Research News

KQED Deep Look delves into how the novel coronavirus attacks the lungs in this new video.

VIDEO: How The Novel Coronavirus Hijacks Our Defenses

4:19pm May 05, 2020

It's just a bit of genetic material wrapped in protein and fat. But the virus behind COVID-19 can wreak havoc deep inside human lungs when it triggers the immune system to go into overdrive.

Scientists In Arctic Prepare To Return To Society On Lockdown

7:08am May 05, 2020

by Molly Samuel

The Mosaic expedition is an international project to study the warming Arctic. For a year, scientists are taking turns living in an icebreaker, frozen alongside an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean.

Queue Listen Now

A copy of the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News sits in a newspaper box on a street corner in Denver, Colorado.

Science

Stop The Presses! Newspapers Affect Us, Often In Ways We Don't Realize

8:51pm April 30, 2020

On this week's radio show, we trace the history of fake news. Plus, in a time when accurate information is so important, we ask who ultimately bears the cost when no one wants to pay for local news.

Queue Listen Now

An illustration shows spiky antigens studding the virus's outer coat. Tests under development that look for these antigens might be faster than PCR tests for diagnosing COVID-19, proponents say. But the tests might still need PCR-test confirmation.

A Next-Generation Coronavirus Test Raises Hopes And Concerns

2:19pm April 30, 2020

by Rob Stein

An antigen test could be quick, and much simpler and cheaper than the PCR tests now used to spot people infected with the novel coronavirus. But some scientists worry about an antigen test's accuracy.

Queue Listen Now

NIH Ends Funding For U.S. Nonprofit's COVID-19 Research In China

6:54am April 29, 2020

by Aizenman

The National Institutes of Health has withdrawn funding from EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S.-based organization that researches emerging diseases including the coronavirus.

Queue Listen Now

News Brief: Economic Data, Meat Shortage Concerns, Research Funds Pulled

6:21am April 29, 2020

We get a measure of how much damage COVID-19 has done to the economy. President Trump orders meat processors to stay open. And, the government terminates funding for a coronavirus research project.

Queue Listen Now

A project in San Francisco to estimate spread of the coronavirus in hard-hit neighborhoods has expanded testing to everyone over age 4 in a broad swath of the Mission District this week, including at a pop-up site at Garfield Square.

San Francisco Enlists A Key Latino Neighborhood In Coronavirus Testing

4:43pm April 28, 2020

by Eric Westervelt

To get better data this week on a hard-hit community, the public health department and researchers are offering free testing for everyone over age 4 in a broad swath of the Mission District.

A pathologist holds a vial from a COVID-19 test kit. Various bottlenecks in the U.S. that have constrained widespread testing for the coronavirus were problems in February and persist today.

Why The Warning That Coronavirus Was On The Move In U.S. Cities Came So Late

10:38am April 24, 2020

by Lauren Sommer

U.S. health officials said equipping six cities with extra testing would pick up under-the-radar viral spread. But an NPR investigation finds conflicts and shortages caused painful delays.

Queue Listen Now

Fissure #21 of the Kilauea volcano is seen on May 22, 2018 in the Leilani Estates subdivision of Pahoa, Hawaii.

Science

Did Heavy Rain Cause Hawaii's Historic Volcanic Eruption?

8:29pm April 22, 2020

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Extreme rainfall might set off volcanoes that are ready to blow. A pair of scientists think that's what happened at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano in 2018, though some volcanologists are doubtful.

Queue Listen Now

People stand in line as they wait to get tested for COVID-19 at a just-opened testing center in the Harlem section of New York on Monday.

Study Raises Questions About False Negatives From Quick COVID-19 Test

11:33am April 21, 2020

by Rob Stein

New research suggests the Abbott ID NOW test, which produces results in less than 15 minutes, is the most likely among common tests to reassure people they are not infected when they really are.

Queue Listen Now