Ari Daniel Ari Daniel is a contributor to NPR's Science desk.
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Ari Daniel

Amanda Kowalski
Ari Daniel headshot
Amanda Kowalski

Ari Daniel

Contributor, Science Desk

Ari Daniel is a freelance contributor to NPR's Science desk.

Ari has always been drawn to science and the natural world. As a graduate student, Ari trained gray seal pups (Halichoerus grypus) for his Master's degree in animal behavior at the University of St. Andrews, and helped tag wild Norwegian killer whales (Orcinus orca) for his Ph.D. in biological oceanography at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. For more than a decade, as a science reporter and multimedia producer, Ari has interviewed a species he's better equipped to understand – Homo sapiens.

Over the years, Ari has reported across five continents on science topics ranging from astronomy to zooxanthellae. His radio pieces have aired on NPR, The World, Radiolab, Here & Now, and Living on Earth. Ari formerly worked as a reporter for NPR's Science desk, where he covered global health and development. Before that, he was the Senior Digital Producer at NOVA where he helped oversee the production of the show's digital video content. He is a co-recipient of the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Gold Award for his radio stories on glaciers and climate change in Greenland and Iceland.

In the fifth grade, Ari won the "Most Contagious Smile" award.

Story Archive

Saturday

Wednesday

Scientists say they have sequenced the genome of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images

Scientists sequence Beethoven's genome for clues into his painful past

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Sunday

Volcanic activity on Venus spotted in radar images, scientists say

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Friday

This computer-generated 3D model of Venus' surface shows the summit of Maat Mons. A new study found one of the volcano's vents became bigger and changed during 1991. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

Volcanic activity on Venus spotted in radar images, scientists say

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Sunday

Can whales have vocal fry? Scientists says yes

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Friday

Tuesday

A new study finds that bumblebees can learn how to solve puzzles from each other. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images hide caption

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Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Can insects have culture? Puzzle-solving bumblebees show it's possible

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Friday

A new study finds that toothed whales can make a range of vocalizations, including some akin to human 'vocal fry,' thanks to a special nasal structure. Adam Li / NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC hide caption

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Adam Li / NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC

Toothed whales use 'vocal fry' to hunt for food, scientists say

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Thursday

Some whales use vocal fry to find and catch their food, new research says

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Wednesday

This hole was made in a Bronze Age man's skull shortly before he died, archaeologists say, based on several clues. It's the result of a surgical procedure called a trephination. Kalisher et al., 2023/PLOS ONE hide caption

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Kalisher et al., 2023/PLOS ONE

Clues to Bronze Age cranial surgery revealed in ancient bones

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Sunday

Neudy Rojop decided to work in public health when she was a young girl observing how frequently her young family members and neighbors got sick with unknown illnesses. Luis Echeverria for NPR hide caption

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Luis Echeverria for NPR

A kid in Guatemala had a dream. Today she's a disease detective

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Wednesday

Encore: Killer whale moms are supporting their adult sons — and it's costing them

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Thursday

A new study finds that orca mothers still feed their adult sons. It's a bond that may come with costs, researchers say. David K. Ellifrit/Center for Whale Research / NMFS research permit #21238 hide caption

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David K. Ellifrit/Center for Whale Research / NMFS research permit #21238

Killer whale moms are still supporting their adult sons — and it's costing them

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Wednesday

Wielding the "insectazooka," Cecilia González prepares to collect mosquitoes from a house in the village of Los Encuentros, Guatemala. Luis Echeverria for NPR hide caption

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Luis Echeverria for NPR

For these virus-hunting scientists, the 'real gold' is what's in a mosquito's abdomen

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Thursday

A researcher releases a bat after taking samples and inserting a microchip into it in Faridpur, Bangladesh. Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR hide caption

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Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR

Nipah: Using sticks to find a fatal virus with pandemic potential

The Nipah virus is on the World Health Organization's short list of diseases that have pandemic potential and therefore pose the greatest public health risk. With a fatality rate at about 70%, it is one of the most deadly respiratory diseases health officials have ever seen. But as regular outbreaks began in the early 2000s in Bangladesh, researchers were left scratching their heads. Initially, the cause of the outbreaks was unknown to them. But once they identified the virus, a second, urgent question arose: How was the virus jumping from bats into humans?

Nipah: Using sticks to find a fatal virus with pandemic potential

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Tuesday

A field researcher holds a male bat that was trapped in an overhead net as part of an effort to find out how the animals pass Nipah virus to humans. The animal will be tested for the virus, examined and ultimately released. Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR hide caption

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Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR

The Nipah virus has a kill rate of 70%. Bats carry it. But how does it jump to humans?

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Monday

Scientists hope to curb the deadly Nipah virus that terrorizes Bangladesh villages

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Monday

Encore: Perceiving without seeing: How light resets your internal clock

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Monday

Aaron Gordon #50 of the Denver Nuggets reacts after a play in overtime against the Phoenix Suns at Ball Arena on December 25. Gordon wowed the home fans with an amazing dunk late in overtime. Justin Tafoya/Getty Images hide caption

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Justin Tafoya/Getty Images

A group of glassfrogs sleeping together upside down on a leaf, showing their camouflage. Jesse Delia hide caption

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Jesse Delia

The astonishing vanishing act of the glassfrog, revealed

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Saturday

Certain cells within Crittenden's retinas that contain melanopsin help his brain to detect light, even if what he sees is darkness. Among other things, these light-detecting cells help his body regulate his sleep cycles. Marta Iwanek for NPR hide caption

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Marta Iwanek for NPR

Perceiving without seeing: How light resets your internal clock

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Wednesday

Large congregations of bats have been fingered in the spillover of Hendra virus. Vivien Jones hide caption

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Vivien Jones

Hendra virus rarely spills from animals to us. Climate change makes it a bigger threat

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Wednesday

Darine Al-Ahmar (left), who directs a primary care health center in Douris, Lebanon, and Josette Najjar, with the Lebanese branch of the Mérieux Foundation, have seen the number of cholera cases rise around their region. Ari Daniel/NPR hide caption

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Ari Daniel/NPR

Amid vaccine shortages, Lebanon faces its first cholera outbreak in three decades

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