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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To reach the innermost planet in our solar system, this European space probe needs a little help from the gravity of Venus. -
The FDA ordered Johnson and Johnson to put a label on its COVID-19 vaccine warning of the risk of a neurological disorder. Israel is offering booster shots to individuals who are immune compromised.
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In a large-scale study, Novavax said its vaccine was completely effective against the original coronavirus strain and also effective against some variants. It works differently than other vaccines. -
A highly anticipated study of a COVID-19 vaccine has finally produced results — and the results are good, very good. The vaccine is made by the Maryland biotech company Novavax.
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A new study shows that the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may prevent severe disease — even in the face of dangerous coronavirus variants.
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NASA's Juno spacecraft traveled to 645 miles above the surface of the solar system's largest moon, Ganymede, on Monday. -
Instead of putting genetic instructions into people whose cells then make a viral protein, the vaccines from Novavax, Medicago and Sanofi carry a spike protein payload. -
Getting a shot is a pain. But scientists are working on a way to inject a vaccine without the ouch. The solution: a patch that applies an array of microscopic needles and feels like Velcro.
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Using two different COVID-19 vaccines is a bit like giving the immune system two pictures of the virus, maybe one face-on and one in profile. -
Researchers are exploring a mix-and-match strategy for vaccinating people against COVID-19. That means using two different kinds of vaccines instead of the same brand of vaccine twice.
