NASA's Orion Completes First Test Flight
NASA's Orion spacecraft — built to take a human crew into deep space — completed a successful test flight Friday. NPR's Arun Rath talks with landing and recovery manager Stuart McClung.
Coming Soon To A Filling Station Near You: $1.99 Gasoline
OnCue in Oklahoma City was the first place in the country to drop its price per gallon below $2. Several other cities are likely to get similarly cheap gas soon, an expert says.
Lots Of Work Remains After Successful Orion Launch
NASA successfully launched and landed a test version of its next-generation Orion spacecraft on Friday morning. The unmanned test is the first for the follow-on to the shuttle.
Why Did Vitamins Disappear From Non-GMO Breakfast Cereal?
When GMO-free cereals landed in supermarkets, some vitamins had mysteriously vanished from them. But these vitamins don't necessarily come from genetically altered organisms.
It's Brown, It's Barrel-Aged, It's ... Gin?
Barrel-aged gin resembles young whisky in color and flavor. It's quickly becoming the new darling of distillers and craft bartenders across the U.S.
Baby's Necklace Could End Up Being A Life Saver
In countries like India, where vaccine records are kept on paper, kids often miss a dose — with potentially fatal results. Now some Yale students have come up with a high-tech (and cheap) solution.
DNA Pioneer Watson's Nobel Prize Sells For $4.75 Million
The Nobel Prize that James Watson won for helping explain how DNA is structured has a new owner. Watson has said he'll donate much of the $4.75 million sales price to educational institutions.
Who Made That Flavor? Maybe A Genetically Altered Microbe
Biotech companies are inserting new genes into microorganisms, turning them into tiny factories to produce valuable nutrients and flavors. But many of them don't want to talk about it.
2014 To Be Warmest Year On Record, U.N. Weather Agency Says
The World Meteorological Organization says that so far, 2014 is 1.03 degrees Fahrenheit above a benchmark average. It would be the 38th consecutive year with an above normal global average, it says.
The Mystery Of The Missing Martins
In Skunk Bear's latest video, join the search for an enormous flock of missing songbirds, and learn some bizarre facts about Shakespeare and Doppler radar along the way.
Is The Food Babe A Fearmonger? Scientists Are Speaking Out
The food system is awash in chemicals and additives. One woman has made a career out of investigating them. But a cadre of critics says she's creating more confusion than clarity about food.
NASA Scrubs Orion Launch For Today
After several issues, including high winds, stuck engine valves and a boat downrange of the launch site, the space agency said it would cancel today's planned launch of the new vehicle.
World Climate Talks In Lima Aim To Move Beyond Kyoto Treaty
Unlike the 1997 Kyoto treaty, the plan on the negotiating table in Lima this week asks every country, developed and developing, to limit carbon emissions. Each nation would set its own target.
To Search For A New Supernova, Build A New Camera
Most telescope cameras can only capture a small patch of sky at a time. But a new camera has a much larger field of view, and its backers are hoping for help in deciphering its reams of data.
NASA To Test Orion Spacecraft For Long Future Missions
NASA plans to launch an unmanned capsule named "Orion" from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday. NASA hopes that Orion will one day carry astronauts beyond Earth's orbit and even to Mars.
In New York, Video Chat Trumps Quarantine To Combat TB
Ebola isn't the first dangerous microbe to spur calls for quarantine in American cities. But as New York City's experience with drug-resistant tuberculosis suggests, isolation isn't always best.
A Drug Might Heal Spinal Injuries By Sparking Nerve Growth
A neurologist's unorthodox thinking led to an experimental drug that allows trapped nerve fibers to grow again. And that growth helps amplify signals that restored movement in laboratory rates.
Is HIV Evolving Into A Weaker Virus?
In parts of southern Africa, HIV has picked up mutations that slow down its ability to grow inside a person's blood. That's a good sign. But will it be enough to make a difference in the epidemic?
Earliest Human Engraving Or Trash From An Ancient Lunch?
Carved zigzag marks on a shell found more than a century ago have drawn new interest from archaeologists. The half-million-year-old lines aren't from an animal, and might be art from Homo erectus.
Our Ability To Digest Alcohol May Have Been Key To Our Survival
Our primate ancestors were consuming alcohol 10 million years ago in the form of fermented fruit, researchers have discovered. The finding suggests our relationship with alcohol is ancient.
