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

Saturday

The Voyager Golden Record Finally Finds An Earthly Audience

The Voyager Golden Record remained mostly unavailable and unheard, until a Kickstarter campaign finally brought the sounds to human ears. Ozma Records/LADdesign hide caption

toggle caption
Ozma Records/LADdesign

Music News

The Voyager Golden Record Finally Finds An Earthly Audience

For 40 years, the record's interstellar message to extraterrestrials remained mostly unheard by human audiences — until a Kickstarter campaign brought a new vinyl box set to the public.

The Voyager Golden Record Finally Finds An Earthly Audience

Listen · 5:18
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/554489944/554789689" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Space

What Would Aliens Make Of NASA's Voyager?

Forty years ago, NASA sent two spacecraft into space with images and recordings from Earth. To test whether aliens would be able to hear them, scientists ran the messages by animals, as proxies.

What Would Aliens Make Of NASA's Voyager?

Listen · 6:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/554698413/554698422" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Flee A Cataclysm, Or Cling To A Doomed Home? Why People Stay May Surprise You

Flooded houses near Lake Houston on Aug. 30, after the storm called Harvey swept through. Sociologist Clare Cooper Marcus says our homes hold our emotional history — our memories, our hopes, our dreams and pain. In some ways our homes are who we are. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Opinion

Shots - Health News

Flee A Cataclysm, Or Cling To A Doomed Home? Why People Stay May Surprise You

"You must leave now," thousands of Americans from Puerto Rico to Oregon to Florida, Montana, Texas and beyond were told, as floods, fire and wind threatened their lives. Some said no.

Friday

Animals, Plants Rafted Across The Pacific After Japan's 2011 Earthquake

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Greg Ruiz, a marine ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, about nearly 300 Japanese marine coastal species that traveled across the Pacific Ocean.

Animals, Plants Rafted Across The Pacific After Japan's 2011 Earthquake

Listen · 4:21
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/554601005/554601006" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
An Absent EPA Climate Report, And A Tale Of Two Flooded Superfund Sites

Patrick Bayou, pictured on Sept. 2, flooded when Hurricane Harvey slammed the Houston area. The bayou is a Superfund toxic waste site. A March cleanup report for the site did not include preparations for more severe flood events as a result of climate change. Jason Dearen/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Jason Dearen/AP

The Two-Way

An Absent EPA Climate Report, And A Tale Of Two Flooded Superfund Sites

A 2014 EPA climate report warned that Superfund site cleanup and monitoring processes needed updates to prepare for more severe floods. That report is no longer located on the current agency website.

The Pitfalls Of Social Media Advertising
Bernhard Lang/Getty Images

Hidden Brain

The Pitfalls Of Social Media Advertising

Many companies are investing money in social media to advertise new products. But they could be paying a hidden price for those ads.

The Pitfalls Of Social Media Advertising

Listen · 3:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/554424193/554424194" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Breakthrough Pain Treatment Or Snake Oil? You Decide.
Dola Sun for NPR

Shots - Health News

Breakthrough Pain Treatment Or Snake Oil? You Decide.

A painkiller cream is based on sound scientific reasoning, but hasn't undergone tests to prove it works. You can buy it on the Internet, but should you?

Breakthrough Pain Treatment Or Snake Oil? You Decide.

Listen · 3:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/531743869/554331359" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Gravitational Wave Detector In Italy Saw Wave Pass Through Earth In August

An artist's depiction of two black holes colliding. NASA hide caption

toggle caption
NASA

Joe's Big Idea

Gravitational Wave Detector In Italy Saw Wave Pass Through Earth In August

The wave was generated by the merging of two spinning black holes, and took nearly 2 billion years to reach Earth. It is the fourth gravitational wave detection announced so far.

Gravitational Wave Detector In Italy Saw Wave Pass Through Earth In August

Listen · 2:22
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/554057298/554057301" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National

Debt-Laden FEMA Is Slow To Act On Program That Buys Flooded Houses

With the help of federal flood insurance, many homeowners will rebuild after disasters. Some properties already have flooded many times. It'd be cheaper to buy owners out, but that's not happening.

Debt-Laden FEMA Is Slow To Act On Program That Buys Flooded Houses

Listen · 4:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/553934600/553941675" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Culture

U.K. Researchers Look To Revive Forgotten English Words

Researchers at University of York in the United Kingdom have uncovered 30 words they think need to be used more regularly in the English language, including nickum — a cheating, dishonest person. Lead linguist Dominic Watt runs through the list.

U.K. Researchers Look To Revive Forgotten English Words

Listen · 1:33
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/553799173/553799181" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Culture

Guggenheim Pulls Animal Art From Upcoming Chinese Exhibition

The Guggenheim Museum in New York City announced late Monday night that it would be withdrawing three works from an upcoming exhibition of contemporary Chinese art over protests from animal rights groups.

Guggenheim Pulls Animal Art From Upcoming Chinese Exhibition

Listen · 2:32
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/553799214/553799221" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript