Encore: Ancient footprints mistakenly attributed to bears were made by early humans A new look at nearly 3.7 million-year-old fossil footprints uncovered in Tanzania shows that multiple species of early humans lived together at the same time. Nell Greenfieldboyce
Before you open the calorie counter, consider the role of diet culture Last year, half of all New Year's resolutions in the U.S. were based on fitness and nearly half were based on weight loss. NPR's Life Kit takes a look at diet culture. Andee Tagle
Scientists think they've found a big, weird moon in a far-off star system Scientists have found many planets orbiting distant stars, but so far no proof that any have moons. Now, researchers have detected signs of a large exomoon orbiting a Jupiter-like world. Nell Greenfieldboyce
Why omicron may cause less harm — and what it means for the future of the pandemic There's growing evidence that omicron causes less severe disease than previous variants. Does that mean SARS-CoV-2 is evolving into a more mild virus? Will future surges be less deadly and disruptive? Michaeleen Doucleff
Who gets to use NASA's James Webb Space Telescope? Astronomers work to fight bias With the James Webb Space Telescope safely deployed, many scientists want to use it. To minimize the effect of unconscious biases, they go through a process developed for the Hubble Space Telescope. Nell Greenfieldboyce
Rising sea levels threaten affordable housing Lots of low-income and public housing is threatened by rising seas. Losing those units will make the affordable housing crisis even worse, and put more people at risk of homelessness. Sam Turken
What crying baby mice could teach us about human speech Scientists have found a cluster of rhythmic brain cells in newborn mice that may explain why spoken languages around the world share a common tempo. Jon Hamilton
Ryan Phelan: How gene technology can save species on the brink of extinction What if we could rescue endangered species before they disappear? Biotech entrepreneur Ryan Phelan explores how genetic engineering tools can save species that would otherwise go extinct. Sanaz Meshkinpour
Nabiha Saklayen: Could lasers make stem cell therapy available to everyone? Stem cells have long been heralded as a potential tool to treat illnesses. Nabiha Saklayen explains how it's still early, but scientists are getting closer to turning this vision into a reality. Sanaz Meshkinpour
Jennifer Doudna: What does CRISPR mean for the future of human evolution? In 2011, biochemist Jennifer Doudna helped discover the genetic editing tool CRISPR. Today CRISPR is actively deployed in clinical trials with the potential to cure disease—and alter human evolution. Sanaz Meshkinpour