Science

This week in science: Cellular 'robots,' sleeping penguins and a rediscovered echidna

5:57pm November 30, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Regina Barber and Aaron Scott of Short Wave about building cellular 'robots,' the bizarre sleeping habits of chinstrap penguins, and a lost echidna found again.

De Winton's golden mole, a blind mole that lives beneath the sand, has been rediscovered in Port Nolloth, South Africa. The small mammal has evaded scientists for nearly 90 years, using sensitive hearing that can detect vibrations from movement above the surface.

Science

Holy Mole-y: A sniffer dog helps rediscover a rare mole

11:55am November 30, 2023

by Vanessa Romo

The De Winton's golden mole was last spotted in 1936. But with the help of a mole-sniffing dog and new environmental DNA analysis, researchers are taking it off the most wanted lost species list.

People likely aren't adapted to care for newborn babies alone, new study suggests

5:57pm November 29, 2023

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Allo parenting, in which non-biologic parents serve as a child's caregiver, is common in many parts of the world. Mothers have help provided by several others, including neighbors and older siblings.

Queue Listen Now

A woman breastfeeds her child at a camp for displaced people in Somalia, where climate change is fueling severe drought.

Climate funding is in short supply. So some want to rework the financial system

5:00am November 28, 2023

by Michael Copley

Efforts to boost climate financing have moved beyond national pledges. Now the focus is on overhauling organizations like the World Bank and providing countries debt relief.

A woman stands in front of a store in Seoul in 2012.

Why are sales so hard to resist? Let's unravel this Black Friday mystery

5:00am November 24, 2023

by Alina Selyukh

The human brain has to really fight the lure of a discount. Companies know this and use many tricks to push our buttons. But there's a way to outsmart them.

Two brain circuits help determine whether there's too little salt, or too much.

Salty much? These brain cells decide when tasty becomes blech

5:00am November 23, 2023

by Jon Hamilton

Scientists say two separate brain circuits control how much salt we consume.

Queue Listen Now

New research finds that a common microbe may be directly causing itchiness on the skin it colonizes.

What can trigger an itch? Scientists have found a new culprit

11:09am November 22, 2023

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

This itchy microbe really touches a nerve. A common skin bacterium can directly interact with a nerve cell to trigger an itch, new study shows, suggesting possible new therapies for itchy conditions.

Mendoza hopes his experiment contributes to further research on the topic.

Science

Can we grow veggies on Mars? Fly larvae and synthetic soil may hold the answer

10:18am November 22, 2023

by Mallory Yu

A Texas undergrad is investigating how to grow vegetables on Mars — and has cultivated test samples of English peas in simulated Martian soil, with fertilizer from fly larvae.

Queue Listen Now

Members of the Bengaluru Solidarity Group in Support of the Bhopal Struggle take part in a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster in Bangalore on December 2, 2014.

The world's worst industrial disaster harmed people even before they were born

9:28am November 22, 2023

by Rhitu Chatterjee

The 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India, killed thousands. New research finds babies born to mothers who were pregnant at the time have suffered long-term impacts worse than those directly exposed.

Queue Listen Now

How scientists are trying to save the insects that make life possible

6:12pm November 21, 2023

by Teresa Homsi

There are more than a million insect species, but entomologists say they're declining at alarming rates. Scientists are trying to determine how to save these tiny creatures that prop up life on Earth.

Queue Listen Now