Humans

You don't have to be outdoors to be hurt or injured by a nearby lightning strike, like this one in New Mexico. The pain for survivors can be lifelong.

'When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors' To Best Avoid Lightning's Pain

10:19am July 20, 2015

by Jeff Brady

Deaths in the U.S. from lightning strikes are up in 2015, compared with recent years. A convertible won't save you. Get inside at the first rumble of thunder, and stay away from plugged-in appliances.

Queue Listen Now

Greg O'Brien and his wife are finding it more difficult to drive to and from their family's secluded house on Cape Cod. As they move out and move on, O'Brien has discovered a bittersweet trove of memories.

When Losing Memory Means Losing Home

6:33pm July 18, 2015

by Rebecca Hersher

As his Alzheimer's progresses, journalist Greg O'Brien and his wife have decided it's time to leave the home where they raised their three kids. The move is turning up some sweet discoveries.

Queue Listen Now

Why We Play Sports: Winning Motivates, But Can Backfire, Too

5:08pm July 17, 2015

by Patti Neighmond

How we view winning and losing may help shape whether we play sports as adults, some psychologists say. In NPR's recent poll, 56 percent of adults who play sports say winning is important to them.

Queue Listen Now

Pamela Moore/iStockphoto/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Webcast: Sports And Health In America

3:05pm July 17, 2015

What are the obstacles that keep adults off the field? How can sports help keep kids and adults in good health? What are the best ways to encourage more widespread and enduring participation?

"When you put a limitation on resources, you remove the limitation on creativity because necessity is the mother of invention."--Navi Radjou

Can Limited Resources Lead To Better Innovation?

12:59pm July 17, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Navi Radjou has spent years studying "jugaad," also known as frugal innovation. While researching emerging markets, he realized that creativity might be the most precious renewable resource.

Queue Listen Now

"Our degree of oil dependency is our degree of vulnerability."--Rob Hopkins

What Can A Small Town In England Teach Us About Resilience?

9:30am July 17, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Community organizer Rob Hopkins argues that individuals, towns and communities have a large role to play in lowering our dependence on fossil fuels.

Queue Listen Now

"There's a saying in Suriname that I dearly love: 'The rainforests hold answers to questions we have yet to ask.' But as you all know, it's rapidly disappearing."--Mark Plotkin

What's Disappearing From the Amazon — Even Faster Than Wildlife?

9:30am July 17, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

The isolated tribes of the Amazon are getting dispersed or dying out. Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin describes what we'll lose if their culture and collective wisdom vanish with them.

Queue Listen Now

"What has happened in the last ten years, has been a remarkable increase in actual number of people who are dying or are not able to get better because they carry a resistant infection."--Ramanan Laxminarayan

How Did A Medical Miracle Turn Into A Global Threat?

9:30am July 17, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Antibiotics save lives, but we rely on them too much. Eventually, the drugs may stop working. Economist Ramanan Laxminarayan asks us to think twice before reaching for this double-edged resource.

Queue Listen Now

"We've under-priced water, we've over-exploited it, we don't regulate how people pump groundwater out of the ground.... we just use too much."--Jonathan Foley

Will Our Demand For Food Threaten Our Supply of Water?

9:30am July 17, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Ecologist Jon Foley says agriculture is the "most powerful force unleashed on this planet since the end of the ice age." He says we're using too much to irrigate and we have to rethink how we farm.

Queue Listen Now

When Weed Is The Cure: A Doctor's Case for Medical Marijuana

11:25am July 15, 2015

Dr. David Casarett used to think of medical marijuana as "a joke." But after taking a deeper look, he's changed his mind. Casarett's new book is Stoned: A Doctor's Case for Medical Marijuana.

Queue Listen Now