Science

It's estimated that one in 10 women experience endometriosis during their reproductive years, a condition where cells that line the uterus go rogue by moving to other organs, taking root and spreading there, leading to terrible pain. Many women who have the disorder struggle to be properly diagnosed. Bioengineer LINDA GRIFFITH talks about her groundbreaking research into endometriosis.

Collins, who died April 27, orbited in Apollo 11 while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made their historic moon walk. Speaking to Fresh Air in 1988, he described his solo orbit as "completely serene."

The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are the first vaccines to be activated by mRNA — and would not have been possible without the invention of the gene editing technology known as CRISPR. In his new book, The Code Breaker, author Walter Isaacson chronicles the development of CRISPR.

Science writer Ed Yong of The Atlantic says the coming months will usher in the most complicated immunization program the U.S. has ever attempted. Yong has been covering the pandemic since it began, writing about nearly every aspect.

Food science writer Harold McGee's new book Nose Dive is about how smell is essential to our sense of taste, why things smell the way they do and the ways different chemicals combine to create surprising (and sometimes distasteful) odors.

Politico reporter Dan Diamond describes efforts by Trump loyalists at HHS to interfere with the work of scientists at the health agencies in an effort to promote the president's political agenda.

Underwater explorer and photographer Jill Heinerth has dived into unmapped caves deep in the earth, and beneath a giant iceberg. She's seen hidden creatures old as dinosaurs, and witnessed scenes of surreal beauty. Her work is so dangerous, over a hundred of her friends and colleagues have died in caves. She talks about the risks and rewards of her work.

We tend to think of being asleep or awake as an either-or prospect: If you're not asleep, then you must be awake. But sleep disorder specialist and neurologist Guy Leschziner says it's not that simple.

We listen to archival interviews with Michael Collins, of Apollo 11; Alan Shepard, the first American in space; Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield; and Chuck Yeager, who first broke the sound barrier.