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![Small rocks and dust from an asteroid, outside a round sample collection device in a NASA lab.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nasa-image-de96f8cee2df510c0577d10fb0eb330566a7a3dc-e1697145375382-900x422.jpg)
Take a peek at what NASA brought back from an asteroid
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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WASHINGTON (NPR) — NASA has shared its first glimpse of the black rocks and dust brought back from an asteroid, but the bulk of the material remains locked inside a… Read More
![An artist's conception of the Psyche spacecraft approaching an asteroid](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pia21275-medium_custom-b1cdc391bab7bb469e9718049bb088b1f4e9f403-e1697036415368-900x422.jpg)
This next NASA mission to an asteroid is seriously metal
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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WASHINGTON (NPR) — NASA is about to launch a spacecraft on a nearly six-year journey to a strange asteroid that, unlike most space rocks, seems largely to be made of… Read More
![Healthcare graphic](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/AP_757322753438-e1505997373744-900x422.png)
Cancer risk can lurk in our genes. So why don’t more people get tested?
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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WASHINGTON (NPR) — A few years ago, Junius Nottingham Jr. was on a family vacation in Florida with his wife, his daughter and his son, Jeremy. Jeremy was 28 years… Read More
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/hazyminineptune_custom-2ac02a4893877604c7952e615bbc72b09d00fa76-scaled-e1683733665821-900x422.jpg)
The James Webb Space Telescope reveals a mysterious planet to be weirdly shiny
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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WASHINGTON (NPR) — An enigmatic, cloud-enshrouded planet that has puzzled astronomers for years turns out to be less hot than expected – and surprisingly shiny. That’s what the James Webb… Read More
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/3.2_dart_compass_draft2-1-98017dcc35d19f8dc7589617779046b7ad3d8538-900x422.jpg)
Astronomers still have their eyes on that asteroid NASA whacked
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Astronomers are still watching that asteroid that NASA whacked with a spacecraft back in September, in the first-ever test of whether an asteroid could be deliberately pushed off-course. Almost immediately… Read More
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/stsci-01gb2s68eh6ws1jk2a9zt69xcv_custom-e3de39ed565f58e63b04bcc12232f41b51f9fad4-scaled-e1669393242850-900x422.jpg)
The James Webb telescope shows how starlight transforms a distant, Jupiter-like planet
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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The James Webb Space Telescope has identified a rich mix of gases swirling in the skies of a hot, Jupiter-like world orbiting a star that’s around 700-light years from Earth…. Read More
![This image shows the position of the most distant galaxy discovered so far within a deep sky Hubble Space Telescope survey called GOODS North](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/heic1604a_custom-a91e49f68c9185d58ca7ac538915321d41ec2800-scaled-e1639757000306-900x422.jpg)
This new space telescope should show us what the universe looked like as a baby
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — Imagine knowing nothing about your childhood, nothing about where you came from, and spending years hunting for the answers. Then someone hands you a just-discovered trove… Read More
![The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on its way to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where it launched in September, 2016](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ksc-20160829-ph_dng01_0018_large1-b0e93bf3d22a9d3fdf6b35a8521cd85b243d6b84-e1603153571257-900x422.jpg)
If This NASA Spacecraft Can Avoid ‘Mount Doom,’ It Might Nab A Bit of Asteroid
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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NASA is getting ready to collect its first sample from an asteroid ever. The rocks and dust could help us understand potentially dangerous space rocks and the history of the solar system.
![An STS-125 crew member onboard the space shuttle Atlantis snaps a still photo of the Hubble Space Telescope following grapple of the giant observatory by the shuttle.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/s125e006672_large-1ef9cb2770d367c531d20c695613bff364d91165-e1599590248869-900x422.jpg)
The Hubble Space Telescope Still Works Great — Except When It Doesn’t
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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None of us is perfect, and sometimes the Hubble Space Telescope just flat-out points to the wrong spot in the sky. This has been happening more than ever in the last couple of years.
![The SpaceX capsule sits aboard a recovery ship in the Gulf of Mexico.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/parachute4-dd4e8fdb7303fbe03127947af6c221f278260864-e1596480644715-900x422.jpg)
Splashdown! SpaceX And NASA Astronauts Make History
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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NASA and SpaceX are welcoming home two astronauts who splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico after several months on the International Space Station.
![With her blood meal visible through her transparent abdomen, the female Aedes aegypti mosquito takes flight as she leaves her host's skin surface.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/aedespromo-2842d03087d289884f058e0d32a0816148d2680d-e1595539210114-900x422.jpg)
Why One Dangerous Mosquito Developed A Taste For Human Blood
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Given the choice between an animal and a human, the Aedes aegypti species prefers … us. A new study explains how that happened.
![Glacier mice in Iceland.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/moss-balls-6-c847b5386a72f1b396ef8a56d4df19461b54eb97-900x422.jpg)
Herd Of Fuzzy Green ‘Glacier Mice’ Baffles Scientists
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Moss balls seem to roll around glaciers in a coordinated way, and researchers can’t explain why the whole group moves at about the same speed and in the same direction.
![A photograph from 1940, taken for infectious research purposes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shows respiratory droplets released through sneezing.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/gettyimages-515328992-6da9ee93cf2d10fdd175af70f6cca2637721d3b7-scaled-e1585497830373-900x422.jpg)
WHO Reviews ‘Available’ Evidence On Coronavirus Transmission Through Air
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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A scientific brief from the World Health Organization says “current evidence” points to infectious respiratory droplets passed in “close contact” situations, but some say it’s too soon to be sure
![A close-up shows the juvenile California two-spot octopus (left). An adult Hawaiian bobtail squid is seen on the right.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/horizontaldip-39472e91980a4149a35656c03c28620754d97cd1-e1559592310138-900x422.jpg)
Why Octopuses Might Be The Next Lab Rats
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Move over, fruit flies, rats and zebrafish. Squid and octopuses have elaborate brains and behaviors, and scientists say studying them in the laboratory could yield important biological insights.
![A stripe of red dots shows the "risk corridor" for a hypothetical asteroid strike, part of an exercise held by planetary defense experts in which they analyze data about a fictional asteroid this week.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019pdc_rc1-155cfcbcf391c27f25b9068176ffee8c1794a51d-e1556568408502-900x422.jpg)
This Week, NASA Is Pretending An Asteroid Is On Its Way To Smack The Earth
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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A fictitious asteroid is the focus of a realistic exercise, as experts at the Planetary Defense Conference run through how the Earth would respond to news of a looming asteroid strike.
![The 2017 Nobel Prize in physics laureates (from left) Barry C. Barish, Kip S. Thorne and Rainer Weiss, pose during a joint news conference in December 2017 at the Royal Swedish Academy of Science in Stockholm.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ligoscientists-150429c46beafa644f548d6c5ef60eec4324fbba-e1553028446275-900x422.jpg)
Massive U.S. Machines That Hunt For Ripples In Space-Time Just Got An Upgrade
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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The twin sites in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory are about to go back online. New hardware should make them able to sense more colliding black holes and other cosmic events.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/AP_19002706952546-e1546469799977-900x422.jpg)
Images Reveal A ‘Snowman’ At The Frigid Outer Reaches Of Our Solar System
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Scientists say Ultima Thule, a newly explored world out beyond Pluto, is a relic from our solar system’s earliest days.
![Neil deGrasse Tyson said of the allegations: "But what happens when it's just one person's word against another's, and the stories don't agree? That's when people tend to pass judgment on who is more credible than whom."](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/gettyimages-1059322796-c626cb93062b3f07d5bd57b044c4cccb738ecc36-900x422.jpg)
Neil DeGrasse Tyson Rejects Claims Of Sexual Misconduct
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Three women have accused the astrophysicist of inappropriate behavior. One says she quit her job on his TV show Cosmos because of it.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AP_869861175358-e1538602020125-900x422.png)
Scientists Find What Could Be A History-Making Moon
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Scientists have detected plenty of planets outside our solar system. Now, they say, they’ve found the first moon circling one of them.
![When it comes to making decisions, very different types of leaders have at least one thing in common, research suggests.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/gettyimages-949283360leader-c59be3d65c78a0e2caaa20ba3d1a2b915e233d02-e1533315460580-900x422.jpg)
What Makes A Leader?
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Leaders make decisions for a group in the same way they make choices for themselves, a study suggests. They don’t change their decision-making behavior, even when the welfare of others is at stake.
![Spiders can fly long distances by releasing long strands of silk, which get picked up by the wind.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/spider-balloon-c10a92da4623badccbaecfd270f4bd0d203d869a-e1530807640905-900x422.jpg)
When Spiders Go Airborne, It’s Electric — Literally
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Many spiders ply the skies by riding “balloons” of silk. And they rely on something more than just the wind to take them high up and far away.
![Party's over for a federal study about the health effects of moderate alcohol consumption.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/gettyimages-94780548-1-b2c404b07150d1978ee0f0e73f6c33e3ac6ff69c-e1529091548862-900x422.jpg)
Credibility Concerns Lead NIH To End Study Of Alcohol’s Health Effects
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Scientists and National Institutes of Health officials met with alcohol company executives and appeared to solicit money from them in violation of government policy. The NIH canceled the study.
![Using card with black symbols, researchers trained honeybees to understand that sugar water would always be located under a card with the least number of symbols — including when presented with a card that was totally blank.](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/gettyimages-200415242-001-964b640c6816a59d348c03e08c9ea07e5ff15cfa-e1528732378735-900x422.jpg)
Math Bee: Honeybees Seem To Understand The Notion Of Zero
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Research shows that bees possess a mathematical ability once thought to exist only in dolphins, primates, birds and humans who are beyond the preschool years.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/lizard-1-7c6a0ef78ae677aac9bccc25fa761ca1ec2a6aa9-e1526502189429-900x422.jpg)
Why Do Some Lizards Have Green Blood?
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Scientists are trying to figure out how green-blooded lizards might benefit from the unusual pigment. The answer could provide new insights into human illnesses like jaundice and malaria.
![](https://woub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/nell-guns-108c3b1f9f28fbb63e34d9376cdb928d3be496cd-e1521822717989-900x422.jpg)
Proposed Budget Allows CDC To Study Gun Violence, Researchers Skeptical
By: Nell Greenfieldboyce | NPR
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Congress passed an amendment in 1996 limiting the Centers for Disease Control’s ability to study gun control. That may change with the new budget, but gun violence researchers aren’t impressed.