Science The latest health and science news. Updates on medicine, healthy living, nutrition, drugs, diet, and advances in science and technology. Subscribe to the Health & Science podcast.

Science

Friday January 31, 2003

CDC Reports on Environmental Toxins in Humans

January 31, 2003 • A government report finds that efforts to limit human exposure to toxins aren't helping kids as much as they are helping adults. The report, issued today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that children between the ages of 6-11 are sponging up the chemicals found in cigarette smoke and soft plastic toys. It also found that Mexican-Americans have abnormal levels of the pesticide DDT in their bodies and that pregnant women carry more mercury than expected. NPR's John Nielsen reports that federal officials say they are concerned but not alarmed by the findings.

CDC Reports on Environmental Toxins in Humans

Listen · 4:40 4:40

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/956441/957614" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday January 30, 2003

Scientists Explain Four-Year Drought

January 30, 2003 • An unprecedented warm-up of the western Pacific Ocean -- scientists think that partially explains a drought that has caused havoc across much of the United States, southern Europe and southwest Asia. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

ATC

Audio for this story is unavailable.

Friday January 24, 2003

Smallpox Vaccinations

January 24, 2003 • Smallpox vaccinations begin today for medical workers in several states and Los Angeles County. The government's goal is the inoculation of 450,000 health workers against a bioterrorism attack with smallpox. But some are resisting vaccination out of safety and legal liability fears. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

Smallpox Vaccinations

Listen · 4:11 4:11

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/936867/936868" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday January 23, 2003

Anxious, Aggressive Mice Used to Test Human Drugs

January 23, 2003 • Researchers say they have used genetic engineering to create a mouse that is abnormally anxious and aggressive -- a strain that could help explain why some people are prone to anxiety or panic attacks. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on new research published in the journal Neuron. Watch videos of normal mouse behavior, and the violent behavior of a genetically modified mouse.

Anxious, Aggressive Mice Used to Test Human Drugs

Listen · 3:40 3:40

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/933741/934091" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Culture

The Musical Sounds of Space

January 23, 2003 • In space, one cannot hear sounds. But a new musical work -- commissioned by NASA -- is based on radio waves gathered from the far reaches of the solar system. For Morning Edition, Gayane Torosyan reports on Sun Rings, composed by Terry Riley and performed by the Kronos Quartet. The work includes sounds collected over 40 years by University of Iowa physicist Don Gurnett.

The Musical Sounds of Space

Listen · 7:20 7:20

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/930399/932987" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Tuesday January 21, 2003

Radio Expeditions

Fishing for Science in Kamchatka, Part 2

January 21, 2003 • In Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, a group of American fly fishermen and Russian scientists work to protect one of the world's last remaining strongholds of wild salmon, steelhead and trout. NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports.

Fishing for Science in Kamchatka, Part 2

Audio will be available later today.

Monday January 20, 2003

Institute Offers New Options for Studying Autism

January 20, 2003 • Four fathers of autistic sons, unhappy with the answers they were getting about the illness from doctors, establish a new type of autism research center in California. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.

Radio Expeditions

Fishing for Science in Kamchatka

January 20, 2003 • In Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, a group of American fly fishermen and Russian scientists work to protect one of the world's last remaining strongholds of wild salmon, steelhead and trout. NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports.

Fishing for Science in Kamchatka

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/927286/3821840" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Wednesday January 15, 2003

Breast Cancer Prevention

January 15, 2003 • A new study may indicate which women will benefit most from taking the drug Tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer. The drug has proven an effective treatment, but it has potentially dangerous side effects, so many doctors have been reluctant to prescribe it to healthy women for breast cancer prevention. NPR's Joe Palca reports.

Breast Cancer Prevention

Listen

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/920241/921054" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Saturday January 11, 2003

History Emerging from the Ice

January 11, 2003 • Scientists have been watching with alarm as the world's glaciers and arctic regions are showing more and more signs of melting. They suspect that global climate change -- fueled by industrial and vehicle emissions -- are to blame. But as NPR's Eric Niiler reports, this arctic thaw is also revealing a trove of ancient artifacts from people who dropped them thousands of years ago.

History Emerging from the Ice

Listen · 4:00 4:00

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/914542/915506" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Tuesday January 7, 2003

Proposed Rules for Clean Water Act Spark Debate

January 7, 2003 • For the first time in 30 years, streams and wetlands throughout the United States could lose Clean Water Act protections under a proposal expected this week from the Bush administration. NPR’s John Nielsen reports.

Scientists Discover New Planet

January 7, 2003 • Astronomers find a new planet some 8,000 light-years from Earth. They say it's the first planet detected outside what astronomers call the "local neighborhood," the Orion spiral arm.

Scientists Discover New Planet

Listen · 3:58 3:58

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/907060/705663658" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday January 3, 2003

Problems Proving Clone

January 3, 2003 • A Clonaid official backpedals on providing evidence of the company's claim that a cloned infant has been born. Clonaid's CEO says the mother of the child born Dec. 26 is wavering on providing a DNA sample key to establishing genetic proof. Scientists remain skeptical of Clonaid's claim. Hear from NPR's Joe Palca and James Randi, who is devoted to debunking pseudoscientific claims.

ATC

Audio for this story is unavailable.

Wednesday January 1, 2003

U.K. Seeks to Lead Stem-Cell Research

January 1, 2003 • Human embryonic stem-cell research could revolutionize medicine, but controversy surrounds the work and support varies among governments. President Bush has grudgingly approved limited study in the United States. By contrast, Prime Minister Tony Blair has vowed that Great Britain will become the leader in the field. In a three-part series, NPR's Joe Palca takes a looks at Britain's approach to stem-cell research.

U.K. Seeks to Lead Stem-Cell Research

Listen · 7:42 7:42

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/895570/898709" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Saturday December 28, 2002

The Cloning Debate

December 28, 2002 • Will Congress try again to ban human cloning? The debate is sure to escalate after Friday's claim that a newborn girl is the first human clone -- and more are on the way. There's no proof of the claim yet. And opponents and supporters of cloning are still battling over terminology. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.

The Cloning Debate

Listen · 3:59 3:59

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/894416/894417" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">