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Science

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  • Seattle Now Logo - NPR Network

    Donor jump-starts brain research

    Most people don't think they'll be around to see the research benefits of donating brain tissue to science. Mike Morgan will. He donated his living brain tissue after undergoing surgery for seizures. It’s now being studied by scientists at the Allen Institute to help make discoveries about brain functions. Allen Institute Senior scientist Brian Kalmbach is here to help explain the importance of the new sample and its impact on current research.

  • Seattle Now Logo - NPR Network

    Kelp is having a moment

    Around here, when you think forest, you think towering Evergreen trees. But an equally important forest sits within Puget Sound. The state’s kelp forests play a critical role supporting fish and sea life in the Northwest, but they’ve been on the decline for the last 10 years. Northwest News Network correspondent Tom Banse is here to talk about how the state is working to restore kelp and eelgrass along the coastline.

  • caption: Portland Fire & Rescue would be the second department nationally to take delivery of an electric fire engine built by Pierce Manufacturing. This is the first one in service with the Madison Fire Department in Wisconsin.

    Fire trucks are going electric, too. Portland and Redmond, WA, getting there first

    You probably no longer blink an eye when an electric car passes by on the road. More novel battery-powered vehicles are soon joining the parade to help operators achieve their sustainability goals. Electric ferries are coming to Puget Sound and hybrid electric airplanes are being tested in Washington. Now, several Pacific Northwest fire departments have ordered their first electric fire trucks.
  • caption: The brown marmorated stink bug is native to south Asia, but since the 1970s, its made its way to more than a dozen states in the U.S.

    The Abstract: Stink bugs, penguins, and climate change, oh my

    In this first episode of a new segment on scientific research in Washington state that we're calling "The Abstract," we’re exploring new revelations about how animals adapt to climate change and what that tells us about the future of ecosystems, including an unwelcome and foul-smelling new neighbor here in the Pacific Northwest, and an adorable Patagonian predator.

  • caption: Luan Roberts reaches for a piece of kelp in search of sea slugs.

    Neighbors: Sea Slugs

    Without a boat or special gear, a lot of Puget Sounds’ iconic creatures - from orcas to Dungeness crabs - remain out of our everyday reach. But there is one little guy you can find most any day on your neighborhood dock: sea slugs, also known by their scientific name, nudibranchs. We go looking for sea slugs with Soundside producer Alec Cowan, Luan Roberts and Karin Fletcher.

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