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Teresa Butler visits Trish and Glen Johnston at their home in Christchurch, New Zealand, to support Trish, 79, who gave up smoking four years ago. Trish is Māori and Glen is pākehā — a white New Zealander. Jinki Cambronero for NPR hide caption

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Jinki Cambronero for NPR

Curfew (Likoni March 27 2020) by Kenyan-British painter Michael Armitage, was inspired by an attack on ferry passengers by paramilitary police in Nairobi. The painting hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Jonathan Muzikar/The Museum of Modern Art, New York hide caption

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Jonathan Muzikar/The Museum of Modern Art, New York

PEPFAR, the U.S. multibillion dollar effort to fight HIV/AIDS, funds organizations such as the Coptic hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Brent Stirton/Getty Images hide caption

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Brent Stirton/Getty Images

When Florence Nightingale was recruiting nurses, an accomplished nurse from Jamaica named Mary Seacole traveled to London but was repeatedly rejected. Seacole wrote: "Did these ladies shrink from accepting my aid because my blood flowed beneath a somewhat duskier skin than theirs? " Her experience is part of the new book Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and its Power to Change the World. Universal History Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Universal History Archive/Getty Images

In 2019, NPR covered the story of Renee Bach, an American missionary who said she was called by God to serve the children of Uganda. Now HBO is presenting her story in the documentary series White Savior. Julia Rendleman for NPR hide caption

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Julia Rendleman for NPR

Long-time collaborators Pardis Sabeti (right) of the Broad Institute and Christian Happi of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases in Nigeria, are developing an early-warning system that could flag an emerging pandemic . Jodi Hilton for NPR hide caption

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Jodi Hilton for NPR

Scientific dynamic duo aims to stop the next pandemic before it starts

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Ekemeni Riley is the managing director of Aligning Science Across Parkinson's, a research initiative that worked on an effort to bring a more diverse population into a study on genes that carry a greater risk for the disease. A team that included scientists from Lagos, London and the U.S. found a previously unknown gene variant that can nearly quadruple the risk for people of African ancestry. Anna Rose Layden for NPR hide caption

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Anna Rose Layden for NPR

Archaeologists dug into a riverbank in Zambia and uncovered what they call the earliest known wood construction by humans. The half-million year-old artifacts could change how we see Stone-Age people. Larry Barham and Geoff Duller/University of Liverpool hide caption

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Larry Barham and Geoff Duller/University of Liverpool

World's oldest wooden structure defies Stone-Age stereotypes

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To woo a cockatoo, scientists find having your own drumsticks and rhythm is key

Today on the show, All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly joins Regina G. Barber and Maria Godoy for our bi-weekly science roundup. They talk through some of the latest eye-catching science news, including the percussion-intensive mating life of cockatoos, what pink diamonds today tell us about the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Nuna and the latest on the Nipah outbreak in India.

To woo a cockatoo, scientists find having your own drumsticks and rhythm is key

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The world hopes to enact a pandemic treaty by May 2024. Will it succeed or flail?

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Bulbul Aktar, a shasthya kormi, or community health worker, with the malaria elimination program in Bangladesh, goes door to door to treat malaria patients. "This is my job, my duty," says Aktar. "Every single home, I have to know about them and visit them." Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR hide caption

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Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR

Malaria is on the ropes in Bangladesh. But the parasite is punching back

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Kwame Alexander (left) and Jerry Craft have each won a Newbery Medal for their children's books. Alexander invited Craft on a trip to Kenya this summer to speak to schoolkids about reading. The kids were impressed. So were the authors. Brian Otieno for NPR hide caption

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Brian Otieno for NPR

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
Leif Parsons for NPR

Baby babble isn't just goo goo! And hearing 2 languages is better than one

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Laila Aseel, 24, holds her 1-year-old daughter, Aram. Aseel came to the hospital from an internally displaced persons camp, where she was living with her husband and four children after fleeing fighting in the north. She says she is unable to feed her kids more than one meal a day; when she arrived at the hospital, her daughter was near death from malnutrition. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

Gerhardt Boukes, chief scientist at Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, formulates mRNA for use in a vaccine against COVID-19. The company — based in Cape Town, South Africa — is the linchpin of a global project to enable low- and middle-income countries to make mRNA vaccines against all manner of diseases. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption

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Tommy Trenchard for NPR

John Chiti is a Zambian musician and police commissioner. He also has albinism, a pigmentation condition that has shaped his life. His story inspired the film "Can You See Us?" — now streaming on Netflix. Jason Milikita/Sightsavers hide caption

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Jason Milikita/Sightsavers

He's a singer, a cop and the inspiration for a Netflix film about albinism in Africa

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Kame Ogito, 89, gathers seaweed at low tide in Motobu, Okinawa, Japan. Seaweed is part of the plant-based, low-calorie diet that makes Okinawans some of the longest-lived people in the world. David McLain/Dan Buettner hide caption

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David McLain/Dan Buettner

7 habits to live a healthier life, inspired by the world's longest-lived communities

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Natasha Poonawalla, executive director of the vaccine-manufacturing Serum Institute of India, donned an haute couture sari for the 2022 Met Gala. The garment is on display at the museum show '"The Offbeat Sari" (pictured, right). The designer is Sabyasachi Mukherjee and the metal corset is by Schiaparelli. Mike Coppola/Getty Images (l), Andy Stagg. Courtesy of the Design Museum hide caption

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Mike Coppola/Getty Images (l), Andy Stagg. Courtesy of the Design Museum

Memories of my mom are wrapped up in her saris

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