Sep 14, 2018
Stat: Four. That’s how many letters in the DNA alphabet make up every living thing.
Story: How does genetic information transmit across generations? While trying to find out, scientists Craig Mello and Andrew Fire quite by accident made a discovery in 1998 that would earn them a Nobel Prize—and pave the way for the...
Sep 7, 2018
Stat: North Atlantic cod have nearly tripled
since 2006 to 118,000 tons.
Summary: Overfishing has strained most global fish
stocks. But the European Union has made progress bringing back one
popular species: North Atlantic cod. The flaky white fish—a British
staple when battered and served with chips—has rebounded...
Aug 24, 2018
Stat: 44 percent. The percentage of Americans
who think the public doesn’t know enough about science to
understand new findings in the news.
Story: Ira Flatow, the host of “Science Friday,”
has been with National Public Radio since it went on the air in
1970. Although he knows the public loves science, he’s...
Aug 10, 2018
Stat: At least 2 million Americans get
antibiotic-resistant infections each year.
Story: Nearly a century after Alexander Fleming’s
discovery of penicillin, bacteria continue to develop the ability
to defeat antibiotics. Doctors worldwide are concerned about the
spread of superbugs that are resistant to all...
Aug 3, 2018
Stat: $477 billion. That’s the amount spent on prescription drugs in the United States last year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Story: Skyrocketing prescription drug prices have long troubled U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who has championed bipartisan legislation to give consumers...