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Encore: Babies and toddlers know that swapping saliva is a sure sign of love

7:38am April 15, 2022

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

A study suggests babies are aware that people who are willing to share saliva, through kissing or sharing spoons, have especially close relationships. (Story aired on ATC on Jan. 20, 2022.)

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A pack of wolves in Yellowstone National Park are spotted from a wildlife tracking plane

A record number of Yellowstone wolves have been killed. Conservationists are worried

11:34am April 13, 2022

by Nick Mott

States neighboring Yellowstone National Park have eased rules on hunting wolves, resulting in the most being killed in nearly a century

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The 405 Freeway is packed with rush-hour traffic last month in Los Angeles. Americans' greatest contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions comes from transportation, mostly from cars and trucks, according to the federal government.

How much energy powers a good life? Less than you're using, says a new report

1:32pm April 12, 2022

by Laura Benshoff

Americans use nearly four times the energy researchers say is needed to live a happy, healthy and prosperous life.

Science

Charles Darwin's notebooks return to Cambridge after being missing for 20 years

8:29am April 10, 2022

by Ayesha Rascoe

Last month, two of Charles Darwin's notebooks that had been missing from the Cambridge University Library for 20 years were returned.

Farmland is seen with standard solar panels from Cypress Creek Renewables, Oct. 28, 2021, in Thurmont, Md.

Solar panels that can generate electricity at night have been developed at Stanford

10:25am April 07, 2022

by Rina Torchinsky

While standard solar panels can provide electricity during the day, this device can be a "continuous renewable power source" during the day and at night.

Scientists have analyzed a huge number of brain scans to learn more about how the brain develops, from infancy all the way until the end of life.

Scans reveal the brain's early growth, late decline and surprising variability

7:42am April 07, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

A study of more than 120,000 brain scans shows rapid growth before age 2 and accelerating decline after age 50. The results may one day help pick up abnormalities in the developing brain.

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Science

A new study suggests that mushrooms can communicate

6:06am April 07, 2022

A scientist at the University of the West of England inserted electrodes into four species of fungi, and discovered that the mushrooms seem to use electrical impulses to communicate internally.

Plastic debris is washed up at Depoe Bay, Ore., on Jan. 19, 2020.

For the first time, researchers find microplastics deep in the lungs of living people

3:03pm April 06, 2022

by Rina Torchinsky

Tiny plastic debris — some so small you can't see it — has previously been found in human blood, excrement and in the depths of the ocean.

To study emotions in animals, scientists need to look beneath feelings to the brain states that produce certain behaviors.

In jumpy flies and fiery mice, scientists see the roots of human emotions

5:11am April 06, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

Scientists are trying to understand PTSD and other human disorders by studying emotion-related brain circuits in animals, which research suggests may have a lot in common with the human brain.

Just one night's sleep with artificial light streaming into your bedroom — from a TV, streetlight, or one of many electronics — could have an impact on cardiovascular and metabolic health, according to new research.

Sleeping with even a little bit of light isn't good for your health, study shows

10:17am April 01, 2022

by Will Stone

Just a night or two of exposure to faint light is enough to raise your pulse and increase insulin resistance — factors that increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes, researchers find.