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 genetic analysis of samples taken from a large UK health database suggest that people who are more sensitive than their peers to the bitter taste of caffeine tend to drink more coffee — not less. -
Physicists' understanding of the nature of the universe has taken a blow. An experiment with neutrinos has produced a result that breaks the rules scientists think govern the subatomic world. -
A California tech firm believes that artificial intelligence can help communities prepare for, and respond to, quakes. -
NASA is building a new space-based laser communication that will allow live, high-definition video from Mars and beyond — something that's not possible with standard radio equipment. -
Astronomers are continuing their search for a giant planet they believe is lurking at the outer reaches of the solar system. -
A total solar eclipse will make its way from Oregon to South Carolina. Millions are in the path of the eclipse, and millions more are head to locations where the total eclipse will be visible.
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The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module was pumped up after it arrived at the International Space Station in 2016. NASA says it's doing well in the harsh environment. -
In a crowdsourced search for celestial objects, four volunteers helped scientists identify a brown dwarf by studying images taken over the years by a NASA satellite. -
A March for Science will be held Saturday in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of other cities in the U.S. Organizers say the march is a non-partisan celebration of science. It's meant to both encourage political leaders to fund science and rely on scientific evidence when making policy decisions. Critics worry the march will turn into an anti-Trump rally and paint scientists as just another interest group.
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Graphene comes in sheets barely an atom thick and is extremely good at conducting electricity. By adding the unusual form of carbon to Silly Putty, scientists created flexible sensors.
