Science

Youthful spinal fluid could help treat Alzheimer's disease, study suggests

5:13pm May 11, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

The memory of aging mice improved when they received a substance found in the spinal fluid of young animals and young people. The finding suggests a new approach to treating Alzheimer's disease.

Bill Gates discusses his new book, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, onstage in New York City. Gates announced Tuesday that he tested positive for COVID-19.

Bill Gates tests positive for COVID-19, says he's experiencing mild symptoms

8:02pm May 10, 2022

by Jonathan Franklin

The 66-year-old wrote in a tweet Tuesday that he is experiencing mild symptoms and is "following the experts' advice" by isolating himself until he's healthy.

Genetic testing is becoming more accessible — and it's raising difficult questions

4:45pm May 10, 2022

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with two bioethicists about the ethics of and access to genetic testing, and the power of knowing one's genetic makeup.

More than 19,000 homicides in 2020 involved a firearm — an increase of nearly 5,000 from 2019.

Firearm-related homicide rate skyrockets amid stresses of the pandemic, the CDC says

4:28pm May 10, 2022

The rate of U.S. gun homicides jumped nearly 35% in 2020 to the highest level in more than 25 years. And gaps widened for groups already at the highest risk, especially Black men and boys.

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Dmytriy Omelyanov is working with a fellow student on a project involving cockroaches. They will be competing in the science fair virtually from Ukraine.

Science

These Ukrainian students are competing virtually in an international science fair

12:12pm May 09, 2022

by Reena Advani

Students from Ukraine are among the finalists in this week's Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. They're researching topics from cancer treatments to cockroaches.

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Pews were marked off to encourage social distancing at a funeral home in Temple, Penn., in March of 2021, around the time the Delta variant began to take hold in the United States.

Few eligible families have sought federal payment of COVID funeral expenses

5:01am May 09, 2022

by Blake Farmer

FEMA has a pool of cash set aside to reimburse burial costs — even retroactively — to the families of COVID victims. But clerical challenges and slow outreach have stymied the application process.

In this photo made available by NASA, commercial crew astronauts, from left, European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, and NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron, pose for a photo in their Dragon spacesuits during a fit check a

SpaceX brings 4 astronauts home with midnight splashdown

1:08am May 06, 2022

by The Associated Press

The return of three Americans and one German marks the busiest period yet for Elon Musk's space taxi service.

Researchers estimate there are only about 10 vaquita porpoises still living in Mexico's Gulf of California.

Scientists say endangered porpoise isn't doomed — so long as humans stop killing them

2:19pm May 05, 2022

by Kendal Blust

Fishing in the Gulf of California has nearly wiped out the vaquita marina. But a new genetic analysis offers hope for the engandered porpoise: the species can make a comeback, if humans protect it.

New research could prompt schools to reexamine their investment in Reading Recovery, one of the world's most widely used reading intervention programs.

A popular program for teaching kids to read just took another hit to its credibility

2:00pm May 05, 2022

Reading Recovery is one of the world's most widely used reading intervention programs for young children. A new study questions its long-term impact.

Charles Johnson wears a button with a picture of his wife, Kira, during a press conference announcing a lawsuit outside Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Wednesday in Los Angeles. Kira Johnson died at the hospital in 2016 from complications after giving birth

Lawsuit says a Black patient bled to death because of a hospital's culture of racism

10:14am May 05, 2022

by The Associated Press

The husband of a Black woman who died hours after childbirth in 2016 has sued Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, saying she bled to death because of a culture of racism at the renowned hospital.