Humans

Mowing the lawn can be good exercise, and is fun for some people. But others who find themselves squeezed for time might find the luxury of paying someone else to do it to be of much more value than buying more stuff.

Need A Happiness Boost? Spend Your Money To Buy Time, Not More Stuff

11:10am August 28, 2017

by Allison Aubrey

A recent study suggests that when people spend their extra cash to get help with time-consuming chores, they're likelier to feel better than if they use the money to buy more things.

Queue Listen Now

People walk through the flooded waters of Telephone Rd. in Houston as the fourth largest city in the U.S. battles Tropical Storm Harvey and resulting floods.

Texans Lend A Helping Hand As Floods Continue Across The State

9:01pm August 27, 2017

by Wynne Davis

As the flooding covers the southeast portion of the state, not all the news there is bad. Many Texans are assisting through search and rescue efforts. Louisianans are also answering rescue calls.

Researchers aren't sure why strong relationships in adolescence seem to pay dividends later in life, but one hypothesis is that those bonds act as a buffer against depression and insults.

Having A Best Friend In Your Teenage Years Could Benefit You For Life

3:53pm August 26, 2017

by Angus Chen

Researchers have found that people with deep friendships in adolescence had less anxiety and a greater sense of self-worth in early adulthood. Close friends matter, their study found.

Code Switch is tackling your trickiest questions about race.

National

Ask Code Switch: 'Since You're Black, You Must Be ... '

6:00am August 26, 2017

by Leah Donnella

This week, we answer a question from a multiracial reader who looks black but feels Filipino. Let's get into it.

Vials of medicine. The new book Pandora's Lab details instances of "science gone wrong."

Science 'Gone Wrong' Can Teach Us

2:53pm August 25, 2017

by Alva Noë

Pandora's Lab stresses that for science to work, it needs to base claims on data, studies need to be replicable, and scientists must be more attached to science than to their own ideas, says Alva Noë.

Taylor Porco was just 14 years old when her brother, Jordan, died by suicide during his freshman year of college.

After A Suicide, Sibling Survivors Are Often Overlooked

12:48pm August 25, 2017

by Cheryl Platzman Weinstock

Recent studies show that people who survive a brother or sister's suicide are at great risk of mood disorders and mental health problems, including thoughts of harming themselves.

We're all a confusing mixture of an array of impulses...our nature is to be context dependent on our behavior. - Robert Sapolsky

Robert Sapolsky: How Much Agency Do We Have Over Our Behavior?

9:13am August 25, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky says nearly all aspects of human behavior are explained by biology: from developments millions of years in the past to microscopic reactions happening in the present.

Queue Listen Now

Nadine Burke Harris: How Does Trauma Affect A Child's DNA?

9:13am August 25, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris found an unsettling trend when examining patients at her clinic: trauma. She found that adversity can change a child's biology and result in severe health outcomes.

Queue Listen Now

Brian Little: Are Human Personalities Hardwired?

9:13am August 25, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

Are you introverted or extroverted? It depends. When it comes to personality, psychologist Brian Little says we can actually act against our biology — especially if we pursue a "core life project."

Queue Listen Now

Moshe Szyf: How Do Our Experiences Rewire Our Brains And Bodies?

9:13am August 25, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

Many think genetic makeup is fixed from the moment we're born. But Moshe Szyf says this understanding is incomplete because our experiences and environment have the power to change our basic biology.

Queue Listen Now