Health & Safety

Health & Safety

The latest in understanding the connection between our guts and our minds

4:56pm December 11, 2024

by Jon Hamilton

Brain cells are increasingly being found outside the brain, and now researchers have identified specific neurons in the abdomen that control some aspects of digestion.

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Albertsons sues Kroger and ends failed grocery megamerger

10:52am December 11, 2024

The lawsuit over a deal to combine the two largest U.S. supermarkets came just a day after it was blocked in both federal and Washington state courts.

Health & Safety

Examining the factors that play into the high rate of insurance denials

3:48am December 11, 2024

by Michel Martin

NPR's Michel Martin talks to Miranda Yaver, a health policy scholar at the University of Pittsburgh, who offers insights into the high rate of denied health insurance claims.

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Orcas are hunting whale sharks. Is there anything they can't take down?

3:42am December 11, 2024

by Lauren Sommer

Killer whales off Mexico have developed coordinated hunting skills to take down whale sharks, adding to their reputation as the ocean's top predator.

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Health & Safety

The latest advance in understanding the gut-brain connection

3:38am December 11, 2024

by Jon Hamilton

Brain cells are increasingly being found outside the brain, and now researchers have identified specific neurons in the abdomen that control some aspects of digestion.

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Health & Safety

A Kansas City birth center's closure worsens the shortage of birth care

5:31pm December 10, 2024

Birth centers staffed by midwives are popular places to have a baby. But low reimbursement rates and staffing issues make it difficult for them to stay in business. This is the story of the recent closure of one such center in the Kansas City area. KCUR's Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga, reporter. Diane Webber, editor.

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Monarch butterflies will get federal protections as a threatened species

5:13pm December 10, 2024

U.S. officials decided to extend protections to monarch butterflies after warnings from environmentalists that populations are shrinking and the beloved pollinator may not survive climate change.

Health & Safety

Older folks build muscle and independence at a Baltimore weightlifting gym

4:50pm December 10, 2024

by Sarah Handel

Older folks interested in lifting weights flock to a gym in Baltimore, where the trainer has special expertise in working with people in their 60s, 70s and 80s to build strength and independence.

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Kroger and Albertsons grocery megamerger halted by two courts

4:12pm December 10, 2024

Two rulings — in federal and state courts — make it increasingly likely that Kroger might abandon its $24.6 billion plan to buy Albertsons. The merger aimed to combine two of America's largest supermarket chains.

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An Afghan museum that buried its artifacts after Taliban takeover is reborn online

2:39pm December 10, 2024

The Afghanistan Memory Home Museum shares details and belongings from those who've died in conflict. It shut its doors when the Taliban took power, buried much of its collection — but has now reemerged.