Stories by Fonda Mwangi

A former White House physician reveals the medical realities of caring for the president of the U.S.

Astronaut-turned-author Chris Hadfield discusses his new thriller Final Orbit, which weaves real cold war history, space race geopolitics and firsthand experience into a gripping work of fiction.

Saturn’s moon Enceladus shows signs of life-supporting chemistry, fungi may have shaped Earth before plants, and repeat COVID infections raise long-term health risks for kids.

Step into a room so quiet you can hear your own heartbeat—and your nervous system.

The former director of a CDC center reveals how political ideology is undermining science, threatening vaccine policy and endangering public health across the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration plans to update the safety label for acetaminophen products, and the strongest storm on Earth this year struck several countries in East and Southeast Asia.

A museum exhibit in Australia lets visitors hear music generated by brain cells derived from the blood of a dead composer.

Mary Roach unpacks the millennia-long effort to replace failing body parts—and the reasons that modern medicine still struggles to match the original designs.

A revamped CDC advisory committee faces vaccine debates, studies reveal brain changes in athletes, and climate change drives deadly heat waves across Europe.

Scientists are uncovering how your gut might be shaping your thoughts, feelings and cravings.

Kissing bugs are creeping across the U.S.—and they’re bringing Chagas disease with them.

 In his new book, Daniel Yon explains how our brain is constantly constructing reality

A single tick bite can trigger a bizarre meat allergy—here’s how alpha-gal syndrome is reshaping people’s diets.

A common nasal spray shows promise in reducing COVID risk, but vaccine access remains tangled in policy in the U.S.

With the CDC in disarray and its future uncertain, this episode explores what’s driving the exodus of agency staff and what this means for national health security.

Hurricane forecast maps are more complex than they appear. Understanding them could change how you prepare for the next storm.

Two decades after Katrina, we revisit the storm and discuss the evolution of hurricane preparedness since then.

Peanut allergies more than tripled in U.S. kids between the late 1990s and late 2000s, and the prevalence has risen even more since then. Scientists are still searching for answers—and new ways to treat them.

Traditional biology has long ignored nature’s sexual diversity—but evolution tells a far more complex story.

China is having a fast-rising chikungunya outbreak in a place that has never had one before.

In his new book, Sam Kean reveals how re-creating ancient tools, techniques and traditions can unlock secrets about how our ancestors lived—and what they felt.

A new hormone-free birth control pill that reversibly stops sperm production has passed its first safety trial in humans, offering hope for more reversible contraceptive options.

From planets roaming space to major shifts in health funding, catch up with this week’s news roundup.

Representative Eric Sorensen of Illinois shares how his meteorology roots drive his fight to protect climate science and push back against political interference.