Research News

Millions of people use Wikipedia for medical advice, but what they find there isn't always accurate.

Should I Trust Wikipedia With My Health?

11:16am November 08, 2016

Some doctors lambaste Wikipedia for errors in its medical pages. But there are many physicians, science teachers and researchers working overtime to make the crowdsourced health content better.

Testing Begins On An Experimental Zika Vaccine With Inactivated Virus

5:08pm November 07, 2016

by Richard Harris

Scientists are racing to create a vaccine. The latest effort being tested uses inactivated virus, a technique that has been used successfully to fight other diseases, and human volunteers.

Julia Galef explains why we think we're right, even when the facts say otherwise.

Are We Wrong To Think We're Right?

10:38am November 04, 2016

by NPR/TED Staff

Our biases lead us to amend the facts. Writer Julia Galef explains how we can have better judgement by developing more empathy and testing our own beliefs.

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Research findings support the idea that later school start times could help teens learn.

Teen Night Owls Struggle To Learn And Control Emotions At School

9:13am November 03, 2016

by Rob Stein

Findings provide new evidence pushing back school start times, to let adolescents sleep and wake up when it's more natural, researchers say. It's going to bed late that creates problems.

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Virginijus Siksnys' large research team at the Vilnius University Institute of Biotechnology in Lithuania.

Science Rewards Eureka Moments, Except When It Doesn't

5:31pm November 02, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

An easier way to edit genes, called CRISPR-Cas9, is revolutionizing biomedical research. But as patents and big prizes hover, some contributors to the discovery aren't getting much credit.

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Early 20th Century Earthquakes May Have Been Caused By Calif. Oil Boom

6:07pm October 31, 2016

by Rebecca Hersher

A new study suggests a handful of earthquakes in the 1920s and 1930s were associated with increasingly deep and frequent drilling for oil near Los Angeles. Since then, drilling practices have changed.

300 Million Children Are Breathing 'Extremely Toxic' Air, UNICEF Says

3:24pm October 31, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

Altogether, some 2 billion children worldwide are breathing air that has been deemed a "long term hazard," a report finds. Pollution contributes to around 600,000 deaths annually of kids under age 5.

Science

The Social Science Research Behind Political Campaign Ads

7:25am October 28, 2016

by Shankar Vedantam

U.S. presidential candidates advertise in battleground states to increase voter turnout. But a new study says ads also have a big impact on campaign contributions.

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This Bird Can Remain Airborne For 10 Months Straight

6:51pm October 27, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

These birds fly from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa, but they don't touch down on the continent. Researchers say new findings raise questions about "when and to what extent swifts need to sleep."

Giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevada range can grow to be 250 feet tall — or more.

How Is A 1,600-Year-Old Tree Weathering California's Drought?

4:31pm October 27, 2016

by Christopher Joyce

Four years of too little water is killing millions of trees in the Sierra, yet some giant sequoias still thrive. Tree-climbing scientists are exploring sequoias branch by branch to find their secret.

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