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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U.S. emissions of smog-forming pollutants have dropped, but smog levels in the western U.S. have increased each year. Now, researchers say, they've found out why — it's wafting from across the Pacific Ocean.
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Scientists say they've found the remains of tube- and string-like organisms in Canadian rocks that are at least 3.7 billion years old. But findings like these are always controversial.
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Scientists found that bumblebees are nimble learners, especially when there's a sugary reward at the end. No wonder they're such good pollinators.
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Carp are a major food source, but they've been plagued by viruses. Scientists now say they have a simple solution. And along the way, they hit on an ancient commonality between fish and people.
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Wild hogs inflict $1.5 billion in damage on U.S. property each year. But biologists can now track the elusive animals via tiny bits of DNA the swine leave behind in puddles and ponds.
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Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf is about to lose an iceberg the size of Delaware. Scientists gathering in the U.K. are scratching their heads about why it's cracking off.
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If the rift gets long enough, Antarctica will lose a chunk of ice the size of Delaware.
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The GOES-R satellite launched on Nov. 19. It'll enter orbit and sit 22,000 miles above the Americas, monitoring weather on the planet — and in space.
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With high winds and rain hitting Georgia's coastal communities, it's now too late to evacuate. A curfew is in place until daylight because of fears of looting.
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It has been a common belief that low-emissions vehicles, like hybrids and electric cars, are more expensive than other choices. But researchers at MIT have found otherwise.