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These Rats Can Drive. What's Happening In Their Brains?
Episode 1178
In neuroscientist Kelly Lambert's lab at the University of Richmond, rats hop into cars, rev their engines and skid across the floor of an arena. Researchers taught these tiny rodents to drive — and …
Published on 1 year ago
Why Your Brain Loves Sales
Episode 1177
This Cyber Monday, a meditation on holiday sales. A quick trip to pick up presents can turn into an hours-long shopping spree thanks to all the ways stores use research from fields like consumer neur…
Published on 1 year ago
This Hazelnut May Help The Land Back Movement In Canada
Episode 1176
Beaked hazelnuts are a wild food native to North America. Indigenous peoples in British Columbia have passed down stories of these hazelnuts as a vital food source their ancestors planted and cultiv…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
This COP29, It's All About The Numbers
Episode 1175
This year's United Nations climate talks, COP29, wrapped Saturday. Throughout the talks, it was all about the numbers. With the help of NPR climate reporters Julia Simon and Alejandra Borunda, we hon…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
How Do You Save An Endangered Language?
Episode 1174
By the end of the century, more than 40% of the world's estimated 7,000 languages are in danger of disappearing. Those include indigenous languages in the Amazon. The United Nations also estimates th…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
The Battle To Save Monarch Butterflies
Episode 1173
Monarch butterfly populations have plummeted due to habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change. In early December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is going to decide whether the monarch should…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
Are Starship Launches Trashing Texas?
Episode 1172
SpaceX's Starship rocket took off again Tuesday for its sixth test flight. Crowds, including President-elect Donald Trump, gathered at the launch site in Texas to watch it fly part way around the wor…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
The Mystery of the Dead Coho Salmon
Episode 1171
For decades, Coho salmon were turning up dead in urban streams the Pacific Northwest. The salmon would stop swimming straight, and then die before they had a chance to spawn. Researchers worried that…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
How To Have Hard Conversations
Episode 1170
Many people are gearing up for holiday conversations with loved ones who may disagree with them — on everything from politics to religion and lifestyle choices. As the conversations unfold, these div…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
Don't Let Jet Lag Ruin Your Holiday Plans
Episode 1168
Getting enough sleep regularly can be tough — and even harder when you're traveling for the holidays. "We need sleep like we need water," says Jade Wu, a behavioral sleep medicine psychologist and au…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago