Science

Flooding brought down a house in Jamestown, Colo., on Sept. 18.

Flood Forensics: Why Colorado's Floods Were So Destructive

10:25am October 09, 2013

by Christopher Joyce

Nearly a year's worth of rain was dumped on parts of the state in four days this fall. The downpour from the heavens created a slurry on the mountainsides that scrubbed away soil, trees, boulders and buildings. Scientists say the flooding may have been a once-in-a-thousand-years event.

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Science

3 Scientists Share 2013 Nobel Prize For Chemistry

6:08am October 09, 2013

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Wednesday announced that scientists Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel have won this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry. They were cited "for the development of the multiscale models for complex chemical systems."

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The Chalet (right) is the U.S. Antarctic Program's administrations and operations center at McMurdo Station.

Science

Shutdown Forces Antarctic Research Into 'Caretaker Status'

4:44am October 09, 2013

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Scientists who do research in Antarctica have just learned that the shutdown will effectively cancel all of their planned fieldwork on the icy continent this year. All research activities not essential to human safety and the preservation of property will be stopped.

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A helicopter is unloaded from an LC-130 in Antarctica last December. Researchers on this mission were studying the Pine Island Glacier, one of the fastest-receding glaciers on the continent.

Even Antarctica Feels Effects Of The Government Shutdown

6:50pm October 07, 2013

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Scientists who study the remote, rugged continent at the bottom of the world are on edge as funding for research there remains in jeopardy. It hasn't been decided yet if Antarctic operations for the research season will be allowed to continue.

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Dawn and Don Burke opened a rat sanctuary, The Rat Retreat, in their home in Boise, Idaho. Most people don't realize what affectionate pets rats can be, Dawn says.

Science

Out Of The Rat Race: Lucky Rodents Find Their Own 'Taj Mahal'

11:12am October 07, 2013

by NPR Staff

Dawn and Don Burke never intended to turn their home into a rat sanctuary. But after Dawn brought home a rat from a pet store, it wasn't long until the couple began taking in abandoned rats. The rodents' cage doors stay wide open, giving them plenty of space to run around.

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Science

Nobel Prize Awarded In Medicine

5:55am October 07, 2013

Americans James Rothman and Randy Schekman and German-born researcher Thomas Suedhof have won the 2013 Nobel Prize in medicine. The Nobel committee cited their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells.

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Science

NYC Cockroaches Stick To Their Neighborhoods

11:11am October 05, 2013

Cockroaches, it just so happens, actually resemble humans, forming distinct groups and neighborhoods. Host Scott Simon talks to Mark Stoeckle of Rockefeller University, whose research uncovered this roach behavior.

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Cellist Matt Haimovitz made it big in the classical music scene as a little kid.

Studying The Science Behind Child Prodigies

12:53pm October 03, 2013

by NPR Staff

Matt Haimovitz is 42 and a world-renowned cellist. His mother took him to many concerts as a kid, but nothing in his family history explains where he got his extraordinary talent. And that's typical, says Ellen Winner, a psychology professor at Boston College who has spent much of her career studying prodigies.

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How Our Stone Age Bodies Struggle To Stay Healthy In Modern Times

10:00am October 01, 2013

In The Story of the Human Body, evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman explains how our bodies haven't adapted to modern conditions. The result is "mismatch diseases" — ailments that occur because our bodies weren't designed for the environments in which we now live.

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Examining The Psychology Of Sports Fans

6:35am October 01, 2013

Some sports fans' lives depend on how well their teams are doing. In one theory, sports allow us to deeply identify with the athletes so it feels like we are playing the game.

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