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Stories
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Science
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is talking nonsense. Its friends on Earth are worried
Voyager 1 has been traveling through space since 1977, and some scientists hoped it could keep sending back science data for 50 years. But a serious glitch has put that milestone in jeopardy.
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National
The aging Voyager 1 spacecraft has a serious glitch, and NASA is pondering risky fixes
The Voyager 1 probe, the first human-made object to reach the space between stars, has suffered a serious problem that NASA experts are struggling to understand and repair.
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Science
Why do moths fly in circles around a light? They can't tell 'up' from 'down'
Those insects you see flying in crazed circles are trying to keep their backs towards the light because they think that direction is up, new research suggests.
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Science
Don't look so blue, Neptune: Now astronomers know this planet's true color
Neptune has long been depicted as a deeper, darker blue than its fellow ice giant Uranus, but a new study shows that both are a similar shade of light greenish blue.
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Science
Just how big can a snowflake get? It depends on what you mean by 'snowflake'
The Guinness World Record folks would have us believe in a 19th century snowflake more than a foot wide, but some scientists are skeptical.
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NPR staffers share their non-fiction picks from Books We Love
NPR staffers recommend non-fiction reads from our Books We Love list: "On Minimalism," "Anansi's Gold," "Asian-Americans in an Anti-Black World," and "The Wager."
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Health
This African bird will lead you to honey, if you call to it in just the right way
The wild honeyguide responds to distinct calls from local honey foragers. Says one researcher: The bird basically seems to be saying, "Hey, I'm here and I know where there's some honey, so follow me."
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Health
What can trigger an itch? Scientists have found a new culprit
This itchy microbe really touches a nerve. A common skin bacterium can directly interact with a nerve cell to trigger an itch, new study shows, suggesting possible new therapies for itchy conditions.
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Science
Clouds made of sand make for a strange kind of rain on this hot planet
On Earth, clouds and rain are made of water. But the James Webb Space Telescope has found that on a planet called WASP-107b, the rain and clouds are made of sand.
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Health
More medical gloves are coming from China, as U.S. makers of protective gear struggle
The federal government has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to boost American production of medical gloves, but some companies say it's not enough when imported gloves have gotten cheaper.