Welcome to the “Science: NPR” update from Hawaii Science Digest.

Views expressed in this science and technology news summary are those of the reporters and correspondents.

Content provided by National Public Radio (NPR).

Accessed on 31 December 2019, 0025 UTC.

Source:

https://www.npr.org/sections/science/

Please click link or scroll down to read your selections.

Science

• SUBSCRIBE TO DAILY NEWS EMAIL

fotosipsak/Getty Images/iStockphoto

HIDDEN BRAIN

Creatures Of Habit: How Habits Shape Who We Are — And Who We Become

At the beginning of the year, many of us make resolutions for the months to come. We resolve to work out more, procrastinate less, or save more money. Though some people stick with these aspirations, many of us fall short. This week, psychologist Wendy Wood shares what researchers have found about how to build good habits — and break bad ones.

LISTEN· 51:08PLAYLIST

• Download
• Embed
  https://www.npr.org/player/embed/787160734/791827236″ />

Kin Cheung/AP

ASIA

Chinese Researcher Who Created Gene-Edited Babies Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison

SHORT WAVE

The Decade In Science

PLAYLIST

Toggle more options

• https://www.npr.org/player/embed/789301569/791930044″ />

Grant Din/National Archives

SHOTS – HEALTH NEWS

Tracing Your Family’s Roots May Soon Get A Lot More Expensive

December 29, 2019 • Access to some genealogical records kept by the U.S. government may get a lot more expensive, especially for those seeking family records for immigrants from the late 1800s to mid-1900s.

LISTEN· 5:34PLAYLIST

• Download
• Embed
  https://www.npr.org/player/embed/791524913/792160330″ />

NicholeSobecki/VII for NPR

GOATS AND SODA

Mozambique Is Racing To Adapt To Climate Change. The Weather Is Winning

December 27, 2019 • Two major cyclones and a prolonged drought in 2019 are a reminder that Mozambique’s residents are on the front lines of climate change. And they do not have all the resources they need.

LISTEN· 5:45PLAYLIST

• Download
• Embed
  https://www.npr.org/player/embed/788552728/791918167″ />
• Transcript

Louis Kwok/AFP via Getty Images

SPACE

‘Ring Of Fire’ Eclipse Sweeps Across Skies In Middle East And Southeast Asia

December 26, 2019 • Instead of the sun’s full disk of fire, or a crescent of light, viewers in areas of complete annularity saw a fiery halo around the moon.

Getty Images

SHORT WAVE

One Of The Germiest Places In The Airport

December 26, 2019 • Hint: it’s not the bathroom. Niina Ikonen and Carita Savolainen-Kopra from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare studied high-traffic areas in the Helsinki airport to identify where germs were most prevalent. Also, tips on how to stay healthy during your holiday travel. Here’s their original paper in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases. Follow host Maddie Sofia on Twitter @maddie_sofia. Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

LISTEN· 7:13PLAYLIST

• Download
• Embed
  https://www.npr.org/player/embed/787024227/791222537″ />
• Transcript

Meredith Rizzo/NPR

SHOTS – HEALTH NEWS

A Young Mississippi Woman’s Journey Through A Pioneering Gene-Editing Experiment

December 25, 2019 • NPR tells the exclusive, behind-the-scenes story of the first person with a genetic disorder to be treated in the United States with the revolutionary gene-editing technique CRISPR.

LISTEN· 22:00PLAYLIST

• Download
• Embed
  https://www.npr.org/player/embed/784395525/791351729″ />
• Transcript

Irina Zhorov for WHYY

A Christmas Tree Thrives On Farms, Struggles In The Wild

December 24, 2019 • The Fraser fir is found in a lot of homes around Christmas. But its wild cousins have been in decline for almost a century because of a small invasive pest.

LISTEN· 3:53PLAYLIST

• Download
• Embed
  https://www.npr.org/player/embed/790736803/791205623″ />
• Transcript

Gareth Fuller /PA Images/Getty Images

GOATS AND SODA

The Decade In Global Health: New Drugs, Faster Trials, Social Media To The Rescue

December 24, 2019 • Leading health experts shared the innovations and breakthroughs that they said saved millions of lives over the past ten years.

Renzo Dionigi

SHOTS – HEALTH NEWS

Why Certain Poor Shepherds In Nativity Scenes Have Huge, Misshapen Throats

December 24, 2019 • In some historical Nativity scenes, the shepherds have grossly enlarged thyroid glands — also known today as goiter. It’s an apparent symbol of their poverty and iodine-deficient diet.

LISTEN· 4:06PLAYLIST

• Download
• Embed
  https://www.npr.org/player/embed/788915889/791205641″ />
• Transcript

Jacob W. Frank/NPS

Steam On, Steamboat: The World’s Tallest Active Geyser Has Another Record Year

December 24, 2019 • The world’s tallest active geyser is Steamboat Geyser, in Yellowstone National Park. It’s been on a real eruption streak lately and 2019 saw the most recorded eruptions in a calendar year.

LISTEN· 4:36PLAYLIST

• Download
• Embed
  https://www.npr.org/player/embed/786716739/791030199″ />
• Transcript

Meghan Dhaliwal/for NPR

GOATS AND SODA

Malnutrition Hits The Obese As Well As The Underfed

December 23, 2019 • New research finds millions of people are getting enough calories but not enough essential nutrients. We asked leading researchers how to fix the problem.

The Michigan Department of Transportation

ENVIRONMENT

Officials Identify Mysterious Bright Green Liquid That Spilled Onto Michigan Highway

December 23, 2019 • Investigators say they believe the substance found on a freeway north of Detroit is groundwater mixed with a chemical called hexavalent chromium. The public safety risk is minimal, officials say.

Bill Ingalls/AP

Boeing’s Starliner Lands Safely Back To Earth After Aborted Space Station Mission

December 22, 2019 • The journey is being hailed as a major achievement despite failing to complete a core objective: docking at the international space station. NASA hopes to launch U.S. astronauts in space in 2020.

Michael Conroy/AP

SHOTS – HEALTH NEWS

A New Safety Program Takes On Silica Dust Amid A Possible Crisis

December 21, 2019 • It will now be easier for the government to inspect shops where workers might get exposed to lung-damaging silica dust. But it’s unclear how much it will affect countertop workers.

Jelacic Valentina/EyeEm/Getty Images

SHOTS – HEALTH NEWS

CDC Confirms A THC Additive, Vitamin E Acetate, Is The Culprit In Most Vaping Deaths

December 20, 2019 • The spate of more than 2,500 acute vaping-related lung injuries tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on the decline, epidemiologists say, and the number of deaths has slowed.

Terry Renna/AP

In Uncrewed Test, Boeing’s Starliner Capsule Fails To Reach Space Station

December 20, 2019 • After a flawless launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., the crew capsule, loaded with 600 pounds of cargo for the station, was unable to reach its intended orbit, Boeing says.

Claudia Fung for NPR

INVISIBILIA

VIDEO: The (Future) Friendship Machine

December 20, 2019 • A special gift during this season of giving: An original animated video in two parts! Part 1 explores a small but strange study about a machine that could predict human friendships. Then, in collaboration with fictionalist Ian Chillag (Everything Is Alive), we ask, What would the machine have to say about all of this, if it could talk? If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can watch it at npr.org/invisibilia. And, if you want to reciprocate this little gift, don’t forget to donate to your NPR station before the end of the year at donate.npr.org/invis.

svetikd/Getty Images

THE SALT

How Online Grocery Delivery Could Help Alleviate Food Deserts

December 19, 2019 • Delivery service could make it easier to access fresh, healthy food in these areas, a study finds. It lends support to a pilot program that lets people pay for these groceries with food stamps.

Lightchaser Photography / J. Kiely Jr./Brigham and Women’s Hospital

SHORT WAVE

The First African American Face Transplant

December 19, 2019 • In 2013, Robert Chelsea was hit by a drunk driver and sustained third-degree burns on more than half of his body. Nearly six years later, he became the first African American recipient of a full face transplant. We talk with Chelsea and Jamie Ducharme, a Time staff writer who followed his journey, about the procedure and how his story could help encourage organ donation by African Americans. Follow Maddie on Twitter @maddie_sofia. And email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

LISTEN· 11:31PLAYLIST

• Download
• Embed
  https://www.npr.org/player/embed/788424096/789153225″ />
• Transcript

LOAD MORE STORIES

browse archive orsearch npr.org