Health & Safety

If you were a tsetse fly, you would be irresistibly attracted to these blue flags.

In The Fight Against Tsetse Flies, Blue Is The New Black

10:33am August 04, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

For some unknown reason, the insects that transmit sleeping sickness in sub-Saharan Africa are attracted to the color blue. So scientists think blue flytraps could help wipe out the disease for good.

Researcher John Clements in the early 1980s, after he figured out that lungs need surfactants to breathe.

How A Scientist's Slick Discovery Helped Save Preemies' Lives

9:05pm August 03, 2015

by Joe Palca

Sometimes one person's insight transforms medicine. Dr. John Clements is one of those people. In the 1950s he discovered a slippery lung substance key to breathing, and to the survival of tiny babies.

Queue Listen Now

Protesters rally on the steps of the Texas state capitol on July 28 to condemn the use of fetal tissue for medical research.

Calls To Cut Off Planned Parenthood Are Nothing New

7:00pm August 03, 2015

by Julie Rovner

Flashback to the 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan tried to restrict funding for Planned Parenthood. Efforts in Congress have continued since then, with the latest focused on fetal tissue research.

Toxic Lead Contaminates Some Traditional Ayurvedic Medicines

4:24pm August 03, 2015

by Angus Chen

The treatments are popular in India and the United States, but some can be contaminated with high levels of lead and other toxic metals. People continue to be harmed.

Health & Safety

No Shame, No Euphemism: Suicide Isn't A Natural Cause Of Death

4:23pm August 03, 2015

by John Henning Schumann

A doctor's mother loved medicines and their potential for miracles, but she always sought to ditch them the moment she felt better. Her mental health problems eventually overwhelmed her.

When A Child's Picky Eating Becomes More Than A Nuisance

7:59am August 03, 2015

by Richard Harris

Twenty percent of children are picky eaters but most grow out it. Research suggests that picky eating can also be a sign for hypersensitities that can occasionally cause social anxiety and depression.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

Less-Addictive Opioids Could Boost Drug Firms' Image

8:28am August 02, 2015

Drug users are testing opioids that are less prone to abuse than current drugs. David Crow of the Financial Times tells NPR's Rachel Martin the drugs could also boost profits for pharmaceutical firms.

Queue Listen Now

Using a digital device that displays Braille characters, Haben Girma talks with President Obama at a White House ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

She Owes Her Activism To A Brave Mom, The ADA And Chocolate Cake

11:20am August 01, 2015

by Joseph Shapiro

Born deaf and blind to a refugee mother, Haben Girma has had opportunities in the U.S. she'd never have had in Eritrea. But it was an urge for dessert that led her to advocate for the disabled.

How Sierra Leone's Most Famous Journalist Helped NPR Get The Ebola Story

7:03am August 01, 2015

by Nurith Aizenman

At the height of the epidemic, Umaru Fofana was our guide — and a one-man solution system. This summer, he stopped by NPR's headquarters for a reunion with our Ebola reporting team.

Planned Parenthood Controversy Raises Questions About Fetal Tissue Research

7:53pm July 31, 2015

by Jennifer Ludden

A series of sting videos targeting Planned Parenthood is raising questions about the field of fetal tissue research. Companies who buy and sell such tissue defend their work.

Queue Listen Now