NPR News

Physicist Richard Hill and colleagues at the University of Nottingham have a powerful magnet that they have used to levitate fruits, beer and most recently, fruit flies. It's a low-cost way to study the effects of zero gravity on biological systems, Hill says.

Honey bee colonies around the United States are in decline, threatened by several different diseases and parasites. John Hafernik, a professor of biology at San Francisco State University, describes how a parasitic fly that was thought to prey upon bumblebees may pose a new threat to honey bee populations in the U.S.

Despite the best intentions and plans for success, many New Year's resolutions fall by the wayside. Jana Reiss, author of the new memoir Flunking Sainthood, spent a year trying to reconnect with her faith. But she admits she failed at every step. Reiss speaks with host Michel Martin about what she learned from failure.