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In this handout image supplied by the European Space Agency on July 16, 2008, the Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, is pictured from ESA's Mars Express. ESA/Getty Images hide caption

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ESA/Getty Images

A new study finds that stimulating the brain during sleep can improve memory. DrAfter123/Getty Images hide caption

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DrAfter123/Getty Images

Scientists zap sleeping humans' brains with electricity to improve their memory

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Head of the Brain-Computer Interface Programm at the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA), Guillaume Charvet from France, shows implants that allows a paralyzed man to walk naturally, during a press conference in Lausanne on May 23, 2023. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Helping a man walk again with implants connecting his brain and spinal cord

This week's science news roundup reunites All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang with Short Wave hosts Emily Kwong and Regina G. Barber to dig into the latest headlines in biomedical research, also known as cool things for the human body. We talk new RSV vaccines, vaccination by sticker and a new device helping a man with paralysis walk again.

Helping a man walk again with implants connecting his brain and spinal cord

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Many medical students do not attend lectures in the first two years, instead opting to watch recorded classes on their own time. Tom Fowlks/Getty Images hide caption

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Tom Fowlks/Getty Images

Some of the fastest sea level rise in the world is happening in Galveston, Texas. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

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Ryan Kellman/NPR

Community activist Margaret Gordon sits on a bench in West Oakland with the BART tracks behind her on March 4, 2022, as a semi-truck stops on 7th Street, on a popular trucking route to the nearby Port of Oakland. Beth LaBerge/KQED hide caption

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Beth LaBerge/KQED

Advocates: Reparations are the answer for sea level threat in West Oakland, Calif.

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Scientists are studying police camera footage to understand why some car stops of Black men escalate and others don't. Hill Street Studios/Getty Images hide caption

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Hill Street Studios/Getty Images

For Black drivers, a police officer's first 45 words are a portent of what's to come

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Mora Leeb places some pieces into a puzzle during a local puzzle tournament. The 15-year-old has grown up without the left side of her brain after it was removed when she was an infant. Seth Leeb/Seth Leeb hide caption

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Seth Leeb/Seth Leeb

Meet the teen changing how neuroscientists think about brain plasticity

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A worker at the Wupperthal Original Rooibos Co-operative's processing facility carries a bag of freshly harvested rooibos to the processing area. The country's rooibos tea exports have skyrocketed from barely 500 tons in 1996 to nearly 9,000 tons today — enough to fill 3.6 billion teabags. But Indigenous farmers were long cut out of the revenues, until a ground-breaking agreement was forged. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption

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Tommy Trenchard for NPR

The brain requires a large number of nutrients for optimal health and efficiency, but micronutrients are typically absorbed better through foods than through supplements. Grace Cary/Getty Images hide caption

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Grace Cary/Getty Images

Can multivitamins improve memory? A new study shows 'intriguing' results

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Study participants in The Gambia received a measles vaccine through a virtually pain-free sticker. Early data on adults and children as young as nine months suggest the syringe-free skin patch is safe and effective. Micron Biomedical hide caption

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Micron Biomedical

The seven galaxies noted in this James Webb Space Telescope image are at a distance that astronomers refer to as redshift 7.9, which correlates to 650 million years after the big bang. NASA, ESA, CSA, T. Morishita (IPAC). Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI) hide caption

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NASA, ESA, CSA, T. Morishita (IPAC). Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

Leila Mirhaydari, shown shortly after her kidney transplant surgery in 2014. Eight years later, Leila learned her body was rejecting the donated organ. Courtesy of Leila Mirhaydari hide caption

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Courtesy of Leila Mirhaydari

The CPSC commissioned new stock photos showing Americans with disabilities using a variety of home safety devices, including portable generators. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission hide caption

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U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

"When you're younger, your mind is more open, and you're more creative," says 13-year-old Leo De Leon. Adolescence is a time of rapid brain development that scientists call "breathtaking." Jon Hamilton/NPR hide caption

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Jon Hamilton/NPR

Want to understand your adolescent? Get to know their brain

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