Alan Yu
Alan was a Kroc Fellow at NPR and worked at WNPR as a reporter for three months. He is interested in everything from health and science reporting to comic books and movies. Before joining us, he studied journalism at Northwestern University, and worked at Psychology Today, NPR's Weekend Edition, and WBEZ in Chicago.
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The CVS drugstore chain's decision to stop selling tobacco products drew praise as an important public health step. But, we wondered, how many people buy cigarettes at drugstores? Not as many as we thought.
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It's no secret cats rule the Internet. Now, just flipping through cat pictures can be an educational experience. A new iOS app called Cat Spanish teaches 1,000 basic phrases by showing you flash cards of cute cats. -
Hong Kong tycoon Cecil Chao initially offered $65 million to any man who married his daughter. Gigi Chao has since been flooded with marriage requests from eager men around the world. But in an open letter, she asks her father to accept her partner. -
Scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory created and tested an Android app that could allow your smartphone to detect gamma radiation. They say the technology could be used as radiation detectors by first responders. -
Some scientists say traditional remedies might help them crack diseases like cancer. Some notable successes include a treatment for a form of leukemia and an anti-malaria medicine that has become the gold standard. But there are more misses than hits. -
It isn't just Bitcoin. You can now choose from more than 70 virtual currencies, and people are using them partly because it could be a free way of transferring money online. Given more time and widespread use, that could change the playing field for companies like Western Union and banks. -
TV makers, studios and streaming companies are all getting behind 4K TVs, which offer higher resolutions than even high-definition TVs. Some say it could worry Hollywood and lead to even less risk-taking in movies, but the technology still has significant hurdles to overcome. -
Research suggests that speaking another language fluently changes what you pay attention to and how you remember events. But some say the idea that language can make you see and think differently is overblown. -
Thieves responsible for Target's massive data breach may have stolen information stored on magnetic strips on credit cards. Canada, the U.K. and other countries have been using more secure cards with microchips for years. -
A chronic brain disease afflicts former pro football players, boxers and others who suffer repeated brain injuries. Doctors now can only diagnose it with certainty after someone dies. But researchers are working on tests that could work while people are alive.
