Science

Last fall's state-ordered quarantine of nurse Kaci Hickox (shown here with her boyfriend, Theodore Michael Wilbur, in late October) started at the airport in Newark, N.J., then followed her home to Fort Kent, Maine. Hickox treated Ebola patients in Africa

Ebola Aid Workers Still Avoiding New York And New Jersey

10:40am January 01, 2015

by Joel Rose

It's been months since a nurse who treated Ebola patients in Africa was quarantined by New Jersey's governor upon arrival at Newark airport. But a legacy of confusion about state travel rules remains.

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Environmental cues — like the color, size and shape of the dinnerware, the music playing in the background and the lighting in the dining room — can alter how we experience food and drink. For example, research suggests that serving food on a red plat

Food Psychology: How To Trick Your Palate Into A Tastier Meal

1:45pm December 31, 2014

by Maanvi Singh

Ingredients and preparation matter in making a delicious dinner. But so do a lot of other external factors, from your mood to room lighting. Here, a guide to enhancing the pleasures of the plate.

Stringy particles of Ebola virus (blue) bud from a chronically infected cell (yellow-green) in this colorized, scanning electron micrograph.

Virus Sleuths Chip Away At Ebola Mysteries

2:40pm December 30, 2014

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Big questions have bedeviled virus hunters for 38 years: Why do people differ in their response to Ebola? Is it becoming more or less dangerous? There's now more evidence about who gets sick and why.

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Tina Wolf demonstrates the use of naloxone to community members in Lindenhurst, N.Y., during an overdose prevention training. Georgia Dolan-Reilly (left) of the Suffolk County Prevention Resource Center helped with the training.

Teaching Friends And Family How To Reverse A Drug Overdose

10:05am December 30, 2014

by Laura Starecheski

Quick treatment with Narcan can save a life after an overdose of heroin or opioid pain pills. The year 2014 saw more police, drug users and their families carrying Narcan "rescue kits."

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Doctors Not Cutting Back On Radiation For Breast Cancer Patients

6:35pm December 29, 2014

by Patti Neighmond

Breast cancer treatment typically involves surgery and chemotherapy, followed by radiation. But growing scientific evidence shows that in most cases, women get more radiation than they actually need.

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Science

Same-Sex Couples May Have More Egalitarian Relationships

6:35pm December 29, 2014

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro talks to researcher Robert-Jay Green about how people behave in same-sex marriage compared with heterosexual marriage. Green has studied LGBT relationships going back to 1975.

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Science

Do Fish Have Fingers?

2:15pm December 29, 2014

by Joe Palca

Of course they don't, but they do have the genetic machinery to make fingers — something that shows how similar fish are to modern mammals.

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Recent research has shown that zebra finches sing differently when drunk, but not whether they know enough of the lyrics to get through "I Will Survive" or "Don't Stop Believin'."

Science

Scientists Discover That Drunk Birds Sing Like Drunks

1:18pm December 29, 2014

by Christopher Dean Hopkins

The songs of zebra finches, long used as a model for how humans learn to use speech, get a little sloppy after a few drinks, a new study finds. Future research will look at how it affects learning.

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TED speakers share their stories about intense curiosity.

Science
Arts

Playlist: Stories That Will Spark Your Imagination

9:08am December 29, 2014

by NPR/TED Staff

These TED Radio Hour stories will make you curious and maybe even ignite some creative ideas of your own.

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Sleepy in the day and wide awake at night? Give the screen a rest.

One More Reason To Reach For A Paper Book Before Bed

8:18am December 29, 2014

by Rob Stein

Using an e-reader before trying to nod off may disrupt sleep more than reading a paper book, a study suggests. Scientists suspect the screen's blue light is messing with a sleep-inducing hormone.

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