Bordeaux Be A...
Climate change is already creating new winners among Europe's winemaking regions. (Great bubbly from Britain — who knew?) But those changes have also put in doubt the rules and traditions that have defined the continent's top winemakers for centuries.
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Wildlife That Isn't Wild And Isn't Alive
They're out of the lab now, flying through the air, crawling in the grass, buzzing near you, swimming in the ocean. They're robots. They're among us. We don't notice yet. But we will.
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Study: 'Fossil' Words Are Older Than We Thought
Certain words that have been conserved in the global lexicon suggest an underlying proto-language that goes back to the Ice Age, scientists say.
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Bee Deaths May Have Reached A Crisis Point For Crops
The number of honeybees has now dwindled to the point where there may not be enough to pollinate some major U.S. crops, including almonds, blueberries and apples. And this year brought farmers closer than ever to a true pollination crisis.
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Are Those North Korean Long-Range Missiles For Real?
When North Korea put its missiles on parade last year, experts were surprised to see what looked to be new long-range missiles that might be powerful enough to reach the U.S. But a closer look at details in the photos suggests the missiles on display might have been a bluff.
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Filling In The Gap On Climate Education In Classrooms
Science education standards, issued in April, recommend teaching climate change for the first time. But one nonprofit says kids aren't learning enough, soon enough, about how their world will change in the coming decades. The group aims to remedy this with presentations in schools nationwide.
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Our Very Normal Solar System Isn't Normal Anymore
Turns out our solar system — with its medium sized sun, its four small rocky planets, its four big gassy ones farther out — isn't like the others. We are unusual. Very unusual. Says one prominent astronomer, we are "a bit of a freak."
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This Bat Knows How To Drink
The Pallas' long-tongued bat has a neat trick at the tip of its tongue — tiny hairlike structures that fill with blood and stand straight out. This turns the tongue into a nectar-slurping mop at just the right time.
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Envisioning The Future With Inventor Cori Lathan
This enterprising technologist is designing for a future where computers are intuitive and anticipate our every need. We're not there yet, but she has started a company that aims to imagine, build and test tomorrow's gadgets today.
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Unearthing History: How Technology Is Transforming...
For centuries, explorers tried to find la Ciudad Blanca, a fabled city in the rain forests of Central America. Dense jungle impeded efforts to uncover it. Douglas Preston tells the story of a team who used light detection technology to survey the iconic ruins from the air.
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A Splash Of 'Urban Ocean' On A Southern California Cruise
Instead of traveling alongside picturesque beaches, this boat takes passengers on a tour of the nation's busiest shipping terminal. The sightseeing includes sea lions and trash, juxtaposing Long Beach's commercial might with a fragile ecosystem.
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Unraveling The Mystery Of A Rice Revolution
An economist wanted to find out why some farmers in the developing world were abandoning a new way of growing rice that increases yields while reducing the need for seeds and water. He found that even while their rice fields were more productive, their household income didn't go up.
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NASA: Warming Climate Likely Means More Floods, Droughts
The wettest regions will see more heavy rainfall and the driest regions will see even less precipitation, according to the analysis of more than a dozen climate models.
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17-Year Cicadas Primed To Emerge
This spring the massive "Brood II" batch of 17-year cicadas is expected to emerge from the ground in backyards and parks all along the Eastern U.S. The insects will mate, lay eggs, and start the cycle all over again. Cicada expert John Cooley explains the unusual biology and evolution of periodical cicadas.
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Michael Pollan: You Are What You Cook
Food writer Michael Pollan once advised "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Now, he tells us how to cook it. In his new book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, he takes a tour of the most time-tested cooking techniques, from southern whole-hog barbecue and slow-cooked ragus to sourdough baking and pickle making.
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To Combat Rising Seas, Why Not Raise Up The Town?
When the Great Storm of 1900 battered Galveston, Texas, the town simply lifted itself up--in some places as much as 17 feet. Could a similar approach save cities today? Randy Behm of the US Army Corps of Engineers and Dwayne Jones of the Galveston Historical Foundation talk about the costs and feasibility of raising a town, albeit with better technology than Galveston's hand-cranked jacks and mules.
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Scientists Seek To Take The Measure of Antimatter
In 2011, researchers at CERN found a way to trap and hold particles of antihydrogen for about 15 minutes at a time. Jeffrey Hangst, spokesman for the ALPHA project at CERN, describes how scientists are trying to measure basic properties of the particles, such as their mass.
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Living Inside the Box
David Boyle and Michele Bertomen wanted to build their own house on a 20 by 40 foot lot they purchased in Brooklyn. Bertomen, an architect, drew up plans and the bid was over $300,000. Inspired by Bertomen's students at New York Institute of Technology, the couple built their house from five shipping containers, which cost a few thousand dollars a piece.
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Ancient Earth May Have Smelled Like Rotten Eggs
Reporting in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers write of finding fossils of bacteria-like organisms that lived nearly two billion years ago. Paleobiologist Martin Brasier of the University of Oxford explains that these ancient creatures belched hydrogen sulfide, the stench of rotten eggs, after meals--suggesting the early Earth may have been a smelly place.
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Unstoppable Learning
Learning is an integral part of human nature. But why do we — as adults — assume learning must be taught, tested and reinforced? In this hour, TED speakers explore the ways babies and children learn, from the womb to the playground to the Web.
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Of Flybots And Bug Eyes: Insects Inspire Inventors
Miniaturizing technology is really hard — gears, rotors, belts and pistons that work perfectly at human size just don't work very well at the small scale. So researchers are turning to insects for ideas about how to make tiny flying robots and cameras — and driving a new generation of gadgets.
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Can Salmon Farming Be Sustainable? Maybe, If You Head...
For years, salmon farming has gotten a bad rap from marine biologists, who say the fish grown in open-ocean net pens generate pollution, disease and parasites. But now, a few salmon farms have moved on land. From an environmental standpoint, some scientists say, that's "a huge step forward."
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Imagine A Flying Pig: How Words Take Shape In The Brain
Linguists used to think the human brain had a specific region devoted to understanding language. But brain scans now indicate that regions controlling vision, movement, taste, smell and touch are all called into action when we think of a word, too.
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Bones Tell Tale Of Desperation Among The Starving At...
The winter of 1609-1610 has been called the "starving time" for the hundreds of men and women who settled the English colony of Jamestown, Va. They ate their horses, their pets — and, apparently, at least one person. Scientists say human bones recovered from the site provide the first hard evidence that the colonists may have resorted to cannibalism.
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Who Paid For Last Summer's Drought? You Did
Corn and soybean farmers not only survived last year's epic drought — thanks to crop insurance, they made bigger profits than they would have in a normal year, a new analysis finds. And a big chunk of those profits were provided through taxpayer subsidies.
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A Sleep Gene Has A Surprising Role In Migraines
Disruptions of sleep are well known as migraine triggers, but now researchers have found a genetic link between the two. In studying families with lots of migraines, they also found a mutation on a gene that helps control circadian rhythms.
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NASA Details Space Telescope's Cosmic Near Miss
Last year, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope experienced a dangerous close pass with a Cold War-era spy satellite.
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Discovery's 'Big Brain Theory': Not That Kind Of Nerd TV
Discovery is debuting a new science show called The Big Brain Theory, and these aren't the parents'-basement nerds television has gotten so lazy about presenting.
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Don't Miss The Premiere Of The World's Smallest Movie
The groundbreaking movie was made by manipulating individual atoms with a high-tech scanning tunneling microscope.
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How Doctors Would Know If Syrians Were Hit With Nerve Gas
An international team of doctors is helping Syrian health workers recognize the signs of a chemical attack. They're also teaching them how to collect and preserve tissues as potential evidence if war crimes charges are brought.
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The Boomerang Rocket Ship: Shoot It Up, Back It Comes
SpaceX calls it the "Grasshopper" — it's a rocket that doesn't fall back to Earth haphazardly after launch. It carefully returns itself to the launchpad standing up, right where it started.
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He Helped Discover Evolution, And Then Became Extinct
Charles Darwin is known as the father of evolution. But another British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, played a major role in developing the theory of natural selection before fading into obscurity. A trip to what's now Sulawesi in Indonesia, and the unique animals he found there, helped form his seminal ideas.
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Saturn Shows Off A Massive Spinning Vortex: 'The Rose'
NASA is calling it "The Rose." By any other name, it's a mammoth storm on Saturn, spanning an estimated 1,250 miles with winds swirling at hundreds of miles per hour. The "false-color" image is among the first batch of high-resolution pictures of Saturn's north pole.
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Europe Bans Pesticides In Move To Protect Honey Bees
Three popular pesticides are being banned in the European Union, where officials are hoping the change helps restore populations of honey bees, vital to crop production, to healthy levels.
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Big Sibling's Big Influence: Some Behaviors Run In The...
Psychologists have long known that children often model their behavior on the actions of parents or peers. But science has only recently begun to measure the influence of siblings. An older brother's or sister's behavior can be very contagious, it turns out — for good and for bad.
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Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Passes First Rocket Test
The space tourism company says the vehicle hit Mach 1.2 and reached 56,000 feet in its first rocket-powered test.
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First He Invented The Phone. Then, Bell Left A Voice...
We finally know what the inventor of the telephone sounded like. Last week, the Smithsonian unveiled recordings of Alexander Graham Bell's voice from 1885. It's the first known recording of him speaking.
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The Sounds of Thirsty Trees
A team of physicists at Grenoble University in France discovered that trees make different sounds when they are starved for water versus when they are simply thirsty. We hear from Dr. Alexandre Ponomarenko, the lead researcher, and hear a bit of the thirsty tree sounds.
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From Coast To Coast with The Power Of The Sun
Weather permitting, a solar-power airplane will embark on a cross-country trip on Wednesday. Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin speaks with Bertrand Piccard, one of pilots and creators of Solar Impulse, which will make an American tour stopping in Phoenix, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and New York.
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Nobody Throws Balls Like Yu
Ever want to look back in time? With "time merge media," you can watch athletes dribble, swing and dance, and even throw five pitches at once.
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Freaky Friday: Autonomous Tissue Grabbers Are On Their...
Scientists have deployed hundreds of tiny, experimental robots to help with biopsies. They're as small as a speck of dust. They look like tiny ninja throwing stars. And researchers use magnets to retrieve them.
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Navy Sonar Criticized For Harming Marine Mammals
The U.S. Navy is planning to expand training exercises off California and Hawaii, citing the need for military readiness. That's raising concerns about threatened whales and marine mammals, because sonar is known harm and, in some cases, kill them. The state of California is fighting the Navy's plan.
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James Webb Space Telescope Wings It
The James Webb Space Telescope will succeed Hubble in 2018, boasting modern computers and a mirror with seven times the viewing area. Bob Hellekson, ATK Program Manager for the telescope, discusses the telescope's newly constructed wings, designed to support the telescope's folding mirror, and astrophysicist Stacy Palen talks about what the telescope may reveal about the cosmos.
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Utah's Fossil Finds Describe an Ancient World
Once upon a time, giants roamed the planet — many of them in what is now Utah. A panel of paleontology experts describes some of the state's ancient treasures, from massive long-necked sauropods to the Utahraptor, a predator that would put those in Jurassic Park to shame.
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The Bird That Struts Its Stuff
The Greater sage-grouse is a large bird that makes its living in sagebrush habitats across the western U.S. and Canada. Every year at this time, male sage-grouse perform a striking dance routine each morning at dawn. Jason Robinson, upland game coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, breaks down the dance and describes challenges the birds face in Utah.
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Studying Earth To Learn About Mars
Southern Utah's landscape looks a lot like images from the Mars rovers. Marjorie Chan explains how Utah geology might help explain data sent back from Mars missions. Charles Killian describes how people are simulating what it might be like to one day live and work on Mars.
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Great Salt Lake Is No 'Dead Sea'
Parts of Utah's Great Salt Lake are 10 times saltier than the ocean. But the lake is host to plenty of life, including salt-loving microbes that can turn the lake's water bubblegum pink. Bonnie Baxter, director of the Great Salt Lake, discusses how the bugs might hold the secrets to better sunscreen, hydrogen fuel cells--even life on Mars.
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Failure Of Latest HIV Vaccine Test: A 'Huge...
An oversight committee halted a big clinical study of an experimental HIV vaccine after a peek at preliminary results showed there was no way the study would be able show the vaccine works. More vaccinated people became infected with HIV than those who got placebo shots.
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Can You Hear Me Now? Cellphone Satellites Phone Home
Never mind the big-budget NASA satellites. A team of young engineers has tricked out a few off-the-shelf cellphones and sent them to space. The smartphones are already above us, sending images and data back to ham radio operators on Earth.
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Exploring Coffee's Past To Rescue Its Future
Today's commercial coffee production is based on only a tiny slice of the genetic varieties that have grown since prehistoric times. And that's a problem, because it leaves the world's coffee supply vulnerable to shocks like climate change, or the leaf rust currently ravaging Latin American coffee farms.
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VIDEO: The Future Of Wearable Technology
Google Glass — the glasses with a computer, Internet and camera built in — is only the latest version of wearable technology. Off Book, a Web video series from PBS, explorers the future, from "smart" fabrics in clothing to devices that help measure your sleep patterns.
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Monkeys Also Want To Eat Like The Locals
When monkeys move to a new place, they want to eat what the locals are eating, a new study finds. It's among the first to see strong social behaviors in eating among wild animals.
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Researchers Find Hormone That Grows Insulin-Producing...
When researchers turned on a gene for the hormone in the livers of diabetic lab mice, the number of insulin-making cells in their pancreas glands tripled within 10 days. Although the research was conducted in animals, the scientists say the findings could be relevant for humans.
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From Battle To Birds: Drones Get Second Life Counting...
The U.S. Geological Survey is putting remotely piloted former military planes to work in the areas of environmental and wildlife management. Earlier this month, researchers spent three days counting sage grouse in rural Colorado. Next up: a survey of pygmy rabbit habitat in Idaho.
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Not Your Ordinary Science Fair
Today's young people might aim for the sky, but they might not envision a visit to the White House. Host Michel Martin talks with two students, Darius Hooker and Isabella Leighton, about their interest in rocket science and the White House Science Fair.
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A Tale Of Mice And Medical Research, Wiped Out By A...
When Superstorm Sandy flooded lower Manhattan last year, thousands of lab animals drowned and many scientists lost months or even years of work. The specialty animals can be very difficult to replace, but researchers say the loss of animal life is emotionally devastating and difficult to get over.
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EPA: Tar Sands Pipelines Should Be Held To Different...
Up until now, the U.S. has had the same rules for all oil pipelines. But the EPA says pipelines that carry tar sands oil, like the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, should have special standards. That's because tar sands oil spills can release harmful air pollution and are vastly more difficult to clean up than conventional oil spills.
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1960s Satellite Images Add To Evidence Of Shrinking Sea...
A new analysis of images taken from one of the first U.S. weather satellites appears to confirm shrinking Arctic sea ice.
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Deadly Strain Of Bird Flu Is 'Most Lethal' Flu Virus Yet
At a briefing in Beijing Wednesday, World Health Organization officials called the H7N9 bird flu that's emerged in China one of the "most lethal" flu viruses so far. NPR science correspondent Richard Knox talks about what we know, and the questions that remain about the deadly strain.
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For Corn, Fickle Weather Makes For Uncertain Yields
Corn production was down last year thanks to drought. This year, conditions are too cold and wet for farmers to plant the crop. Without a break in the clouds pretty soon, there may be another shortage of the crop at harvest time.
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Coffee For A Cause: What Do Those Feel-Good Labels...
It doesn't take much effort to find bags of coffee with labels that promise social and environmental improvements. But each one of these certification programs promises something different for the farmer and the land — and every promise involves some compromises.
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Natural Gas Gives Maine Paper Plant A Competitive Edge
Energy companies are using a drilling technique known as fracking to extract natural gas underground. Many people raise questions about the environmental impact, but there is no doubt fracking has produced lots of natural gas and driven down the price. That has led energy-hungry manufacturers to build plants in fracking hot spots like Texas and Pennsylvania. But even in old factories — far from the drilling or even the pipelines — cheap natural gas is providing a competitive edge.
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Mysterious Silly Putty Devours Innocent Magnets
If you liked the movie The Blob, then feast your eyes on this: It's tricked-out Silly Putty in the form of a gelatinous monster that eats magnets for lunch.
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What Does Modern Prejudice Look Like?
Most Americans think of prejudice as animosity toward people in other groups. But two psychologists argue that unconscious bias — often in the form of giving some people special treatment — is the way prejudice largely works in America today.
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This One-Way Trip To Mars Is Brought To You By ...
The company Mars One has launched a program that could allow you (yes you!) to make a trip to Mars. But you can't come back.
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43 Years Of Earth Day: What's Changed Since 1970
Now in its 43rd year, Earth Day has become an international day dedicated to promoting environmental awareness and action. Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, explains what's changed, as concern about climate change and green energy have come to the forefront of the movement.
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'Zoobiquity': What Humans Can Learn From Animal Illness
Animals and humans have a lot in common, including some of the health problems that plague them. In her book Zoobiquity, Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz explores how studying animal illness — from cancer to sexual dysfunction — can help us better understand human health.
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Antares Rocket Launch Is A Success, In Test Of Orbital...
The Antares rocket launch is back on Sunday afternoon, as engineers and spectators look for the rocket to lift off from a launch pad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The mission had been postponed twice this week, due to high winds in one case and a loose cable in another.
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A Wet Towel In Space Is Not Like A Wet Towel On Earth
On Earth, a really wet wash cloth, squeezed tight, will drip. Watch what happens in space.
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Sunday Night Forecast: Cloudy With A Chance Of Meteors
The Lyrid shower is caused by Earth passing through the orbit of a comet known as Thatcher. The best time to watch should be in the early hours of Monday morning, just before dawn.
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Monkeys, Mai Tais And Us
All animals are wired for pleasures that will lead them to reproduce, hunt for food and protect their young. The problem is, in some animals, like in some humans, the natural urge for good times gets untamed.
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Fertilizer Shows Its Deadly Side
This week's explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. plant in Texas reminds us of the "cursed" side of the nitrogen that powers most of agriculture around the world. Through habit or necessity, we've come to depend on it. But there are costs.
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CDC: U.S. Hospitals Should Be Vigilant For Bird Flu
While there is still conflicting reports about how easily the new strain can be transmitted between humans, the CDC says early intervention is key.
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Robert Ballard: 50 Years Exploring Deep Waters
Deep-sea voyager Robert Ballard has discovered everything from 10-foot-tall tube worms to the Titanic on his ocean expeditions around the world. Ballard discusses his underwater finds and how new robotic technology allows scientists to explore the sea from ashore.
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Climate Change Takes Flight in New Novel
Writer Barbara Kingsolver is one of a handful of novelists with a science background, and she puts it to use in her new novel Flight Behavior. Kingsolver discusses the book and why she chose to look at the the issue of climate change in a fictional work set in rural Tennessee.
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Oliver Sacks: Hallucinations
In his latest book Hallucinations, neurologist Oliver Sacks collects stories of individuals who can see, hear and smell things that aren't really there--such as strange voices, or collages of unrecognizable faces--and explores the disorders and drugs that can produce such illusions.
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Breaking Into The 'Department Of Mad Scientists'
What happens when scientific research borders on science fiction? Michael Belfiore, author of the new book The Department of Mad Scientists, talks about the bizarre projects happening behind the scenes at DARPA — the secretive research arm of the Department of Defense.
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What David Lynch And Tylenol Can Tell You About The Brain
Tylenol may relieve more than physical pain; it may dull existential aches, too. Researchers say their work is consistent with a growing body of research that suggests the brain processes physical and emotional pain in similar ways.
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What Is Beauty?
Beauty surrounds us, draws us in, gives joy and creates conflict. In this hour, TED speakers conjure up beauty both ancient and modern, and suggest reasons why humans are hardwired to crave and respond to beauty.
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Trees On Top Of Skyscrapers? Yes! Yes, Say I. No! No,...
Two residential towers, dense with trees, will have their official opening later this year in downtown Milan. Blogger and critic Tim De Chant thinks it's high-time we stop planting trees on skyscrapers. Krulwich disagrees.
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NASA Discovers New Earth-Like Planets Around Distant...
The three planets are not only in what's considered to be the "habitable" zone, but they are also near Earth-sized.
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Tracking 'Killer Electrons' Help Predict Risks To...
Scientists say the sun is now in an active period, creating more space weather that could interfere with the satellites we depend on for TV, cellphones and weather forecasts. From member station KQED, Lauren Sommer reports that researchers are taking advantage of the weather to learn more about the Earth's magnetic field.
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Kepler Telescope Spots 3 New Planets In The 'Goldilocks...
The planets orbiting far-off stars are close to Earth-sized and are a distance from their suns that makes their surfaces neither too hot nor too cold. Since launching in 2009, the Kepler telescope has identified more than 100 planets.
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Bacteria On Dog Lovers' Skin Reveal Their Affection
Dog owners have similar germs growing on their skin: a signature blend of bacteria from canines' tongues and paws. Scientists couldn't find an analogous signature for cat owners. Perhaps cats are just being selfish.
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Can Acid Neutralizers Help Coral Reefs Bounce Back?
Coral reefs are in trouble worldwide, from a host of threats, including warming ocean temperatures, nutrient runoff and increasing ocean acidity. A noted climate scientist from California has been conducting an experiment on Australia's Great Barrier Reef to see whether antacid could boost coral growth.
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Scientists Sequence Genome Of 'Living Fossil' Fish
Scientists say the genome of the coelacanth shows that it may not be as closely related as the lungfish to the first creatures to emerge from the sea.
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Updated: Glitch Delays Antares Rocket Launch
Antares is designed to ferry cargo to the International Space Station. The two-stage rocket, a milestone for commercial space flight, is scheduled to lift off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Wednesday.
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A 'Whom Do You Hang With?' Map Of America
Put away that old Rand McNally map — it's time for a new way to see what America really looks like.
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For Those About To Rock, We Salute Your Ears
Research in mice suggests that short-term hearing loss caused by loud noise like rock concerts may protect ears from more serious damage. But adapting to noise can be dangerous if you compensate by turning up the volume even higher, researchers warn.
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Increased Carbon Dioxide Levels Damage Coral Reefs
Scientists have been worried about coral reefs for years, since realizing that rising temperatures and rising ocean acidity are hard on organisms that build their skeletons from calcium carbonate. Researchers on Australia's Great Barrier Reef are conducting an experiment that demonstrates just how much corals could suffer in the coming decades.
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Lionfish Attacking Atlantic Ocean Like A Living Oil Spill
Scientists say they have few weapons to wield against the poison-spined lionfish, which is gobbling up reef fish in the Bahamas and other habitats.
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Who Stands Where In A Crowded Elevator And Why?
When a bunch of people get into an elevator, do they segregate in any predictable way? Do tall ones stand in the back? Do men stand in different places than women? Who looks where?
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A Tax Day Story For Hard-Cider Lovers
When is hard apple cider not considered hard apple cider? When it's taxed like wine or champagne. America is in the midst of a cider revival, but antiquated tax laws make it a risky business for entrepreneurs, critics say. Not to worry: Sen. Schumer is on the case.
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Justices Appear Skeptical Of Patenting Human Genes
A case considered pivotal to the future of science and medicine came before the Supreme Court on Monday, involving a company that has patented two genes linked to cancer. While the patent challengers lost in the lower court, they seemed to have a more receptive audience at the Supreme Court.
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How Exercise And Other Activities Beat Back Dementia
"What's good for the heart is good for the brain," one neuroscientist says. In addition to physical exercise, researchers say that mental exercise, socializing and a good diet can also help preserve memory in older brains.
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Supreme Court Asks: Can Human Genes Be Patented?
Same-sex marriage got huge headlines at the Supreme Court last month, but in the world of science and medicine, the case being argued on Monday is far more important. The lawsuit deals with a truly 21st century issue that in some cases can pit drugmakers against patients.
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Mars Rovers Go Quiet, As Sun Blocks Transmissions
Communications between the Earth and Mars are going on a month-long hiatus, thanks to interference from the sun. That means NASA's spacecraft on Mars will be on their own until NASA's radio signals can reach them again.
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A Poker Players Tells Are In The Hands As Much As The...
Michael Slepian, a graduate student in psychology at Stanford University, has been studying the way poker players communicate the value of their poker hands through non-verbal signals. He tells Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin that they give themselves away, not in their facial expressions, but with hand motions.
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Now Endangered, Florida's Silver Springs Once Lured...
Countless movies were filmed there, including Tarzan and Creature From the Black Lagoon. With its wildlife and freshwater springs, Silver Springs in Central Florida was one of the state's most popular tourist destinations. Those waters have receded now as the delicate ecosystem suffers from problems that threaten the entire state.
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The Teenaged "Troublemaker" Fighting For Science
Zack Kopplin has been fighting to have the "Louisiana Science Education Act" overturned since it was first passed in 2008, and he was in high school. Critics of the SLEA say it's used to introduce creationism and other non-scientific theories into public school science class. Kopplin, now at Rice University discusses his continuing campaign against the act.
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Down The Gullet: A Guided Tour Of Your Guts
In Gulp. Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, science writer Mary Roach takes a journey through the gut, from the secret healing powers of saliva to the taxonomy of poop. Along the trip, she serves up odd medical anecdotes, such as the story of William Beaumont, an eccentric surgeon who once ate chicken from another man's stomach.
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Monitoring the Monarchs
Last month monarch butterflies began an annual northward journey from their overwintering habitat in Mexico. Monarch expert Lincoln Brower discusses the dwindling monarch populations, and explains how habitat loss in Mexico and a decline in milkweed plant numbers in the U.S. may be harming the familiar orange and black fliers.
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Poring Over the Science of Coffee
Brewing coffee is a neverending science project, according to barista Sam Penix, owner of Everyman Espresso in New York City. Grind-size, brew method, coffee beans (which are really seeds), water temperature can all affect the flavors that end up in your cup. Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking, explains some of the chemistry of coffee.
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