Rae Ellen Bichell
Rae Ellen Bichell is a reporter for NPR's Science Desk. She first came to NPR in 2013 as a Kroc fellow and has since reported Web and radio stories on biomedical research, global health, and basic science. She won a 2016 Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award from the Foundation for Biomedical Research. After graduating from Yale University, she spent two years in Helsinki, Finland, as a freelance reporter and Fulbright grantee.
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A group of top chefs, food scientists and tech geeks have set up a lab in Belgium to master 3-D food printing. Their goal: to create nutritionally enhanced foods that appeal to the pickiest palates. -
Jon Krakauer has long been haunted by how Christopher McCandless died in the Alaskan wilderness. In a scientific journal, he and a chemist show that the seeds McCandless consumed can contain a toxin. -
There's more than one way to make color, nature tells us. And more than one way to use it to your own advantage.
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UNICEF estimates that thousands of children in West Africa have lost parents to Ebola. Convincing communities to accept and care for these children isn't always easy. -
Sierra Leoneans scramble for supplies as a three-day, countrywide lockdown approaches. International medical professionals doubt the move will do much to halt the spread of Ebola. -
In many countries, eggs aren't refrigerated and they're still considered safe to eat. But in the U.S., we have to chill them, because we've washed away the cuticle that protects them from bacteria. -
Pilots and flight attendants in some countries are classified as "radiation workers" because of their extra exposure to cosmic rays. Scientists say these frequent fliers may face greater risks.
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It's a mystery how butterflies manage to make their brilliant wing colors, but Yale physicists got a glimpse when they took the question to the lab, breeding dull brown butterflies into purple ones.
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By playing with the physics of wing color, scientists get a glimpse into how butterflies get their colors, and how quickly they can evolve from brown to brilliant. -
The plague has reportedly popped up in Oregon. It's the same disease that killed millions in the Middle Ages. Only now we know how to treat it.
