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Science

Researchers study London cab drivers' brains to learn more about Alzheimer's

7:02am November 02, 2021

To get licensed, cabbies have to memorize thousands of streets and know how to get to them without a GPS. MRI scans show that the part of the brain that handles memory has grown in London cab drivers.

A dry landscape pictured on Navajo Nation lands on in the town of Gallup, New Mexico in June 2019. New research says the near-total loss of tribal lands in the U.S. has left Indigenous people more vulnerable to climate change.

How loss of historical lands makes Native Americans more vulnerable to climate change

7:00am November 02, 2021

by Rachel Treisman

Indigenous nations across the U.S. lost nearly 99% of their historical land base over time, new research shows. What little land they have left is especially vulnerable to climate change risks.

Science

Female California condors reproduce without males for the first time

7:57am October 31, 2021

Genetic testing has revealed that some female California condors have been able to reproduce asexually.

Ari Blank got a comforting hand-squeeze from his mom in May as he was vaccinated against COVID-19 in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. This week, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of Pfizer's vaccine in even younger kids — ages 5 to 11.

FDA authorizes use of Pfizer's COVID vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds

5:54pm October 29, 2021

by Joe Neel

The agency acted after an independent panel of scientists strongly supported the move. Kids could start getting vaccinated within the week.

In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower on Aug. 10, 2021, in Spruce Knob, West Virginia.

Science

Scientists may have found a planet outside of the Milky Way galaxy for the first time

12:17pm October 26, 2021

by Sharon Pruitt-Young

While researchers have found more than 4,000 planets in our own galaxy, this is the first time anyone has found what could be a planet that exists outside the Milky Way.

Los Angeles International Airport and SoFi Stadium employers spoke with potential job applicants at a job fair in Inglewood, Calif., in September. About 19% of all households in an NPR poll say they lost all their savings during the COVID-19 outbreak, and

Black and Latino families continue to bear pandemic's great economic toll in U.S.

5:06pm October 25, 2021

by Laurel Wamsley

A new poll finds more than 55% of Black and Latino households have faced serious financial problems in recent months. And more than a quarter have depleted their savings.

Former science teacher Berna Gómez played a pivotal role in new research on restoring some sight to blind people. She is named as a co-author of the study that was published this week.

Science

Scientists used a tiny brain implant to help a blind teacher see letters again

3:34pm October 23, 2021

by Bill Chappell

A former science teacher who's been blind for 16 years became able to see letters, discern objects' edges — and even play a Maggie Simpson video game.

Canada, Newfoundland, L'anse Aux Meadows Nhp, Replicas Of Norse Houses From 1000 Years Ago.

Science

Researchers pinpoint when the Vikings came to Canada. It was exactly 1,000 years ago

10:20am October 21, 2021

It has long been known that the Vikings arrived in the Americas sometime before Christopher Columbus. Now, a new article in the journal Nature concludes the exact year was 1021.

Erica Cuellar, her husband and her daughter moved in with her father in his home early in the pandemic, after she lost her job. She and her husband were worried they wouldn't be able to afford the rent on their house in Houston with only one income. In Ju

Why helping people pay rent can fight the pandemic

5:00am October 21, 2021

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

A family in Houston and a plumber in Maryland couldn't afford rent, which pushed them into crowded living quarters. During the COVID-19 pandemic, that common predicament has increased viral spread.

Science

The dinosaur extinction led to lots of new mammals and birds — and snakes to eat them

5:43pm October 14, 2021

After the dinosaurs disappeared, the world saw an explosion of birds and mammals. But a study suggests a burst of new snakes appeared, too, with diets to match the newly expanding array of animals.