Humans

Sexual transmission of Zika virus has happened, scientists say, but it appears to be rare.

What We Know So Far About Sexual Transmission Of Zika Virus

11:48am February 03, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

The CDC reported the first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus in the U.S. related to the current outbreak. It's happened before. Here's what we know about how the virus could move between people.

The Science Of Getting Kids Organized

10:04pm February 02, 2016

by Karen Brown

Can teaching kids impulse control, self-evaluation and focus actually help them do better in school? Parents are paying top dollar for executive function coaches.

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Phosphorus Starts With Pee In This Tale Of Scientific Serendipity

5:28pm February 02, 2016

by Adam Cole

German alchemist Hennig Brand started with about 1,500 gallons of urine in his 17th century hunt for gold. Discovering phosphorus was just a nice surprise. Know a modern tale of scientific luck?

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British Scientists Gain Approval To Edit DNA In Human Embryos

4:34pm February 01, 2016

by Rob Stein

British regulators are giving scientists the first government sanction to edit DNA in human embryos. Scientists want to do this to learn more about human development, but critics fear it will lead to designer babies.

Kathy Niakan is leading the Francis Crick Institute research team that applied for permission to edit genes in human embryos.

U.K. Regulator Gives Go-Ahead For Scientists To Edit Genes In Human Embryos

12:44pm February 01, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

The researchers want to study the first few days of an embryo's development. They must now seek approval from an ethics committee in the United Kingdom.

How Scientists Are Working To Eradicate Zika Mosquitoes

10:29am January 30, 2016

Can the spread of the Zika virus be curtailed by eliminating mosquitoes that carry it? Professor Anthony James of UC Irvine discusses the consequences of pesticides to our health and on the ecosystem.

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Project Nourished's virtual eating gizmos. From left: An atomizer that releases the scents of a food; a virtual reality headset; a a device that mimics the chewing sounds transmitted from a diner's mouth to their ear drums; a cocktail glass with built-in

Science
Arts

We Sampled The Gastronomic Frontier Of Virtual Reality

7:25pm January 29, 2016

by Noah Nelson

Project Nourished uses a variety of tricks to fool the mind into thinking it's eating. The goal: to let us consume our favorite tastes without unwanted extras — like food allergens or just calories.

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C4 proteins (green) are seen at the synapses in a culture of human neurons. (Heather de Rivera/McCarroll Lab/Harvard via AP)

Variations In A Gene Provide Clues About Schizophrenia

5:46pm January 29, 2016

by Katherine Harmon Courage

Scientists studied the genomes of more than 64,000 people and found that those with the debilitating psychiatric disease were much more likely to possess mutations of a particular gene.

Science

Why Do Humans Have Chins? A Scientist Explains The 'Enduring Puzzle'

5:37pm January 29, 2016

James Pampush devoted five years and his Ph.D. dissertation to one question: Why do homo sapiens have chins, when all of our evolutionary relatives don't? He tells NPR's Robert Siegel about "the enduring puzzle of the human chin."

What Do You Want To Do Before You Die?

10:01am January 29, 2016

by NPR/TED Staff

Artist Candy Chang turned an abandoned house into a giant chalkboard with the prompt: "Before I die I want to ____." Her neighbors' answers described the aspirations of their community.

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