Rachel Carlson

1 week ago | wrvo.org | Pien Huang |Regina Barber |Rachel Carlson |Rebecca Ramirez

The skunky smell of cannabis may be going out of style. NPR's science correspondent Pien Huang visited the grow facility for District Cannabis, which sells weed in Washington D.C. and Maryland. On her tour, she learned why cannabis smells the way it does. Plus, how many strains have been bred — to smells like lavender, citrus and even cookies.

3 weeks ago | share.google | Emily Kwong |Rachel Carlson |Rebecca Ramirez

Teal is a greenish, blueish hue. But what if it were more? Imagine a vibrant teal that's more saturated than any color you've ever seen in the natural world. That's how a rare few people describe a new color called "olo." The shade has been seen only by a handful of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley in a paper published in the journal Science Advances last month. The view is so exclusive because olo does not exist in nature. It cannot be found among paint cans.

3 weeks ago | wrvo.org | Kimberly McCoy |Emily Kwong |Rachel Carlson |Rebecca Ramirez

As artificial intelligence seeps into various areas of our society, it's rushing into others. One area it's making a big difference is protein science. We're talking the molecules that make our cells work. AI has hurtled the field forward by predicting what these molecular machines look like, which tells scientists how they do what they do — from processing our food to turning light into sugar.

2 months ago | wrvo.org | Regina Barber |Nell Greenfieldboyce |Rachel Carlson |Rebecca Ramirez

Some scientists are convinced that beyond Neptune, there's a planet they've yet to see. This so-called "Planet 9" is so far away, it would be a faint object. The stretch of sky researchers would have to search is huge. But a new astronomical facility on a mountaintop in Chile could help tackle the search. The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory has been under construction for years.

2 months ago | boisestatepublicradio.org | Emily Kwong |Rachel Carlson

AILSA CHANG, HOST:It's time now for our science news roundup from Short Wave, NPR's science podcast. I'm joined by two people from the show, Rachel Carlson and Emily Kwong. Hey to both of you. EMILY KWONG, BYLINE: Hi.RACHEL CARLSON, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa. CHANG: Hi. OK, so once again, like we always say, you have brought us three science stories that caught your attention this week. What are they? KWONG: How fiddler crabs drum their flirty mating songs into the sand. CHANG: Ooh.