Rae Ellen Bichell
Rae Ellen Bichell is a reporter for NPR's Science Desk. She first came to NPR in 2013 as a Kroc fellow and has since reported Web and radio stories on biomedical research, global health, and basic science. She won a 2016 Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award from the Foundation for Biomedical Research. After graduating from Yale University, she spent two years in Helsinki, Finland, as a freelance reporter and Fulbright grantee.
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Air conditioning standards are based on the needs of a 155-pound man. Researchers say it's time to admit that women don't need to be chilled as much and crank up the thermostat. -
In Finland, 90 percent of adults take part in sports or exercise at least twice a week. The Nordic nation far outpaces the U.S. in adult sports participation. Free and easy access to facilities helps.
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There's more than one way to make color, nature tells us. And more than one way to use it to your own advantage.
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UNICEF estimates that thousands of children in West Africa have lost parents to Ebola. Convincing communities to accept and care for these children isn't always easy. -
Thistle extract, carrot dye and fair trade labels aren't just for tea. Condoms with fair trade and vegan certifications are moving into a market dominated by Trojan and Durex.
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Sierra Leoneans scramble for supplies as a three-day, countrywide lockdown approaches. International medical professionals doubt the move will do much to halt the spread of Ebola. -
Pilots and flight attendants in some countries are classified as "radiation workers" because of their extra exposure to cosmic rays. Scientists say these frequent fliers may face greater risks.
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It's a mystery how butterflies manage to make their brilliant wing colors, but Yale physicists got a glimpse when they took the question to the lab, breeding dull brown butterflies into purple ones.
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The plague has reportedly popped up in Oregon. It's the same disease that killed millions in the Middle Ages. Only now we know how to treat it.
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Turns out that for 7,000 years, snacking on nutsedge may have helped people avoid tooth decay. But at some point, the root it lost its charm. By the 1970s, it was branded "the world's worst weed."
