
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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A study finds a Black driver is more likely to face being searched, handcuffed or arrested when an officer's first words are commands rather than a greeting. (Story aired on ATC on May 29, 2023.)
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Policymakers have long grappled with how to handle experiments that might generate potentially dangerous viruses. Now, officials are considering whether oversight needs to be expanded.
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Testing pregnant people's blood to look at free-floating DNA can tell doctors about the health of the fetus. But these tests sometime turn up DNA that might be shed by cancerous cells.
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The last time astronauts landed on the moon was 50 years ago today. The vehicle NASA is preparing for the next journey returns from a test flight this afternoon.
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An ambitious long-term study of box turtles seeks to study the population across North Carolina to determine the health of the species over a hundred years.
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NASA is getting ready to give an asteroid a little push, in a test intended to ready Earth's defenses against a potential asteroid approach.
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NASA aims to make history Monday by ramming a spacecraft into an asteroid - to deflect its trajectory. The test is meant to defend against possible future asteroids on a collision course with earth.
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For a second time, NASA has scrubbed the launch of its new moon rocket. Problems with fuel leaks and faulty sensors led to the delays for the Artemis-1 test mission, with more possible delays to come.
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Monday, NASA plans to launch a new rocket and capsule to the moon. If all goes well, the next mission will send people back to lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years.
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NASA plans to test launch its newest rocket next week — one it hopes will eventually take astronauts back to the moon. But the rocket's big price tag has some critics skeptical about its future.