Science The latest health and science news. Updates on medicine, healthy living, nutrition, drugs, diet, and advances in science and technology. Subscribe to the Health & Science podcast.

Science

Damming waterways is what beavers do best, often to the chagrin of people who want the opposite. But those same damming skills are what make beavers important ecosystem engineers. Chase Dekker Wild-Life Images hide caption

toggle caption
Chase Dekker Wild-Life Images

Beavers can help with climate change. So how do we get along?

NPR's Tom Dreisbach is back in the host chair for a day. This time, he reports on a story very close to home: The years-long battle his parents have been locked in with the local wild beaver population. Each night, the beavers would dam the culverts along the Dreisbachs' property, threatening to make their home inaccessible. Each morning, Tom's parents deconstructed those dams — until the annual winter freeze hit and left them all in a temporary stalemate.

Beavers can help with climate change. So how do we get along?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198909894/1246732375" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Drug companies often do one-on-one outreach to doctors. A new study finds these meetings with drug reps lead to more prescriptions for cancer patients, but not longer survival. Chris Hondros/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Oncologists' meetings with drug reps don't help cancer patients live longer

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1246054537/1246257369" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Scholars Susan Ashbrook Harvey, left, and Robin Darling Young became 'sworn siblings' after an ancient ritual at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Keren Carrion/NPR; Jodi Hilton for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Keren Carrion/NPR; Jodi Hilton for NPR

How two good friends became sworn siblings — with the revival of an ancient ritual

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1245859170/1245989041" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Venca-Stastny/Getty Images

A cheap drug may slow down aging. A study will determine if it works

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1245872510/1246277665" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images

When the media covers scientific research, not all scientists are equally likely to be mentioned. A new study finds scientists with Asian or African names were 15% less likely to be named in a story. shironosov/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
shironosov/Getty Images

An artistic rendering of a washed-up Ichthyotitan severnensis carcass on the beach. Sergey Krasovskiy hide caption

toggle caption
Sergey Krasovskiy

An empty room is pictured in a concrete house in Matam, Senegal. Many families don't have electricity nor the means to own a fan or air conditioning to help quell the intense heat at night, temperatures can stay around 35 degree Celsius throughout the night. John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

Wildfire smoke covered huge swaths of the U.S. in 2023, including places like New York City, where it has historically been uncommon. New research shows the health costs of breathing in wildfire smoke can be high. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
Connie Hanzhang Jin

COMIC: Our sun was born with thousands of other stars. Where did they all go?

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1241063826/1245319487" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Selkirkia tsering fossil found in a collection from the Fezouata Formation in Morocco. Javier Ortega Hernández/Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology hide caption

toggle caption
Javier Ortega Hernández/Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology

Author Cristina Henriquez next to the cover of her new novel, The Great Divide. Brian McConkey/Ecco hide caption

toggle caption
Brian McConkey/Ecco

The safety rules being announced and finalized today will hold mines to the same standard for silica dust exposure as other employers. These x-rays show black lung disease. Elaine McMillion Sheldon for PBS Frontline hide caption

toggle caption
Elaine McMillion Sheldon for PBS Frontline
Lily Padula for NPR

Gay people often have older brothers. Why? And does it matter?

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1243861703/1244900628" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Four voters share their view of the U.S. economy. Courtesy of Arch City Defenders, Winton Machine Company, Bhavesh Patel and the Just One Project hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Arch City Defenders, Winton Machine Company, Bhavesh Patel and the Just One Project

After using the Lenire device for an hour each day for 12 weeks, Victoria Banks says her tinnitus is "barely noticeable." David Petrelli/Victoria Banks hide caption

toggle caption
David Petrelli/Victoria Banks

Got tinnitus? A device that tickles the tongue helps this musician find relief

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1244501055/1244762356" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
bsd studio/Getty Images

Here's how the brain experiences pleasure — even the kind that makes us feel guilty

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1198909718/1244553743" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

The author's 8-year-old daughter, Rosy, has a "kids' license," showing she has her parents' permission to ride her bike around her Texas hometown. Michaeleen Doucleff hide caption

toggle caption
Michaeleen Doucleff