Grasslands: The Unsung Carbon Hero : Short Wave npr.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from npr.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Plunge into the ocean off the west coast of Ireland.and then keep plunging, down to where there s no light and the temperature is just above freezing. That s where underwater chemist Sam Afoullouss sends a deep sea robot to carefully collect samples of marine organisms. The goal? To search for unique chemistry that may one day inspire a medicine. Sam talks giant sponges, dumbo octopuses and bubblegum coral with host Emily Kwong – how to use them as a source for drug discovery while also protecting their wild, intricate ecosystems.
More than three-quarters of adults in the United States say they ve experienced extreme weather in the last five years, according to a nationwide survey conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. And events like floods, wildfires and hurricanes are emptying bank accounts especially when insurance doesn t cover the damage. Today on The Indicator, we bring you an episode of Short Wave, NPR s daily science podcast.
For over a decade, Dr. Thomas Insel headed the National Institute of Mental Health and directed billions of dollars into research on neuroscience and the genetic underpinnings of mental illnesses. Health correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee talks with Dr. Thomas Insel about his new book, Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health and how he came to realize where the U.S s mental health care system had failed, despite scientific advances in the field.