Humans

In 1962, a local leader in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea asks Fore men to stop the sorcery that he believes is killing women and children.

When People Ate People, A Strange Disease Emerged

4:50pm September 06, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

For decades, a rare disease crawled across Papua New Guinea. When scientists realized what was behind kuru, it caught everyone by surprise. But similar diseases can still be transmitted through food.

Alex Longo makes a pitch at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, in October 2015. The Institute sponsored the conference to pick a landing site for the first human landing on Mars. Long has proposed a site for a different mission — a rov

A Teen Might Pick The Landing Site For NASA's Next Mars Rover

9:00am September 04, 2016

by Joe Palca

Alex Longo hopes to be the first person to walk on Mars. In the meantime, the Raleigh, N.C., sophomore has suggested a landing site for the next rover mission. His pick is one of four finalists.

Books
Arts

'The Art Of Waiting' Stands As Part Memoir, Part Cultural History Of Infertility

9:00am September 04, 2016

Author Belle Boggs struggled with infertility for years before she conceived her daughter. She talks with NPR's Rachel Martin about her new book.

How A Baseball Batter's Brain Reacts To A Fast Pitch

9:07am September 03, 2016

NPR's Scott Simon talks with neurophysiologist Jason Sherwin about his research into how a baseball batter processes an incoming fastball.

POLL: Most Americans Want Congress To Make Zika Funding A High Priority

5:07am September 01, 2016

by Alison Kodjak

That's what 76 percent said in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey. Half the respondents also said they'd be uncomfortable traveling to places in Florida where mosquitoes are spreading Zika.

Science

Don't Be A Slowpoke: Why Left Lane Driving Causes Traffic

6:31pm August 31, 2016

If you've ever yelled at a slowpoke blocking your way on the left lane of a crowded highway, your anger is now justified.

Queue Listen Now

Experimental drugs that clear clumps of proteins from the brains of Alzheimer's patients haven't panned out yet.

Test Of Experimental Alzheimer's Drug Finds Progress Against Brain Plaques

6:31pm August 31, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

Researchers have failed repeatedly in their efforts to slow or halt Alzheimer's disease. But there are hints that an experimental drug can do what previous medicines could not.

Queue Listen Now

This year the U.S. Forest Service is only issuing personal-use permits in Montana's national forests.

Banned From National Forest, For-Profit Mushroom Pickers Go Underground

12:03pm August 31, 2016

by Nicky Ouellet

Last year's forest fires have produced a bumper crop of coveted morel mushrooms in Montana's northwestern forests. But the Forest Service isn't issuing commercial licenses in some prime picking spots.

Queue Listen Now

A microscope image, magnified 600 times, of the bacteria that cause the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea.

Gonorrhea Is Becoming Untreatable, U.N. Health Officials Warn

5:52pm August 30, 2016

by Rebecca Hersher

The World Health Organization released new treatment guidelines that acknowledge an entire class of antibiotics is now all but useless against the sexually transmitted disease.

World News

1 Day, 40 Boats, Thousands Of People Rescued Trying To Get To Europe

3:30pm August 30, 2016

by Rebecca Hersher

In 24 hours, the Italian navy and aid groups rescued 6,500 people from wooden and rubber boats off the coast of Libya. The migrants did not have enough fuel to reach Europe.