Nell Greenfieldboyce
Nell Greenfieldboyce is a NPR science correspondent.
With reporting focused on general science, NASA, and the intersection between technology and society, Greenfieldboyce has been on the science desk's technology beat since she joined NPR in 2005.
In that time Greenfieldboyce has reported on topics including the narwhals in Greenland, the ending of the space shuttle program, and the reasons why independent truckers don't want electronic tracking in their cabs.
Much of Greenfieldboyce's reporting reflects an interest in discovering how applied science and technology connects with people and culture. She has worked on stories spanning issues such as pet cloning, gene therapy, ballistics, and federal regulation of new technology.
Prior to NPR, Greenfieldboyce spent a decade working in print, mostly magazines including U.S. News & World Report and New Scientist.
A graduate of Johns Hopkins, earning her Bachelor's of Arts degree in social sciences and a Master's of Arts degree in science writing, Greenfieldboyce taught science writing for four years at the university. She was honored for her talents with the Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Journalists.
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The latest batch of new emojis is coming soon and it contains some wins for science-lovers. But scientists have mixed feelings about some of the new images from nature. -
Around 20% of U.S. adults live with chronic pain. Medical schools traditionally haven't dedicated much time to teaching about pain and pain control, but one top school now has a mandatory course. -
Unrelated lineages of electric fish all use the same small set of genes to create their voltage, a genetic search shows. Maybe the same genes could one day power pacemakers, bioengineers suggest.
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The strong jawline and pronounced teeth of of Neanderthals likely evolved before their large braincase, scientists say. The evidence? A treasure of bones recovered from a single cave in Spain. -
Museums are filled with dead insects, birds, fish, mammals and reptiles meticulously gathered worldwide in the name of scientific discovery. But some researchers now say scientists should think twice. -
We're sure glad ostriches and emus don't fly. But DNA evidence now suggests their small ancestors flew to each continent, where they evolved independently into giants with stubby wings. -
Some chemical in octopus skin acts as a repellent to the little suction cups on the arms, a surprise finding shows. Without it, the eight-armed creature would tie itself in knots.
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NASA held a press conference to discuss the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and its potential contribution to future sea level rise. The researchers announced that the ice sheet's collapse is both underway and unstoppable.
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DNA's instructions are written in a code of four molecular "letters," labeled A, C, T and G. For the first time, researchers have created and inserted two brand-new letters into a living cell.
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Kepler-186f is almost the same size as Earth, and it orbits in its star's "Goldilocks zone"-- where temperatures may be just right for life. But much is unknown because it's also 500 light-years away.
