Accessibility links
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

Monday

Environment

World Goes Dark During 'Earth Hour'

Starting in New Zealand and moving west with the sun, people around the world turned off the lights for 60 minutes on Saturday. Bryan Walsh, environmental writer for Time magazine, discusses the effort to raise awareness about the link between energy use and climate change.

Listen to this 'Talk of the Nation' topic

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89241439/89241427" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

What to Do

Life in the 'Burbs: Heavy Costs for Families, Climate

Millions of Americans have moved to the suburbs over the past 60 years. They gain a bigger house, but until recently, few were aware of the impact those choices had on the environment.

Life in the 'Burbs: Heavy Costs for Families, Climate

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89231809/89231767" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Signs

Penguins Helped and Hurt by Changing Climate

Exactly 100 years ago, scientists started studying a penguin colony at Cape Royds, Antarctica. What they've learned since then suggests that climate change will reshuffle life on the planet in complicated ways.

Penguins Helped and Hurt by Changing Climate

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89239211/89248496" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

Technology

The Young Genius Behind BitTorrent

Bram Cohen, 32, wrote a groundbreaking program called BitTorrent. Affected by Asperger's Disorder, he says he sometimes needs his friends to remind him what's socially appropriate.

The Young Genius Behind BitTorrent

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89225415/89225392" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Adaptation

The Pioneer Who Died for the South Pole

A century ago, British Naval Officer Robert Falcon Scott sought to lead the first team to the South Pole. He lost the race by five weeks, but collected scientific data on the Antarctic climate that scientists still use today.

The Pioneer Who Died for the South Pole

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89220433/89220376" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

What to Do

A Changing Antarctica Draws 'Doomsday' Tourists

The popularity of Antarctic cruises is partly due to so-called doomsday tourists — people who want to see the continent's coastline before warmer temperatures melt the ice. But the growing traffic may actually help defend the continent from environmental threats.

A Changing Antarctica Draws 'Doomsday' Tourists

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/88956176/89213736" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Environment

Wading Through an Endangered Species Backlog

The Bush administration has added fewer plants and animals to the endangered species list than the last two administrations. But this year, the government may start protecting a group of species that has been ignored previously — those on the endangered species "candidate list."

Wading Through an Endangered Species Backlog

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89209746/89209720" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

The Rush to Patent the Atomic Bomb

The Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb was one of the U.S. government's biggest secrets. At the same time, its scientists and engineers were furiously filing patent applications, which held the potential to reveal exquisite details about the bomb.

The Rush to Patent the Atomic Bomb

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89127786/89176888" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Getting Rid of Junk, Staying Green

Beyond Recycling: Getting to 'Zero Waste'

Recycling newspaper and plastic can only go so far toward achieving a "zero waste" world, a recycling activist says. The next step, he says, is getting industry and government to work together to make going greener more profitable.

Beyond Recycling: Getting to 'Zero Waste'

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89169980/89176889" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sports

The Science Behind Baseball

Major League Baseball began its season this week with a series between Boston and Oakland played in Japan. Guests discuss the science behind America's favorite pastime — from statistics, to orthopedics, to the psychology of die-hard fans.

The Science Behind Baseball

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89188499/89188485" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Space

What Defines a Planet?

In 2006, astronomers voted to remove Pluto from the list of planets in Earth's solar system — continuing an ongoing controversy over what exactly defines a planet. Planetary scientist Mark Sykes argues in the journal Science that a planet is simply "a round object orbiting a star."

What Defines a Planet?

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89188493/89188484" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Space

NASA Weathers Departure, Rumors of Budget Cuts

Planetary scientist Alan Stern has announced that he is stepping down as NASA's associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, the head role in the space agency's science programs. His departure was unexpected, and the agency gave no reason for the sudden departure.

NASA Weathers Departure, Rumors of Budget Cuts

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89188486/89188482" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Environment

Birds to Listen and Look for in Your Backyard

Birding experts talk about the signs of spring in the avian world, from migrations, to nesting, to birdsong. They'll also weigh in on some threatened birds that enthusiasts should make a special effort to see this spring.

Birds to Listen and Look for in Your Backyard

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89188490/89188483" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

African-Americans and Eating Disorders

Millions of people struggle with eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia. But the disease is often thought of as a white person's disorder. Today, we take a look at the true colors of eating disorders. Farai Chideya talks with psychologist Divya Kakaiya, author Becky Thompson, and eating disorder survivor Marna Clowney-Robinson.

African-Americans and Eating Disorders

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89184727/89184717" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National

U.S. Gives Nuclear Power a Second Look

After a hiatus of nearly three decades, the U.S. is once again turning to nuclear energy. Seventeen U.S. power companies are making plans to build more than 30 nuclear plants. One factor: new federal and state laws that help utilities pay for the plants.

U.S. Gives Nuclear Power a Second Look

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/89169837/89176745" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript