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

Tuesday

Law

Fla. High Court Weighs Terri Schiavo Case

The Florida Supreme Court hears a challenge to "Terri's Law." Passed last fall, the law let Gov. Jeb Bush authorize a feeding tube for a brain-damaged Tampa woman -- despite a court ruling allowing the tube's removal.

Fla. High Court Weighs Terri Schiavo Case

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3880413/3880414" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Monday

Environment

Biologists Hope Electricity Can Foil Invading Fish

Engineers and biologists are testing a new electric barrier underwater near Chicago, hoping to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. Two breeds of Asian carp are rapidly moving up the Mississippi River basin, and have been found just 50 miles from Lake Michigan. NPR's David Schaper reports.

Biologists Hope Electricity Can Foil Invading Fish

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3879385/3879386" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Environment

Prioritizing the Globe's Most Endangered Primates

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks to renowned primatologist Russ Mittermeier about the International Primatological Society, which met last week in Torino, Italy, to compile a list of the world's 25 most endangered primates.

Prioritizing the Globe's Most Endangered Primates

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3879138/3879139" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Environment

Early Action Key in War Against Invasive Species

Foreign life forms ranging from the dreaded zebra mussel to mute swans are taking over the American countryside. Biologists haven't had much luck in their fight to stop this "silent invasion," but the battle isn't over yet. NPR's John Nielsen reports.

Early Action Key in War Against Invasive Species

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3879383/3879384" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Sunday

Saturday

Environment

South African Penguin Population Decimated

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Jim Metzner, producer of the radio program Pulse of the Planet about the dwindling population of South African Penguins, also known as jackass penguins.

South African Penguin Population Decimated

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3876833/3876834" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

Movies

Scientists Pick 'Blade Runner' as Best Sci-Fi Flick

Scientists, not critics, have chosen the best science fiction movie of all time. Nearly 60 scientists from fields as diverse as quantum physics and zoology picked Blade Runner as the best. They were surveyed by the British newspaper The Guardian.

Scientists Pick 'Blade Runner' as Best Sci-Fi Flick

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3874387/3874388" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Research News

Recreational Fishing Takes Heavy Toll on U.S. Fish

Recreational fishing poses a surprisingly dangerous threat to some popular species, such as red snapper, black sea bass and rockfish, a new study shows. Sport-fishing boats are much smaller than commercial vessels, but there are many more of them. NPR's John Nielsen reports.

Recreational Fishing Takes Heavy Toll on U.S. Fish

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3874405/3874406" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

West Nile Virus Hits S. California's Horses

West Nile virus has killed nearly 600 people nationwide since 1999 and more than 20,000 horses. It's estimated that only 45 percent of horses have been vaccinated. Southern California's ranches are the latest hot spot for the disease. John Rabe of member station KPCC reports.

West Nile Virus Hits S. California's Horses

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3871944/3871945" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Research News

Vengeance Has a Gene, Scientists Say

A team of Swiss scientists finds the desire for retribution against rule breakers has a deep-seated, biological explanation. Punishing scofflaws activates the same pleasure center of the brain involved in recreational drug use and falling in love. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on the study, which appears in this week's issue of the journal Science.

Vengeance Has a Gene, Scientists Say

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3873036/3873037" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Space

New Planet Detected by Small Telescope

NPR's Melissa Block talks with Kelly Beatty of Sky and Telescope magazine about the small telescope used to detect a new planet, orbiting a distant star. The telescope has small optics of about four inches in diameter, with a sophisticated camera on the end.

New Planet Detected by Small Telescope

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3873032/3873033" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Research News

Genetically Altered 'Marathon Mice' Created in Lab

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about "marathon mice" -- genetically altered mice with more muscle, less fat and twice the endurance of normal mice.

Genetically Altered 'Marathon Mice' Created in Lab

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/3872612/3872613" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">