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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If the Italian government requests Amanda Knox's extradition, it's up to the U.S. to decide whether to comply. It's not necessarily a legal matter; extradition cases are often decided on politics rather than law.
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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.
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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.
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The Public Bike System Company is the main supplier for bike-sharing systems around the country, from San Francisco to New York City, and it declared bankruptcy Monday. But experts say this isn't a big bump in the road — and in fact, bike-sharing is here to stay.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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From coast to coast, the invasive insect is costing U.S. farmers millions in crop damage, and it has become a smelly nuisance for homeowners. But researchers say they may have found some low-tech solutions to the stink-bug menace.
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A blockbuster video game director is working on a game where you don't shoot back. It puts the player inside the Iranian Revolution of 1979, and it's a financial and personal risk to the game makers.