Joe Palca
Joe Palca is a science correspondent for NPR. Since joining NPR in 1992, Palca has covered a range of science topics — everything from biomedical research to astronomy. He is currently focused on the eponymous series, "Joe's Big Idea." Stories in the series explore the minds and motivations of scientists and inventors. Palca is also the founder of NPR Scicommers – A science communication collective.
Palca began his journalism career in television in 1982, working as a health producer for the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC. In 1986, he left television for a seven-year stint as a print journalist, first as the Washington news editor for Nature, and then as a senior correspondent for Science Magazine.
In October 2009, Palca took a six-month leave from NPR to become science writer in residence at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Palca has won numerous awards, including the National Academies Communications Award, the Science-in-Society Award of the National Association of Science Writers, the American Chemical Society's James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public, the American Association for the Advancement of Science Journalism Prize, and the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Writing. In 2019, Palca was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in journalism.
With Flora Lichtman, Palca is the co-author of Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us (Wiley, 2011).
He comes to journalism from a science background, having received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he worked on human sleep physiology.
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A treatment strategy that identifies particularly potent immune system proteins, then gins up mass quantities for a single dose might help prevent infections or quell symptoms, scientists say. -
Scientists are rolling out an old-fashioned approach they hope will help treat COVID-19. The treatment involves giving patients plasma from people who have recovered from the virus. -
Scientists hope a machine can do what a person can't: quickly analyze every physical and chemical aspect of the coronavirus and sift through the world's drugs for subtle clues that might prove useful. -
A respirator is a central piece of protective gear vital for keeping health care workers healthy — but wearing one incorrectly can put the wearer at risk. -
Though COVID-19 has captured the headlines, influenza places a huge burden on the health care system. This year's flu shot provides good protection, the CDC says, so do get one if you haven't already. -
The new coronavirus has spurred biotech labs in universities and companies to try to find new approaches to stopping the virus — from blocking its key enzymes to interfering with its genetics. -
A new technique uses the CRISPR molecule to snip away at the part of RNA viruses that allows them to spread infection by making copies of themselves. -
Recent advances in biotech make scientists optimistic that they might have a vaccine that has passed basic tests of human safety and efficacy ready to go to clinics as soon as this fall. -
A scientist in Wisconsin has invented a bandage that uses an electrical field to speed up the time needed for a wound to heal. It could one day lead to treatments for baldness and obesity.
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After the InSight lander had trouble drilling a sophisticated thermometer into the Martian surface, a Plan B also didn't work, and the instrument ended up backing itself out of the ground.
