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Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken Scott. The Pulse will take you behind the doors of operating rooms, into the lab with some of the world’s foremost scientists, and back in time to explore life-changing innovations. The Pulse delivers stories in ways that matter to you, and answers questions you never knew you had.
New episode every Friday at 9 a.m.
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Hosted by Maiken Scott
Recent Articles
How extreme isolation affects the brain
New research on solitary confinement could bridge the mind-body gap when it comes to cruel and unusual punishment.
1 day ago
Listen 11:44Is NASA’s Curiosity rover lonely on Mars?
Some humans here on Earth think so, now that the Opportunity rover’s mission has ended.
2 days ago
Listen 05:56Dyscalculia — the math version of dyslexia
A little-known learning disability is helping kids — and adults — reframe their struggles with numbers.
1 week ago
Listen 03:39What’s the best way to teach math?
For decades, people in the U.S. have worried about falling behind the rest of the world at math. Some teachers think they have answers.
1 week ago
Listen 08:47Screen time and kids: A real danger or a ‘moral panic’?
Pediatricians in the U.S. recommend strict screen time limits for kids. But U.K. doctors say the science backing those recommendations is not convincing.
2 weeks ago
Listen 09:12San Francisco shares its schoolyards, opening communities to green spaces and one another’s lives
Like many cities, when schools closed for the day, usually schoolyards did too. But when the school district upgraded its playgrounds, it kept them open longer.
2 weeks ago
Listen 08:31Why opposition to GMOs is a First World privilege
How public mistrust in GMOs destroyed one scientist's dream of helping farmers in developing countries produce sturdier, higher-yield crops.
4 weeks ago
Listen 06:49We had a chance to wipe out sickle cell. And, we didn’t.
The government took aim at sickle cell anemia in the 70s, spending millions on the neglected disease, but the efforts back fired. What went wrong?
1 month ago
Listen 12:01High-rise hospitals rely on old-school elevator operators
Hospitals are some of the last places you’ll still find elevator operators. Quickly moving between floors can mean life and death for patients needing surgery.
1 month ago
Listen 05:48Doctors are trained to remove maggots from patients, but could it be that maggots are actually there to help?
1 month ago
Listen 08:55What makes addiction a disease?
Science calls addiction a "brain disease," but critics say that label fails to show that addiction is a learning problem with roots in both biology and behavior.
1 month ago
Listen 12:46Who gets to be called ‘doctor’?
Go to med school, earn an M.D. and the “Dr.” honorific gets tacked on to your last name. Some women — and Ph.D.s — say they get the courtesy title, and respect, less often.
1 month ago
Listen 06:49For some people who stutter, fluent speech is overrated
While researchers are working toward a "cure," some stutters consider that prospect “a little bit eugenic” and say it’s time to embrace neurodiversity.
1 month ago
Listen 10:41Should we call little girls beautiful?
Many parents bristle when people call their daughters beautiful. They worry that it sets girls up for only valuing their looks. For others, it’s not that big of a deal.
1 month ago
Listen 07:01Should your cat get to go outside?
Keeping Ahab the cat cooped up seemed to crush her spirit and hunting instincts, so owner Liz Tung consulted with experts to weigh the cost of feline freedom.
2 months ago
Listen 8:17Partners
