Science

Sleepless Fruit Flies Could Hold The Secret To Curing Insomnia

1:49pm September 20, 2015

by Jon Hamilton

Research on fruit flies with insomnia is revealing the pathways in the brain that can cause people to have trouble sleeping. This story originally aired on Sept. 18 on Morning Edition.

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Citizen Adventurers Sample Seawater To Count Tiny Pieces Of Plastic

1:49pm September 20, 2015

by Galen Koch

Plastic pollution in the sea doesn't just mean bottles and bags. Citizen scientists around the world are helping researchers assess the impact of tiny, often invisible particles called microplastics.

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Elephants are an option for the first quiz question. These pachyderms are walking on a path at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy at the foot of Mount Kenya, approximately 185 miles north of Nairobi.

Quiz: Are You Smarter Than A South African High School Student?

11:09am September 20, 2015

by NPR Staff

So you think you know a lot about world affairs? Like, um, what kind of animal did that American dentist shoot? See how you do on the annual Interschool quiz for South Africa's youth.

Ice cream that melts more slowly, with fewer ice crystals? Scientists are on the case.

Science

I Scream, You Scream For Slow-Melting Ice Cream

10:32am September 20, 2015

by Nadia Whitehead

It's not every day that basic research into bacteria leads to an application as useful as keeping ice cream frozen longer while holding ice crystals at bay.

This year, many of the pistachios grown in California's San Joaquin Valley are missing the green, fatty meat that nut lovers crave. Instead, they're empty inside, the result of drought, heat and weather pattern changes that have messed with pistachio tree

Oh, Nuts! Why California's Pistachio Trees Are Shooting Blanks

10:31am September 20, 2015

by Alastair Bland

This year, as many as 50 percent of the pistachios harvested in California could be hollow inside. Blame it on drought, heat and weather changes that are messing with male trees' virility.

How Small Changes Can Yield Big Results For The Government

6:23am September 20, 2015

by NPR Staff

A team of behavioral scientists has been studying low-cost, easy interventions — text message reminders, how an envelope looks — to improve efficiency and access to federal programs.

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It actually and paradoxically means, "Emphatically yes, I totally agree with you."

Science

No, Yes, Definitely: On The Rise Of 'No, Totally' As Linguistic Quirk

2:56pm September 19, 2015

The New Yorker's Kathryn Schulz has a theory for what's behind the use of the phrase "No, totally" as a way to agree with someone. She points to an English word that we've lost: "Nay."

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Rough night? Depending on specific tweaks to their genes, some fruit flies have trouble falling asleep, and others can't stay asleep. Getting too little shut-eye hurts their memory.

How Research On Sleepless Fruit Flies Could Help Human Insomniacs

5:59pm September 18, 2015

by Jon Hamilton

Research on fruit flies with different types of insomnia has revealed the same brain pathways that interfere with sleep in people. The result may be better sleeping pills that don't leave you groggy.

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What Happens When You Get Your Period In Space?

5:58pm September 18, 2015

by Adam Cole

Scientists spent decades arguing that women weren't suited for space travel because of menstruation. Even now, a lot of us are wondering how astronauts manage that time of the month.

Volkswagen Jetta models — like this TDI from 2011 labeled "clean diesel" — were found to have software that cheated official emissions tests, the EPA says. More than 480,000 cars are affected.

Volkswagen Used 'Defeat Device' To Skirt Emissions Rules, EPA Says

2:11pm September 18, 2015

by Bill Chappell

The agency says some 480,000 diesel-powered Volkswagens have sophisticated software that detects emissions testing — and "turns full emissions controls on only during the test."