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Clint Smith: What Do We Risk If We Don't Speak Up?

8:59am April 07, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

Clint Smith is a poet and doctoral candidate at Harvard. As a high school English teacher, he taught his students the dangers of staying quiet and the importance of finding their voice.

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Archaeologists have suggested that Stone Age people sometimes ate one another for nutritional reasons. But a new study suggests that from a calorie perspective, hunting and eating other humans wasn't efficient.

Bison Or Brian? From A Calorie Perspective, Cannibalism Didn't Pay For Paleo Humans

4:52pm April 06, 2017

by Angus Chen

Archaeological records show ancient humans sometimes ate each other. A new study suggests that hunting and eating other humans cost too much effort to be a regular thing. So why'd they do it?

Competition for scarce funding and tenure may be prompting some scientists to cut corners.

How Flawed Science Is Undermining Good Medicine

9:21am April 06, 2017

U.S. taxpayers pay $30 billion a year to fund biomedical research aimed at finding better treatments. But competition for scarce funding and tenure may be prompting some scientists to cut corners.

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Coalition forces fire a Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle during a training exercise in Afghanistan's Helmand province in 2013.

Do U.S. Troops Risk Brain Injury When They Fire Heavy Weapons?

8:11am April 05, 2017

by Jon Hamilton

Some modern shoulder-fired weapons produce blast waves powerful enough to rattle the brain. A $30 million study aims to help the military figure out how much blast exposure, over time, is too much.

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Using surrogate endpoints can speed up testing of new drugs, but doesn't always find out if they actually help patients.

Taking Shortcuts In Drug Testing Can Put Patients At Risk

2:36pm April 04, 2017

Researchers use intermediate endpoints like how a drug lowers cholesterol to get a quick sense of whether the drug might improve health. But those shortcuts often don't show true benefits and harms.

Molecules in wine stimulate thousands of taste and odor receptors, sending a flavor signal to the brain that triggers massive cognitive computation involving pattern recognition, memory, value judgment, emotion and, of course, pleasure.

The Taste Of Wine Isn't All In Your Head, But Your Brain Sure Helps

3:17pm April 03, 2017

by Mark Schatzker

Savoring the flavor of wine activates more gray matter than solving a complex math problem, according to neuroscientist Gordon Shepherd. His new book, Neurenology, explores your brain on wine.

A well-regarded intensive care doctor in Virginia says he has had good success in treating 150 sepsis patients with a mix of IV corticosteroids, vitamin C and vitamin B, along with careful management of fluids. Other doctors want more proof — the sort t

Why The Newly Proposed Sepsis Treatment Needs More Study

8:14pm March 30, 2017

by Richard Harris

The bodywide inflammation known as sepsis kills about 300,000 people in U.S. hospitals each year. Promising treatments have come and gone, warn skeptical doctors, who call for rigorous research.

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Indrani Das, an Indian-American, took home this year's top high school science prize, the Regeneron Student Talent Search.

A Surprising Explanation For Why Some Immigrants Excel In Science

10:55am March 30, 2017

by Anya Kamenetz

It has to do with language learning, according to a new study from Duke University.

Pesticide warning sign in an orange grove. The sign, in English and Spanish, warns that the pesticide chlorpyrifos, or Lorsban, has been applied to these orange trees.

EPA Decides Not To Ban A Pesticide, Despite Its Own Evidence Of Risk

10:35pm March 29, 2017

by Dan Charles

New EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has decided not to ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide widely used on produce. That's despite evidence previously compiled by EPA showing it could pose risks to consumers.

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Vials of the HPV vaccination drug Gardasil. Doctors and public health experts say the new version of the vaccine could protect more people against cancer.

HPV Vaccine Could Protect More People With Fewer Doses, Doctors Insist

10:21am March 29, 2017

by Michelle Andrews

In the U.S., there are about 39,000 cancers associated with the human papillomavirus each year. Doctors say the new HPV vaccine may help reduce the number of cases.