Science

Sweltering heat gripped Australia this week.

Australia's Heat Wave Is Taking A Toll On People, Animals, Infrastructure And Land

8:36pm January 25, 2019

by Sasha Ingber

As temperatures break records, Australians are suffering from heat-related illnesses, power has been cut to preserve supplies, and more than 90 horses were found dead in a dried reservoir.

Steep Climb In Benzodiazepine Prescribing By Primary Care Doctors

6:40pm January 25, 2019

by Rhitu Chatterjee

U.S. prescriptions for Valium, Ativan and other benzodiazepines have shot up since 2003, statistics show, especially for chronic pain. Roughly half those prescriptions are from primary care providers.

Skeletal muscle cells from a rabbit were stained with fluorescent markers to highlight cell nuclei (blue) and proteins in the cytoskeleton (red and green).

Muscles May Preserve A Shortcut To Restore Lost Strength

6:15pm January 25, 2019

by Jonathan Lambert

Muscle cells may retain nuclei that helped them grow strong, even after muscles shrink from lack of use. This provocative contentious idea could have implications for public health and sports.

Chronic pain is just one health concern women can struggle with after giving birth. Some who have complicated pregnancies or deliveries can experience long-lasting effects to their physical and mental health, researchers find.

'4th Trimester' Problems Can Have Long-Term Effects On A Mom's Health

5:50pm January 24, 2019

by Lauren Bavis

A woman's health issues related to pregnancy don't always end at the baby's birth. Scientists say complications from childbirth, such as hypertension or diabetes, increase her risk of heart disease.

As a child on a New York farm, Eben Bayer helped his dad shovel wood chips in the barn. That's where he noticed a stretchy web of fungus that became the basis of his biodegradable packing material.

Science

VIDEO: Inventor Inspired By Childhood Memories Of Fungus

10:51am January 24, 2019

by Joe Palca

As a child on a New York farm, Eben Bayer helped his dad shovel wood chips in the barn. That's where he noticed a stretchy web of fungus that became the basis of his biodegradable packing material.

Biologists Test Promising Treatments For Bats Threatened By Fungal Disease

6:13pm January 22, 2019

by Jacqueline Froelich

A fungal disease called white-nose syndrome has killed millions of North American cave-dwelling bats over the past decade. Now, scientists are field testing some promising treatments.

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A home burns during the Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif., in November 2018. It was one of several fires often discussed in terms of the changing climate. A new survey shows a jump in the number of Americans who are "very worried" about global warming.

Concern About Global Warming Among Americans Spikes, Report Says

4:08pm January 22, 2019

by Ian Stewart

The proportion of those polled who say global warming is "personally important" to them jumped from 63 to 72 percent last year.

Science

Why Did So Many Americans Trust Russian Hackers' Election Propaganda?

3:57pm January 22, 2019

by Shankar Vedantam

Investigations of Russian influence on the 2016 election have tended to focus on the role of social media. Researchers are also exploring the psychological vulnerability that hackers exploited.

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China Says Claim Of Gene-Edited Babies 'Seriously Violated' Regulations

5:43pm January 21, 2019

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Associated Press reporter Marilynn Marchione about the Chinese government's investigation into He Jiankui, who claims he created the world's first gene-edited babies.

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Science
Arts

Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. On DNA Testing And Finding His Own Roots

1:58pm January 21, 2019

by Terry Gross

As host of the PBS series Finding Your Roots, Gates tells celebrities about their family history. He reflects on his own history and some of the more controversial aspects of DNA testing.

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