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A brown bear in its natural habitat. Wildlife ecologists in Minnesota outfitted black bears with heart sensors to monitor the animals' heart rates when buzzed by drones.

A brown bear in its natural habitat. Wildlife ecologists in Minnesota outfitted black bears with heart sensors to monitor the animals' heart rates when buzzed by drones. iStockphoto hide caption

itoggle caption iStockphoto

All Tech Considered

Drones Increase Heart Rates Of Wild Bears. Too Much Stress?

Scientists studying animals in their natural habitats can now just send in a drone with a camera, rather than trudging through rough terrain. But a new study finds that the drones don't go unnoticed.

Humpback whales and tanker in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts Bay.

Humpback whales and tanker in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts Bay. Green Fire Productions/Flickr hide caption

itoggle caption Green Fire Productions/Flickr

Listening To Whale Migration Reveals A Sea Of Noise Pollution, Too

Christopher Clark, an engineer turned whale biologist, wired the world's oceans with hydrophones. Whales sing as they migrate, he learned. And the ship sounds clouding the ocean can deeply interfere.

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We all get by better with a little help from our tunes.

We all get by better with a little help from our tunes. iStockphoto hide caption

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Shots - Health News

Sutures With A Soundtrack: Music Can Ease Pain, Anxiety Of Surgery

Most studies of music's ability to ease pain have been small. But an analysis pooling the best research builds a strong case, doctors say, that a dose of music reduces the need for painkilling pills.

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Penn State grad student Carley Miller holds up a bumblebee she collected from the wildflower patch on Penn State University's research farm near State College, Pa. Researchers are testing how planting "pollinator strips" of wildflowers near farm fields could help support wild bee populations.

Penn State grad student Carley Miller holds up a bumblebee she collected from the wildflower patch on Penn State University's research farm near State College, Pa. Researchers are testing how planting "pollinator strips" of wildflowers near farm fields could help support wild bee populations. Courtesy of Lou Blouin hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of Lou Blouin

The Salt

Don't Worry, Honey, The Other Bees Have Your Back

Honeybees are major crop pollinators in the U.S., but they're in trouble. So researchers are now investigating how other bees could start picking up some of the slack.

Republican presidential candidates (from left) Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul during the Republican presidential debate in Cleveland on Aug.6.

Republican presidential candidates (from left) Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul during the Republican presidential debate in Cleveland on Aug.6. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Andrew Harnik/AP

Shots - Health News

'Defunding' Planned Parenthood Is Easier Promised Than Done

Some Republican candidates for president claim they have defunded Planned Parenthood in their states already. But the truth, others say, depends on how you define "defund."

A juvenile California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides).

A juvenile California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides). Michael LaBarbera/Nature hide caption

itoggle caption Michael LaBarbera/Nature

Octopus Genome Offers Insights Into One Of Ocean's Cleverest Oddballs

Octopuses are cool. They can regrow lost arms, change the color of their skin, and are surprisingly smart. Scientists who sequenced the first octopus genome say it's nearly as big as a person's.

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Scientists who eat the plants and animals they study are following in the tradition of Charles Darwin. During the voyage of The Beagle, he ate puma ("remarkably like veal in taste"), iguanas, giant tortoises, armadillos. He even accidentally ate part of a bird called a lesser rhea, after spending months trying to catch it so that he could describe the species.

Scientists who eat the plants and animals they study are following in the tradition of Charles Darwin. During the voyage of The Beagle, he ate puma ("remarkably like veal in taste"), iguanas, giant tortoises, armadillos. He even accidentally ate part of a bird called a lesser rhea, after spending months trying to catch it so that he could describe the species. Benjamin Arthur for NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Benjamin Arthur for NPR

The Salt

Dining Like Darwin: When Scientists Swallow Their Subjects

Some scientists carry on the tradition of eating the animals or plants they study: leeches, tadpoles, 30,000-year-old bison. Darwin did it first, but why do it at all? Call it all-consuming curiosity.

A Texas lawsuit filed against 30 insurance plans in 15 states alleges that the companies overcharged Medicare for doctors' house calls.

A Texas lawsuit filed against 30 insurance plans in 15 states alleges that the companies overcharged Medicare for doctors' house calls. Laughing Stock/Corbis hide caption

itoggle caption Laughing Stock/Corbis

Shots - Health News

Whistleblower Says Medicare Advantage Plans Padded Charges In Home Visits

Medicare Advantage health plans are privately run, but reimbursed by Medicare. A Texas lawsuit claims that, to inflate charges, 30 Advantage plans in 15 states exaggerated how sick patients were.