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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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. -
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. -
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. -
Neptune isn't as blue as people think, and astronomers have figured out why Uranus sometimes appears a tad greener. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Jan. 5, 2024.)
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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. -
The telescope has revealed galaxies, stars and black holes that formed in the early universe. After its first full year of science operations, astronomers have much to ponder.
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The Guinness World Record folks would have us believe in a 19th century snowflake more than a foot wide, but some scientists are skeptical. -
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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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." -
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.
