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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Companies that make DNA for science labs screen out any requests for dangerous bits of genetic material. But a new study shows how AI could help malevolent actors get the stuff anyway. -
Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute. -
The science on Tylenol and autism isn't clear, despite President Trump's claims. Here's what parents need to know to make their own decisions about acetaminophen. -
The president and his deputies tied autism to acetaminophen use during pregnancy, presented a cancer drug as possible treatment and said the FDA would change labeling. There's little strong scientific evidence for either. -
For centuries, the primary way that astronomers studied outer space was through sight. But just ten years ago, scientists successfully established a way to ‘listen’ to our cosmos – detecting gravitational waves created by huge cosmic events that took place billions of light years away. NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce explains how scientists detect those gravitational waves, what kind of cosmic events we’re detecting now, and what they could tell us about our universe.Interested in more stories about the cosmos? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave. -
Researchers have spent 10 years improving the massive detectors they use to catch shockwaves from colliding black holes. Now the science is precise enough to test one of Stephen Hawking's key ideas.
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Researchers have spent 10 years improving the massive detectors they use to catch shockwaves from colliding black holes, and now the science is precise enough to test one of Stephen Hawking's key ideas. -
Solar flares can be many times the size of Earth and can damage things like satellites. A new study suggests that eruptions from the sun can be even hotter than researchers thought.
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The hottest parts of the sun are its solar flares, and a new study suggests these flares could be more than six times hotter than scientists used to believe. -
Solar flares can be many times the size of Earth and can damage things like satellites. A new study suggests that eruptions from the sun can be even hotter than researchers thought.
