archive

February 12, 2013 A study of more than 85,000 women in Norway found that those who started taking a folic acid supplement four weeks before getting pregnant were about 40 percent less likely to have a child who developed the disorder. Mothers had to continue taking the supplement during the first eight weeks of pregnancy to get the full benefit.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

February 4, 2013 Autism researchers are studying post-mortem brain tissue from people with the disorder to understand how it changes the brain. The greatest demand is for tissue from children. But it's especially hard to get.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

January 17, 2013 A New York law that requires mental health professionals to report potentially violent patients probably won't accomplish much, specialists say. Studies show that even highly trained professionals are often wrong about which patients become violent.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

January 9, 2013 An experimental drug developed to fight Alzheimer's disease partially reversed hearing loss caused by exposure to extremely loud sounds, researchers say. The results apply only to mice, but scientists are encouraged by the fact that the medicine caused new hair cells to grow in the animals' inner ears.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

December 31, 2012 Superstorm Sandy is what most people will remember from the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. But Sandy was just one of 10 hurricanes this year during a season that was both busy and strange. From an El Nino that never materialized to meandering tropical storms, meteorologists were baffled.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

December 26, 2012 The year saw some disappointments in the development of drugs to treat Alzheimer's. But the setbacks were offset by progress in other areas. The upshot from this year's mixed results, some scientists say, is that treatment for Alzheimer's needs to start long before forgetfulness and muddled thinking are apparent.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

December 21, 2012 Sandy Hook and other mass killings have left people wondering how someone could engage in such behavior. Scientists say that genes can indeed predispose a person to mental illness or violence. But genetic variants alone can't explain why someone commits mass murder.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

December 17, 2012 The preservative thimerosal keeps vaccines from going bad in places where there is no refrigeration. Anti-vaccine activists say it should be banned because it contains mercury, but public health officials insist it's safe.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 19, 2012 A massive research project in California is beginning to show how genes, health habits and the environment can interact to cause diseases. The new combination of genetic and health information is one of the most powerful research tools on earth, a researcher says.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 8, 2012 When we listen to a new musical phrase, it is the parts of the brain that control muscle movement, not areas involved in hearing, that help us remember what we've heard. Keeping the notes in order is a little like getting your muscles to move at the right time.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 6, 2012 Norfolk, Va., has spent decades — and millions of dollars — raising houses and building barriers to successfully hold back the sea. Expanding such efforts to other vulnerable coastal areas, such as New York and New Jersey, could work, but costs could reach the billions.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 6, 2012 The city has spent many years studying how to survive flooding in an era of rising sea levels. The centerpiece of its survival strategy is a comprehensive plan to keep water out of some of the most vulnerable neighborhoods.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

October 31, 2012 Hurricane forecasters predicted that Sandy would be an odd storm, and they were right. It turned left when most hurricanes turn right, it maintained its strength even as it struck land, and it joined forces with a winter storm. The computer models that characterized the storm's behavior are much more accurate and faster than they used to be.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

October 27, 2012 It's still unclear whether Sandy, which was both downgraded then upgraded early Saturday morning, will be a devastating storm or just a bad one. It is clear, however, that Sandy will be remembered as the storm that broke all the rules and baffled the nation's top weather forecasters.

Summary

October 24, 2012 "One common property we see in animal groups from schooling fish to flocking birds to primate groups is that they effectively vote to decide where to go and what to do," says an evolutionary biologist. But like human leaders, successful animal leaders know they can't get too far ahead of their constituents.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist