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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Researchers are trying to come up with tests that can be performed using a blood sample that will determine not only whether a COVID-19 vaccine will work but also for how long.
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Fresh off the first powered flight on another world, NASA's Mars 2020 mission has managed another key first that could pave the way for future astronauts.
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The tiny helicopter took off and hovered briefly — the first such flight on another planet. The Perseverance rover kept tabs on the mission from a viewing point about 60 yards away.
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Ingenuity is a tissue box sized helicopter that hovered in the super thin Martian atmosphere, took some pictures and landed safely.
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The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for the pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — following reports of blood clots in six women who received the vaccine.
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The three vaccines available in the U.S. are safe and effective, but not ideal. Now, work is underway to create more convenient and potent vaccines, including a tablet and nasal spray.
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A viral TikTok makes vaccine science understandable and pretty funny (it's a horror film parody). NPR caught up with creator and star Vick Krishna — tech expert by day, videographer by night.
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The COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNtech appears to work in children as young as 12. A small study was conducted in volunteers 12 to 15 years of age.
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A U.S. trial of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine may have used outdated information. A statement by the National Institutes of Health says an incomplete view of efficacy data may have been provided.
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AstraZeneca says a study of its vaccine showed an efficacy of 79% for preventing symptomatic disease. The study may meet FDA requirements for considering the vaccine for emergency-use authorization.