Geoff Brumfiel

Geoff Brumfiel appears in the following:

Mosquitoes spread malaria. These researchers want them to fight it instead

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Scientists have used a gene-editing technique to make mosquitos allies in the fight against malaria. Environmentalists are troubled by the idea of genetically modifying wild animals.

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Researchers discover stardust sprinkled on a nearby asteroid

Saturday, July 15, 2023

Are we really made of stardust? A team of scientists set out to answer the question. (Story first aired on All Things Considered on July 14, 2023.)

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Researchers discover stardust sprinkled on a nearby asteroid

Friday, July 14, 2023

The dust, which came from distant stars, is thought to be similar to grains that eventually helped form the planets, including Earth.

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A week in science: A copper-age "queen," a sea squirt and malaria-fighting mosquitoes

Thursday, July 13, 2023

NPR's Adrian Florido talks with Short Wave hosts Regina Barber and Geoff Brumfiel about a copper-age "queen," a 500-million-year-old sea squirt, and a way to help mosquitoes fight malaria.

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The world is officially 'free' of chemical weapons. Here's what that means

Friday, July 07, 2023

The U.S. has destroyed the last of its stockpile of sarin nerve agent, fulfilling a decades-old obligation.

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Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of planning to attack Zaporizhzhia power plant

Wednesday, July 05, 2023

Ukraine and Russia each say the other is planning to sabotage the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. They've been trading accusations over the past year, but now they say an attack is imminent.

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This week in science: gravitational waves, nature-inspired robots and Orca attacks

Thursday, June 29, 2023

Hosts of NPR's science podcast Short Wave talk about newly-discovered gravitational waves, a robot designed with inspiration from nature and why Orcas might be attacking boats near the European coast.

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Step inside the world's only nuclear-powered passenger ship — built in 1959

Friday, June 23, 2023

The Nuclear Ship Savannah offers a snapshot of a nuclear future that never quite came to pass.

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Civil rights advocates say laws need to catch up with AI technology

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Law enforcement is increasingly using artificial intelligence to investigate crimes, but some civil rights advocates want limits on the technology.

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How AI is revolutionizing how governments conduct surveillance

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Artificial intelligence is getting attention for its potential to bring huge changes to many different fields in the future, but experts say the AI revolution in surveillance is already here.

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A Ukrainian nuclear plant is facing a water shortage

Saturday, June 10, 2023

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant used a large reservoir for cooling water. Now that reservoir is rapidly draining.

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Zaporizhzia Nuclear Plant needs more water than reservoir can give after dam breach

Friday, June 09, 2023

Europe's largest nuclear plant has lost access to its primary source of cooling water. Fortunately, its reactors should be safe for at least a few months with the water available on the site.

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Seismic stations detected explosion at Ukrainian dam around the time it collapsed

Thursday, June 08, 2023

A Norwegian organization says that two seismic networks it oversees saw an explosion at the war-torn Kakhovka dam in Ukraine around the time it failed.

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The burst dam in Ukraine is causing problems for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Tuesday, June 06, 2023

A major dam in Ukraine has collapsed. The failure is a grave blow to the region's water supply and is putting further stress on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

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What we know about a large dam's catastrophic breach in Ukraine

Tuesday, June 06, 2023

The near obliteration of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River has triggered evacuations and raised concern about Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which uses the reservoir to cool its reactors.

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NASA convened scientists and academics to discuss Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena

Thursday, June 01, 2023

NASA is trying to bring science to the study of unidentified anomalous phenomena. A panel of top scientists and academics is trying to figure out how to systematically study UAPs.

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What NASA talked about in its meeting on unidentified anomalous phenomena

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

NASA held a meeting of its panel devoted to studying unidentified anomalous phenomena. Government officials are hopeful it can bring a scientific approach to understanding these mysterious objects.

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Virgin Galactic sends astronauts briefly into space

Thursday, May 25, 2023

The space plane provided great views and a few minutes of weightlessness. Virgin Galactic says it hopes to begin regular flights in June.

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Why hammerhead sharks 'hold their breath' in deeper, colder waters

Monday, May 15, 2023

Research shows some hammerhead sharks hold their breath when diving deep under water. They do it to keep their bodies from getting too cold. (Story aired on All Things Considered on May 11, 2023.)

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Hammerhead sharks 'hold their breath' in deeper, colder waters, research shows

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Sharks are ectotherms and their internal body temperatures usually reflect the waters they swim in. Holding their breath helps them function in the frigid deep.

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