David Kestenbaum
David Kestenbaum is a correspondent for NPR, covering science, energy issues and, most recently, the global economy for NPR's multimedia project Planet Money. David has been a science correspondent for NPR since 1999. He came to journalism the usual way — by getting a Ph.D. in physics first.
In his years at NPR, David has covered science's discoveries and its darker side, including the Northeast blackout, the anthrax attacks and the collapse of the New Orleans levees. He has also reported on energy issues, particularly nuclear and climate change.
David has won awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
David worked briefly on the show This American Life, and set up a radio journalism program in Cambodia on a Fulbright fellowship. He also teaches a journalism class at Johns Hopkins University.
David holds a bachelor's of science degree in physics from Yale University and a doctorate in physics from Harvard University.
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Scientists Tuesday night will get their first ever close-up look at Titan, one of Saturn's moons. In December, Cassini will send a probe down through the atmosphere. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.
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A report ordered by the Veterans Affairs Department concludes an alarming number of U.S. soldiers suffered neurological damage from chemicals encountered in the 1991 Gulf War. But some experts say there's still not enough evidence to conclude that nerve gases, pesticides and other chemicals caused long-term illnesses in veterans. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports
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NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with NPR's David Kestenbaum about the three recipients for the Nobel Prize for chemistry, Israeli scientists Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko, and American Irwin Rose. The researchers were lauded Wednesday for their discovery of how cells destroy unwanted proteins.
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SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded rocket plane to complete two trips to the edge of space within a two-week window. The feat makes the craft the apparent winner of a $10-million award known as the X-Prize, designed to encourage space tourism. Hear NPR's David Kestenbaum.
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A privately financed craft succeeds in taking a pilot into space for the second time in less than two weeks. In doing so, SpaceShipOne wins the so-called X-Prize of $10 million for the team funded by Paul Allen, a founder of Microsoft. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.
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Jim Williams never met a piece of electronics he didn't like. The Silicon Valley electrical engineer collects and cherishes what few of us notice: the inner workings of modern machines. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports. -
The earth hums, emitting a tone too low for human ears to detect. Geophysicists have finally located the source of the noise. As they report in this week's issue of the journal Nature, it comes from the globe's largest oceans during winter, apparently the result of powerful winter storms. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.
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The Los Alamos National Laboratory will remove all weapons-grade nuclear materials from a section of the lab after determining the area to be too prone to security lapses. Scientists at the facility say morale is low after four employees were fired and another was forced to resign. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.
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Earlier this year, Sen. John Kerry told Nevada residents that he opposed the plan to store high-level nuclear waste at a repository inside Yucca Mountain, 100 miles from Las Vegas. But can a new president actually stop the project -- and what would happen if he did? NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.
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Researchers argue that radio signals are not the most efficient way of alerting an extraterrestrial intelligence to our existence. The scientists recommend sending, and searching for, an interstellar message in a bottle. NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.
