Nell Greenfieldboyce Nell Greenfieldboyce is a NPR science correspondent.
Nell Greenfieldboyce 2010
Stories By

Nell Greenfieldboyce

Doby Photography/NPR
Nell Greenfieldboyce 2010
Doby Photography/NPR

Nell Greenfieldboyce

Correspondent, Science Desk

Nell Greenfieldboyce is a NPR science correspondent.

With reporting focused on general science, NASA, and the intersection between technology and society, Greenfieldboyce has been on the science desk's technology beat since she joined NPR in 2005.

In that time Greenfieldboyce has reported on topics including the narwhals in Greenland, the ending of the space shuttle program, and the reasons why independent truckers don't want electronic tracking in their cabs.

Much of Greenfieldboyce's reporting reflects an interest in discovering how applied science and technology connects with people and culture. She has worked on stories spanning issues such as pet cloning, gene therapy, ballistics, and federal regulation of new technology.

Prior to NPR, Greenfieldboyce spent a decade working in print, mostly magazines including U.S. News & World Report and New Scientist.

A graduate of Johns Hopkins, earning her Bachelor's of Arts degree in social sciences and a Master's of Arts degree in science writing, Greenfieldboyce taught science writing for four years at the university. She was honored for her talents with the Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Journalists.

Story Archive

Wednesday

Thursday

The Steller’s Jay—and dozens more—could get a new name soon under a controversial proposal by the American Ornithological Society to re-name all birds named after people. egschiller/Getty Images/iStockphoto hide caption

toggle caption
egschiller/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Feathers have been ruffled over bird name changes

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5137123/nx-s1-b5e858c1-653a-4fb6-9c04-e467be2c614c" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Feathers have been ruffled over bird name changes

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5041720/nx-s1-b5e858c1-653a-4fb6-9c04-e467be2c614c" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Perspective view on the upper portions of the Timpanogos rock glacier in north-central Utah. Matthew Morriss hide caption

toggle caption
Matthew Morriss

Rock glaciers rock

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5109050/nx-s1-603ce3a1-6ab0-4092-9c27-355e7ebd0cec" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

NASA probe is about to launch to an icy moon that could have life

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5117319/nx-s1-8c96926c-3da0-4769-b20f-732f5baabe1e" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

This artist rendering shows NASA Europa mission spacecraft, which is being developed for a launch sometime in the 2020s. NASA/NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption

toggle caption
NASA/NASA/JPL-Caltech

Europa Mission Presser

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5114450/nx-s1-0e616b3a-727f-43de-96bc-c0e132306432" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

This image, taken from NASA video, shows the Boeing Starliner capsule coming down through the darkness over New Mexico. NASA hide caption

toggle caption
NASA

With no crew aboard, spacecraft Starliner lands without a hitch

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5103722/nx-s1-18686078-56d5-4604-a10d-d0d6959f5ac1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Thursday

A white-browed sparrow weaver inspects a roost under construction, after just receiving some grass brought by another member of its group. Maria Cristina Tello-Ramos hide caption

toggle caption
Maria Cristina Tello-Ramos

When birds build nests, they're also building a culture

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5090967/nx-s1-ebb2486d-7b04-4885-ac3b-a7f7da55094d" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

The central European bicolored ant, L. emarginatus, wanders around a rock in New York City. Researchers hope that people will continue uploading sightings of the so-called ManhattAnt to sites like iNaturalist so they can track the ants' movement and learn more about their behaviors. Julian F./iNaturalist hide caption

toggle caption
Julian F./iNaturalist

Saturday

NASA will bring stranded astronauts back on SpaceX — not Boeing's Starliner

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5086801/nx-s1-023c3009-f39d-4b95-bb1d-e66da7d3793b" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore (left) and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13. NASA/via AP hide caption

toggle caption
NASA/via AP

Wednesday

Unlike most other ants that prefer sticking to cozy places like decaying leaves or logs, the ManhattAnt seems comfortable out on busy sidewalks. Ellen van Wilgenburg hide caption

toggle caption
Ellen van Wilgenburg

The ant that's taken over Manhattan

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/g-s1-16668/nx-s1-087c68d0-e971-40c2-b441-4e94599a0cbc" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

The ant that's taken over Manhattan

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5041728/nx-s1-087c68d0-e971-40c2-b441-4e94599a0cbc" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky above desert pine trees on Aug. 13, 2015, in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area in Nevada. Ethan Miller/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The beloved Perseid meteor shower peaks next week

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/g-s1-15805/nx-s1-07b7df6f-0e7a-499d-843c-d12783914ea6" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Wednesday

The beloved Perseid meteor shower peaks next week

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5059196/nx-s1-c21c809d-a50f-42cb-b8a0-cf6e2df1539f" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and the Starliner spacecraft NASA hide caption

toggle caption
NASA

Boeing Starliner return date is delayed indefinitely

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5051972/nx-s1-b7e4b793-6432-4b98-89a4-73dc3b4aabed" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

The fate of the most powerful X-ray telescope is in doubt

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5034247/nx-s1-f1ce4e60-a379-481a-b2ef-889edb98b3e6" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the mission released 25 views of cosmic objects ranging from supernova remnants to galaxy clusters and more. NASA/SAO/CXC hide caption

toggle caption
NASA/SAO/CXC

ME astronomers scamble to save Chandra X-ray telescope

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5048828/nx-s1-8fa360fe-1a56-4545-854c-5415bf7968c2" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Saturday

Astronomers spot a mysterious black hole nestled in a cluster of stars.

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5033974-e1/g-s1-10031" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

The star cluster Omega Centauri contains millions of stars. The movement of some stars suggests that an intermediate-sized black hole lies at its center. NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA hide caption

toggle caption
NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA

Astronomers spot a mysterious black hole nestled in a cluster of stars.

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5033974/g-s1-10031" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Some ants, like the Florida carpenter ant, treat the injured legs of comrades, and will even perform medical amputations when necessary. Zen Rial/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Zen Rial/Getty Images

Friday

Encore: Ant medical amputations

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5025130-e1/nx-s1-4bb73aca-3e21-42a0-a362-3eb9aa868add" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript