Health & Science - WHYY

Early Sunsets in Early December

Starting on Monday, December 3rd, we’ll embark on a ten-day period when sunset arrives around 4:35 in the afternoon, marking the ea ...

Air Date: December 3, 2018

Listen 06:42

Why spanking is bad for kids

Guests: Stacey Patton, Elizabeth Gershoff Parents shouldn’t spank their children, according to the American Aca ...

Air Date: December 3, 2018 10:00 am

Listen 49:00

The study offers several reasons why conduct problems might precede marijuana use. Kids with conduct problems are more likely to be attracted to rebellious behaviors. And marijuana is a way for troubled kids to self-medicate. (Big Stock)

Penn study: Marijuana doesn’t cause bad behavior — it’s the other way around

Results of a new study by University of Pennsylvania researchers contradict previous reports showing a connection between conduct problems and marijuana use.

8 years ago

Listen 1:19

Philabundance volunteers fill bags and boxes with fresh produce during a free farmers market at Lillian Marrero Library in Philadelphia's Fairhill neighborhood, March 14, 2018. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

Broke in Philly

Drexel research links racism and hunger

People who experience discrimination firsthand struggle with hunger twice as often as others.

8 years ago

Listen 1:31

People have enjoyed seltzer and other sparkling drinks for decades. Some of the bottles at the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys go back to the 1950s. (Alan Yu/WHYY)

Why we like sparkling water: The science behind the fizz

Bubbly water purveyors say “a good seltzer should hurt.” The acidity in carbonated drinks lights up the pain receptors in nerve endings — in a way that pleases the tongue.

8 years ago

Aegean Rebreath founder George Sarelakos (center) hands a netted bag of marine litter to volunteers on the main pier of the Greek island of Poros. (Joanna Kakissis for NPR)

NPR

Meet Greece’s marine trash collectors diving to keep their sea beautiful

Marine litter is a global problem that can seem overwhelming.

8 years ago

Neil deGrasse Tyson visits SiriusXM Studios on Nov. 8, 2018 in New York City.
(Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)

NPR

Neil deGrasse Tyson responds to claims of sexual harassment

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has responded to recent allegations of sexual misconduct by posting a lengthy statement online, in which he denies wrongdoing.

8 years ago

Medicare's new program will alter a year's worth of payments to 14,959 skilled nursing facilities across the U.S., based on how often in the past fiscal year their residents ended up back in hospitals within 30 days of leaving. (BSIP/Getty Images)

NPR

Medicare to cut payments to nursing homes whose patients end up back in the hospital

The federal government took a new step this week to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions of nursing home patients.

8 years ago

This undated photo provided by the Pentagon's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency shows Lawrence Dickson, a New York pilot killed during World War II. Dickson is first of the 27 Tuskegee Airmen still listed as missing in action whose remains the Pentagon says they have identified through DNA samples provided by his daughter in New Jersey. Dickson was a 24-year-old captain in the 100th Fighter Squadron when his P-51 fighter plane was seen crashing along the Italy-Austria border during a mission on Dec. 23, 1944. Searches for the crash site were unsuccessful until 2012. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)

Pentagon IDs remains of Tuskegee Airman killed in WWII

Sixty-six Tuskegee Airmen died in combat, including 27 who were listed as MIA. Dickson was the first to be identified.

8 years ago

Researchers zeroed in on the ages of kids when they enrolled in kindergarten to investigate discrepancies in ADHD diagnoses. (Westend61/Getty Images)

NPR

Youngest children in a class are most likely to get ADHD diagnosis

These results underscore the shortcomings in how ADHD is identified.

8 years ago

(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Climate change: the talks, the costs, and the consequences

Guests: Jean Chemnick, Robert Kopp, Stephen Pacala The UN climate change conference in Katowice, Poland starts Mo ...

Air Date: November 30, 2018 10:00 am

Listen 48:58

Movement grows to establish seafood ‘gleaning’ program in N.J.

The Cape May County Board of Freeholders is the latest legislative body to support a program that would allow the New Jersey fishing indu ...

8 years ago

The city of Big Spring’s desert-like climate has pushed officials to come up with creative ways to conserve water. In 2013, the Colorado River Municipal Water District opened the nation's first Direct Potable Reuse water treatment plant, in order to recycle the city’s water. (Kristen Cabrera/For WHYY)

From toilet to tap: Texas town makes the most of its ‘pre-owned’ water

Water shortages forced Big Spring, Texas to begin reusing its wastewater five years ago, but not all locals are on board.

8 years ago

Listen 8:06

The Water We Drink

Most of us take our drinking water for granted — switch on the tap, and out it flows. But in much of the world, that’s not the case. ...

Air Date: November 30, 2018

Listen 48:51

Syringes of fentanyl, an opioid painkiller, sit in an inpatient facility in Salt Lake City. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid-related overdoses have contributed to the life expectancy drop in the U.S. (Rick Bowmer/AP)

NPR

U.S. life expectancy drops amid ‘disturbing’ rise in overdoses and suicides

More than 70,000 people died of drug overdoses last year alone, according to the CDC. That number marks a nearly 10 percent increase from 2016.

8 years ago

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