Joe Palca is a science correspondent for NPR. Since joining NPR in 1992, Palca has covered a range of science topics -- everything from biomedical research to astronomy. In addition to his science reporting, Palca is backup host for Talk of the Nation Science Friday.
Recent Stories
Where does all that dust under your couch come from? It turns out that most household dust comes from outside — and may contain some pretty harmful stuff. How the toxins in dust get into your body depends on the size of the dust particle.
The space agency announced plans for freeing the rover Spirit, which has been stuck in a Martian sand trap since April. Spirit has six wheels, though one, being inspected here by the rover's robotic arm, stopped working in 2006. NASA engineers will begin transmitting commands to the robot's five working wheels on Monday, but escape efforts could last into early next year.
French scientists report that two boys treated with gene therapy for a rare but fatal genetic disease have shown improvements. These results mark a high point for the field of gene therapy. Shown here, the area of the brain that was treated.
An international team of scientists has completed a draft sequence of the pig genome. Pigs share many important properties with humans, so understanding the pig genome could reveal more about behavior and disease resistance in humans.
A study shows the effect of what happens when genes from bioengineered plants get lose. A gene that protects a squash from a viral disease also protects a wild gourd from this disease but it makes it more susceptible to other threats.
A computing project on the Internet called the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search has discovered a new Mersenne prime number. At nearly 13 million digits long, it is only the 47th Mersenne prime since ancient Greek mathematicians first uncovered them.
Warming global temperatures could cause massive tree die-offs. That's the gloomy conclusion of a new study by scientists at the University of Arizona. They've discovered that trees exposed to temperatures warmer than those in their native environment were less capable of tolerating drought.
The world's largest prime number clocks in at nearly 13 million digits. It's a type of number called a Mersenne, and mathematicians are using the Internet to outsource the computing power to find them, number-crunching away to find one that's even larger.
In the quest for a more environmentally friendly battery, MIT scientists have turned to biology. They've incorporated a genetically engineered virus into the structure of a lithium battery, allowing for a less toxic manufacturing process.
Scientists say the heart, long thought to be the least regenerative organ in the body, can grow new heart muscle cells. Fallout from atomic tests led to this new finding.
A half-dozen states started their own embryonic stem cell research programs after former President Bush imposed restrictions on federal dollars. But now that President Obama has lifted the restrictions, some states are questioning those costly programs, especially since state funds are scarce.
Here's a radical concept: Our genes could determine which infectious diseases we are susceptible to. Some scientists say this could explain why some people infected with a microbe develop the disease and others show no symptoms.
President Barack Obama's decision to allow federal funding for stem cell research represents the fulfillment of a campaign promise. Both Obama and his campaign rival, John McCain, vowed to repudiate the Bush administration's willingness to let policy imperatives invade science.
President Barack Obama is expected to reverse Bush-era restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Obama is expected to announce the move Monday, freeing up federal funds for research on those stem cell lines created after Aug. 9, 2001.
Suspension bridges are an ancient but elegant technology. They're built to last, and some, like the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, are more than 100 years old. But none of them will last forever, so engineers are testing a system of sensors that will sound the alarm if a cable nears failure.
