Humans

Camas Davis is the founder of the Portland Meat Collective. "Because I now am involved in the processes that get that meat to my table, I just understand the value of it," she says.

Food Writer Becomes A Butcher To Better Understand The Value Of Meat

2:38pm July 24, 2018

by Terry Gross

Camas Davis wanted to learn about conscientious farming, slaughtering and eating, so she moved to France and became an apprentice at a small, family-run slaughterhouse. Her memoir is Killing it.

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This ancient piece of bread, more than 14,000 years old, is changing what archaeologists thought they knew about the history of food and agriculture.

Science

14,000-Year-Old Piece Of Bread Rewrites The History Of Baking And Farming

1:41pm July 24, 2018

by Lina Zeldovich

Breadcrumbs found at an excavation in Jordan reveal that humans were baking thousands of years earlier than previously believed. It may have even prompted them to settle down and plant cereals.

Waste engineer Jenna Jambeck of the University of Georgia surveys plastic waste in a southeast Asian village, where it will be recycled to make raw material for more plastic products. Jambeck advises Asian governments on how to keep plastic trash out of w

We're Drowning In Plastic Trash. Jenna Jambeck Wants To Save Us

10:39am July 24, 2018

by Christopher Joyce

The engineer views a landfill as a living ecosystem, and the plastic that clogs it as a serious threat that crowds out life and never goes away. Can we eliminate the waste before it smothers us?

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Having more than one child is associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's, research finds, as is starting menstruation earlier in life than average and menopause later.

Hormone Levels Likely Influence A Woman's Risk Of Alzheimer's, But How?

5:32pm July 23, 2018

by Jon Hamilton

Scientists are taking a second look at the idea that hormone replacement therapy could reduce a woman's risk of dementia. New research suggests the key may be in giving it at the right time.

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Describing how pain affects your daily activities may be more effective than the standard pain scale.

Words Matter When Talking About Pain With Your Doctor

11:59am July 23, 2018

by Patti Neighmond

When you go to the doctor in pain, you'll probably be asked to rate your discomfort on a scale of 0 to 10. But doctors say there may be a better way to assess pain.

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Jose and Elaine Belardo's lives were upended last year when he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

How Soon Is Soon Enough To Learn You Have Alzheimer's?

5:12pm July 22, 2018

by Alex Smith

Only about half the people with Alzheimer's symptoms get a diagnosis, partly out of fear of an incurable decline, doctors suspect. But Jose Bolardo says facing the future allows him to plan for it.

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Sleep Scientist Warns Against Walking Through Life 'In An Underslept State'

1:53pm July 20, 2018

by Terry Gross

"Human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent gain," says sleep scientist Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep. Originally broadcast Oct. 17, 2017.

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A pharmacy technician prepares syringes containing an injectable anesthetic in the sterile medicines area of the inpatient pharmacy at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Doctors Raise Alarm About Shortages Of Pain Medications

12:46pm July 20, 2018

by Wade Goodwyn

A survey of anesthesiologists found that 95 percent say it is impacting patient care. Surgeons, emergency medicine physicians, intensive care unit doctors are also impacted.

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Science

Archaeologists Find 14,500-Year-Old Bread

5:09am July 18, 2018

Archaeologists in Jordan's Black Desert found the burnt remains of bread, baked more than 14,000 years ago. It proves people were making bread far earlier than originally known.

UCLA researchers are using a radioactive tracer, which binds to abnormal proteins in the brain, to see if it is possible to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy in living patients. Warmer colors in these PET scans indicate higher concentrations of th

Scientists Hunt For A Test To Diagnose Chronic Brain Injury In Living People

4:04pm July 17, 2018

by Tom Goldman

Doctors are closer to a test in live brains that could help diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease that's been linked to concussions and other repeated brain assaults.