Rae Ellen Bichell
Rae Ellen Bichell is a reporter for NPR's Science Desk. She first came to NPR in 2013 as a Kroc fellow and has since reported Web and radio stories on biomedical research, global health, and basic science. She won a 2016 Michael E. DeBakey Journalism Award from the Foundation for Biomedical Research. After graduating from Yale University, she spent two years in Helsinki, Finland, as a freelance reporter and Fulbright grantee.
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A bad outbreak is spreading in Madagascar. We checked in with a virologist and outbreak response specialist Dr. Daniel Bausch to see what's up. -
NewsScientists have found a group of worms that haven't reproduced sexually for 18 million years. Normally that would be a recipe for quick extinction, but these little guys seem none the worse for wear. -
NewsScientists were worried about Zika at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. But a recent study found there was no evidence of the virus in athletes and staff. They did, however, find other viruses. -
The number of cases has prompted a ban on public gatherings — and concern from the World Health Organization. The disease is spreading in cities and has claimed 30 lives so far. -
Many images that have been traditionally used to depict the Black Death are, in fact, not images of the plague at all. Now, a group of dedicated historians are trying to correct the record.
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NewsColoradans can get arrested for driving while stoned. But with no good roadside tools, officers' determinations are more subjective than for alcohol DUIs. Scientists hope to find chemical markers. -
NewsThe words "strong" and "inspiring" are not usually assigned to garden slugs. But slug slime inspired materials scientists to invent a new kind of adhesive that could one day help heal human wounds. -
NASA plans to send people to the Red Planet in the 2030s. In the meantime, a remote location in southern Utah serves as a non-NASA training ground for the Mars-minded. -
NewsPeople are dumping corpses in the high desert of western Colorado. But those unloading bodies aren't criminal masterminds. They're scientists. And out here, the usual rules of human decay don't apply. -
In medieval times, they called it "the black death." It's still around, routinely cropping up in the U.S. This time, the New Mexico Department of Health reports three cases.
