Joe Palca
Joe Palca is a science correspondent for NPR. Since joining NPR in 1992, Palca has covered a range of science topics — everything from biomedical research to astronomy. He is currently focused on the eponymous series, "Joe's Big Idea." Stories in the series explore the minds and motivations of scientists and inventors. Palca is also the founder of NPR Scicommers – A science communication collective.
Palca began his journalism career in television in 1982, working as a health producer for the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC. In 1986, he left television for a seven-year stint as a print journalist, first as the Washington news editor for Nature, and then as a senior correspondent for Science Magazine.
In October 2009, Palca took a six-month leave from NPR to become science writer in residence at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Palca has won numerous awards, including the National Academies Communications Award, the Science-in-Society Award of the National Association of Science Writers, the American Chemical Society's James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public, the American Association for the Advancement of Science Journalism Prize, and the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Writing. In 2019, Palca was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in journalism.
With Flora Lichtman, Palca is the co-author of Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us (Wiley, 2011).
He comes to journalism from a science background, having received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he worked on human sleep physiology.
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A COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the U.S. company Moderna and the National Institutes of Health starts its final phase of testing. It's one of a handful of candidates to reach this stage. -
As several new COVID-19 vaccines enter human trials, multiple intelligence agencies say Russian hackers are targeting organizations developing the vaccines.
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NASA is sending a six-wheeled rover to Mars to look for signs of microbial life stored in the rocks at Jezero crater. The rover is also the first step in bringing samples of Martian rock to Earth. -
The UAE turns 50 next year, and on Tuesday a craft will be launched to orbit Mars to celebrate. Building a Mars probe also provided a focus for expanding the country's technological capabilities.
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Dr. Elias Zerhouni was head of the National Institutes of Health under President George W. Bush. He says the Trump administration's response to the pandemic has not protected the American people. -
Some of the technology behind coronavirus vaccine development dates back to the first vaccines; other techniques are much newer. Here are some of the approaches.
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Some of the technology behind coronavirus vaccine development dates back to the first vaccines; other techniques are much newer. Here are eight top strategies scientists are pursuing. -
Cattle may turn out to be of help in the coronavirus pandemic. A South Dakota biotech company is using cows to create antibodies that could then be used for disease prevention or treatment. -
A low-cost anti-inflammatory drug appears to reduce the risk of death in patients with COVID-19. The promising result comes from a large study of therapies being conducted in the U.K. -
A South Dakota biotech company is using cows to create antibodies that could then be used for disease prevention or treatment. The cows have been given the genes to make a human-like immune system.
