Science

Researchers have won a prize for discovering that a cow's genetics determine which microbes populate its gut. Some of those microbes produce the greenhouse gas methane that comes out of cow belches and farts and ends up in the atmosphere.

Gassy Cows Warm The Planet. Scientists Think They Know How To Squelch Those Belches

1:30pm September 22, 2017

by Angus Chen

Researchers have won a prize for discovering that a cow's genetics determine which microbes populate its gut. Some of those microbes produce the greenhouse gas methane that ends up in the atmosphere.

As the burgeoning marijuana industry booms, who is reaping the benefits, and who is being left behind?

(Legally) Selling Weed While Black

12:16pm September 22, 2017

by Maria Paz Gutierrez

As Oakland's legal cannabis industry grows, the biggest players seem to have two things in common: They're white, and they have lots of money.

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How much ink goes into a letter might be connected with it's sound, a new study suggests.

Science

Do Letters Show You How They Sound?

11:43am September 22, 2017

by Alva Noë

It is a principle of most modern thought about language that the relation between signs and meanings is arbitrary. But a new study finds a connection between sounds and ink on "paper," says Alva Noë.

How Prepared Is The U.S. For Earthquakes?

4:51pm September 21, 2017

Mexico has had an earthquake early-warning system for decades, and other countries that get earthquakes — Japan, Taiwan — have them, too. The U.S. does not. NPR's Kelly McEvers talks to seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, who spent years working with the U.S. Geological Survey to create a system.

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A jet emanating from galaxy M87 can be seen in this July 6, 2000, photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Are We About To See A Black Hole?

12:14pm September 21, 2017

by Adam Frank

A project called the Event Horizon Telescope is analyzing data taken earlier this year using interferometry — and we may be remarkably close to "seeing" a black hole, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.

A duck-billed dinosaur skeleton, which the researchers think ate crustaceans, on display in 2009 at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Shellfish Surprise: Common 'Herbivore' Dinosaur Found To Snack On Crustaceans

9:10am September 21, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

"I immediately said, 'Oh, no, no, it can't be crustaceans.' That was my knee jerk reaction," a paleontologist said. The prehistoric snacking was likely intentional and linked to mating behaviors.

Rescue workers search for earthquake survivors in Mexico City on Wednesday.

Mexico City Doomed By Its Geology To More Earthquakes

12:20am September 21, 2017

by Christopher Joyce

The problem is that just to the west, a huge slab of the Earth's crust called the Cocos Plate is grinding relentlessly toward North America. And it's running under another slab to the north.

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Kathy Niakan, a developmental biologist at the Francis Crick Institute in London, used the CRISPR gene editing technique to find out how a gene affects the growth of human embryos.

Editing Embryo DNA Yields Clues About Early Human Development

5:00pm September 20, 2017

by Rob Stein

Researchers disabled a gene that they think helps determine which human embryos will develop normally. The technique they used is controversial because it could be used to change babies' DNA.

An artist's rendition of the future Europa Clipper probing Jupiter's moon Europa for potential life.

Cassini's Spectacular Legacy — And Nod To The Future

3:12pm September 20, 2017

by Marcelo Gleiser

Following on Cassini's discoveries, NASA aims to probe Jupiter's Europa for potential life. With every new world we discover, we should look back at our own planet with awe, says Marcelo Gleiser.

Affordable Care Act navigators helped guide those looking for insurance during an enrollment event at San Antonio's Southwest General Hospital last year. Beyond helping with initial enrollment, navigators often follow up with help later, as an applicant's

Bemoaning Budget Cuts, Health Care Navigators Say Feds Don't Get It

1:52pm September 20, 2017

by Michelle Andrews

The federal government has sharply cut funding to groups that help people enroll in health plans. But the groups say federal officials don't understand how much help and follow-up some people need.