Alan Yu

Reporter

Alan was all set on majoring in biology, but then he realized he liked writing about science more than doing research, so he left Hong Kong and went to study journalism in the U.S. After interning at NPR and WBEZ in Chicago, he has never wanted to work anywhere outside of public radio. He covers space and all other kinds of innovation. He enjoys comic books, LEGO, and dragon boating.

More from the Contributor

FILE- In this file photo made May 26, 2010, people look over the battery array of an all-electric Nissan Leaf in Smyrna, Tenn. Nissan North America, Inc. held its ground-breaking ceremony Wednesday for a lithium-ion battery plant as part of its plan to start building electric cars and eventually create up to 1,300 jobs in Tennessee. The auto industry calls it range anxiety: Drivers want electric cars but worry they won't have enough juice to make long trips. After all, what good is going green if you get stranded with a dead battery? It's a fear that automakers must overcome as they push to sell more battery-powered cars. So government and business are taking steps to reassure drivers by building up the nation's network of electric charging stations. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

The Pulse

Science

Why it’s so hard to replace a Nissan LEAF battery

Years of research powered electric car batteries, yet questions remain to be answered.

5 years ago

Listen 13:38

Health

Pa. coronavirus update: Philly cases jump, despite vaccine eligibility

The city reported 747 new COVID-19 cases since Monday. Last week’s daily average of new cases was 591.

5 years ago

Mitzi Hansrote, right, 86, and Deanna Sutton, center, 83, check in before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, at the Isles of Vero Beach assisted and independent senior living community in Vero Beach, Fla. Government officials placed long-term care residents and staff among their top vaccination priorities after they authorized the emergency use of shots from Pfizer and Moderna in late 2020. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Health

A Delco senior living facility is full of people 70 and up. They only got vaccines in March

Ivy Creek in Glen Mills wanted an on-site vaccine clinic. ‘Independent’ seniors don’t qualify, the CDC said.

5 years ago

Listen 2:03

Health

Health Desk Help Desk

Which places will require proof of a COVID-19 vaccine? And should they?

Some countries, venues let vaccinated people move more freely. What about travel passports? College classes? WHYY’s Health Desk Help Desk has insights.

5 years ago

Listen 5:31

Vivian Satchell (right) receives her second dose of COVID-19 vaccine from registered nurse Elizabeth Lash

Health

Community health clinics are positioned to vaccinate the most vulnerable. Do they have what they need to do it?

Federally qualified health centers are well positioned to vaccinate underserved communities. But they must balance that need with serving regular patients.

5 years ago

Listen 2:17

A journalist receives a shot of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine

Health

What the U.S. can learn from mass vaccination campaigns in other countries

Health researchers wonder why the United States tried to reinvent the wheel when it came to setting up COVID-19 vaccinations on a large scale.

5 years ago

A series of brain scan images against a black background. Brain scans showing MRI mapping for 3 tasks across 2 different days. Warm colors show how the results hold up in groups. Cool colors show how results are less reliable person to person. Photo credit: Annchen Knodt/Duke University.

The Pulse

Science

Scientists have used fMRI to study brain activity for years. Now, some question the results’ reliability

Scientists have found that results can change, brain scans from the same person doing the same thing can be different a week or a month later.

5 years ago

Listen 11:23

Clockwise from left, Diana Montoya-Williams, Jose Torradas, Brunilda 'Cookie' Sanchez, Natalia Ortiz, and Melissa Pluguez-Moldavskiy are members of Unidos Contra Covid. (Screenshot via Zoom)

Community

Philly’s Latino doctors form a collective to boost lagging community vaccination rates

Inspired by the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, a group of Latino physicians and nurses is applying for city funding to serve its undervaccinated community.

5 years ago

OHSU School of Medicine student Mollie Marr stands in front of a whiteboard holding a laptop. She helps organize a letter-writing campaign for students to share personal stories about the impact of losing a proposed tax waiver for tuition for graduate students, December 1, 2017. Marr is pursuing her M.D. and her Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience in the OHSU School of Medicine, and losing the tax waiver could mean dropping out of OHSU. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

The Pulse

Health

Should medical schools require a standardized test for admission?

The MCAT is supposed to gauge future success. But it can also be a financial barrier to underrepresented groups.

5 years ago

Listen 13:38

Health

How well are contact tracing apps working to alert us to COVID in Pa., Del., and N.J.?

Now that people have been using the apps for a while, states are measuring how useful they actually have been, and what could make them better.

5 years ago

Listen 1:27

Philly Fighting COVID CEO Andrei Doroshin inside his apartment building

Politics & Policy

Philly Fighting COVID vaccine partnership put city ‘at great risk,’ says inspector general

Philadelphia’s inspector general said the Health Department ignored numerous red flags that could have avoided the scandal, yet stopped short of recommending sanctions.

5 years ago

Listen 1:09