Research News

NPR Analysis Of COVID-19 Deaths At New York Nursing Homes

6:34am April 21, 2020

by Joseph Shapiro

There's one thing that distinguishes the nursing homes that have reported the highest number of deaths: It's not the quality of the nursing home, but the percentage of people of color who live there.

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Study Links Racial Prejudices And Disease Outbreaks

5:53pm April 20, 2020

by Shankar Vedantam

How might a pandemic affect racial prejudice? A new study finds that living in a region with higher infectious disease rates is linked to greater racial prejudice.

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Mammoth Biosciences and researchers at the University of California, San Francisco are working on a coronavirus test that could run multiple samples at once, with results in 35-40 minutes. Even better, they say, it doesn't require the sophisticated, expen

CRISPR And Spit Might Be Keys To Faster, Cheaper, Easier Tests For The Coronavirus

4:45pm April 17, 2020

by Joe Palca

Researchers are racing to develop quick, home-based tests for the virus that could deliver test results in minutes. None do that yet, but several under development hold promise, scientists say.

Scientists Try To Speed COVID-19 Vaccine Development

6:22am April 17, 2020

by Joe Palca

A year to develop a COVID-19 vaccine may seem like a long time, but it typically takes longer. We examine how vaccines are developed, and how researchers are trying to speed things up.

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With research projects on hold due to social distancing guidelines, scientists are being forced to decide what to do with the creatures that they study. Above, a Chilean rose tarantula on display at an exhibition in Hannover, Germany on Nov. 23, 2019.

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Bring Home The Tarantulas? As Research Halts, Scientists Face Difficult Decisions

2:16pm April 15, 2020

by Apoorva Mittal

With research projects on hold due to social distancing guidelines, many scientists are being forced to decide what to do with the creatures that they study.

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Creatures Large And Small Are Stuck In Labs After Coronavirus Pauses Research

8:43pm April 14, 2020

Some scientists and researchers are forced to decide the fates of their study subjects — like spiders, sunflower plants and fish — amid the coronavirus lockdown.

People, some wearing masks, walk down a street in the Corona neighborhood of Queens in New York on Tuesday.

New Survey Highlights Racial Disparities In The Coronavirus Pandemic

5:48pm April 14, 2020

by Hannah Hagemann

People of color and lower-income populations are more concerned about contracting coronavirus and spreading it unknowingly to others.

How Antibody Tests Can Inform Public Policies To Mitigate Coronavirus Pandemic

1:20pm April 12, 2020

Stanford is testing for coronavirus antibodies so they can determine who has been exposed and who could potentially go back to school or work. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks to Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

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When you listen to a story, your brain waves actually start to synchronize with those of the storyteller. And reading a narrative activates brain regions involved in deciphering or imagining a person's motives and perspective, research has found.

How Stories Connect And Persuade Us: Unleashing The Brain Power Of Narrative

8:49pm April 11, 2020

by Elena Renken

The power of shared storytelling to soothe or spur us to action may be more crucial than ever, scientists say. Here's what happens in the brain when we feel swept away by a story, book or film.

A Tiger Has Coronavirus. Should You Worry About Your Pets?

10:27pm April 06, 2020

by Laurel Wamsley

Four tigers and three lions at the Bronx Zoo all had one of the symptoms of a respiratory infection: a dry cough. What does this finding mean for cats and dogs?