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Pien Huang
Pien Huang is a health reporter on the Science desk. She was NPR's first Reflect America Fellow, working with shows, desks and podcasts to bring more diverse voices to air and online.
She's a former producer for WBUR/NPR's On Point and was a 2018 Environmental Reporting Fellow with The GroundTruth Project at WCAI in Cape Cod, covering the human impact on climate change. As a freelance audio and digital reporter, Huang's stories on the environment, arts and culture have been featured on NPR, the BBC and PRI's The World.
Huang's experiences span categories and continents. She was executive producer of Data Made to Matter, a podcast from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and was also an adjunct instructor in podcasting and audio journalism at Northeastern University. She worked as a project manager for public artist Ralph Helmick to help plan and execute The Founder's Memorial in Abu Dhabi and with Stoltze Design to tell visual stories through graphic design. Huang has traveled with scientists looking for signs of environmental change in Cameroon's frogs, in Panama's plants and in the ocean water off the ice edge of Antarctica. She has a degree in environmental science and public policy from Harvard.
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Every year for two weeks between mid-May and mid-June, Congaree National Park in South Carolina is home to a fairy-tale-like display of flashing lights. These rhythmic performances happen all because of thousands of fireflies, flashing their belly lanterns at exactly the same time. According to the National Park Service, there are just three types of these synchronous fireflies in North America, making the experience all the more magical for the lucky visitors who get the chance to see them. Firefly scientists and enthusiasts hope these displays in places like Congaree will inspire people to care about other kinds of fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, in the U.S., which are not as well-studied – or well-protected – as synchronous ones. Some community scientists are already taking on this mission with projects like the Firefly Atlas, where volunteers can help survey for fireflies and report sightings. This story was originally reported for NPR by science correspondent Pien Huang. Read Pien's full story here. Want more of the science behind wildlife wonders? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
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Can healthy people take a cue from outdoor workers and endurance athletes, and train their bodies to become more comfortable in hot, muggy summer weather?
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Most states currently don't have age limits for buying zero-proof beverages that look and taste like beer, wine and liquor. But some researchers argue they could be a gateway into drinking for kids.
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Should non-alcoholic beverages that look or taste like beer and liquor be only for adults? Stanford researchers call for age limits on NA adult beverages, likening them to candy cigarettes.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns of an increased risk of dengue infections in the U.S. this summer. The mosquito-borne virus is surging, and human travel is expanding its reach.
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The CDC warns of increased risk of dengue in the U.S. This been a record-breaking year for cases of this mosquito-borne virus in Central and South America, with more than 9 million cases reported.
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Chemical companies and water utilities are challenging the EPA’s recent rule putting limits on six PFAS chemicals in drinking water.
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Around 1 in 6 U.S. adults practice yoga. The mind-body activity has grown and evolved over recent decades, into more accessible versions that reflect a current focus on mental health and mobility training, researchers say.
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For a few weeks in late spring, thousands of fireflies emerge at the Congaree National Park in South Carolina to blink in synchrony. This natural phenomenon draws thousands of visitors whose appreciation, while welcome, has led the park to institute protections for the fireflies, so their populations can live on.
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For a few weeks in late spring, thousands of fireflies emerge at the Congaree National Park in South Carolina to blink in synchrony. Scientists are trying to learn their secrets and to protect them.