The Pulse team’s favorite stories of 2016

With an exciting year in the world of health and science winding down, we’re listening back to some of our favorite moments from our 2016 shows as chosen by our reporters and producers. 

Host Maiken Scott’s pick: 
The science of an embrace: why does hugging feel so good?

Indian spiritual leader, Mata Amritanandamayi, hugs a devotee during a function in Ahmadabad, India. Known among her followers as “Amma,” which means “mother” in several Indian languages, Amritanandamayi has devotees in India and the rest of the world. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Reporter Taunya English’s pick: 
The history of Heinrich Hertz and the discovery of radio waves 

The Hertz memorial in Karlsruhe, Germany. (Maiken Scott/WHYY)

Reporter Elana Gordon’s pick: 
Sick and tired: a look at the health of Europe’s new migrants

Mud isn’t the only problem in the Basroch camp. There is also waste everywhere, leaving nowhere safe for the children to play. (Brenna Daldorph/for WHYY)

Reporter Irina Zhorov’s pick: 
Bodysnatching and the curious case of One-Eyed Joe

In this sketch, reporters apprehend body snatchers in the act. (Photo courtesy of Jefferson Hospital)

Engineer Charlie Kaier’s pick: 
Sensory overload: How superpower hearing turned into a sonic nightmare 

Pam Gilbert could hear things that other people couldn’t. Then the sounds took over her life. (Courtesy of the Gilbert family)

Producer Paige Pfleger’s pick: 
The anthropocene: Geologists take up the question of a new epoch

A golden spike in Pueblo, CO marking the start of the turonian age, about 94 million years ago. (Holly Pretsky/for WHYY)

Editor Joel Patterson’s pick: 
Doctor tells tale of losing a patient, and what Katy Perry had to do with it

Mohammed Nayeemudin is a internal medicine resident at Temple University in Philadelphia. He told his story for an American College of Physicians story slam at WHYY. (Courtesy of Mohammed Nayeemudin)

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