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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In the early 1990s, Colombian drug cartels had a problem: They had more money than they knew what to do with. So a pair of federal agents created an offshore bank. -
China's foreign-exchange reserves are worth over $3 trillion. That's a problem for China, and for the U.S. -
It sounds ridiculous today. But not so long ago, the prospect of a debt-free U.S. was seen as a real possibility with the potential to upset the global financial system.
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The DOJ says it's confident Army scientist Bruce Ivins sent the deadly anthrax letters in 2001. But Ivins' lawyer says dozens, if not hundreds, of scientists and contractors had access to those same anthrax spores. A detailed look at the government's allegations and Ivins' defense. -
Scientist Bruce E. Ivins was respected by his colleagues at the Army biodefense research center at Fort Detrick in Maryland. His death, and his possible connection to an FBI investigation in the 2001 anthrax killings, hits a tight-knit community.
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Advocates of NASA's plan to return to the moon are concerned that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has said he will raid NASA's budget to fund education. While the issue of space exploration hasn't gotten much attention this campaign season, it is a topic on which the candidates do differ.
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Now that space shuttle Atlantis has safely returned to Earth, the Pentagon plans to shoot down a failing spy satellite as early as Wednesday night. The Navy will launch a missile in an attempt to destroy the satellite before it crashes to Earth.
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Policymakers and scientists are strongly criticizing comments by Michael Griffin, the head of NASA. In an earlier interview with NPR, he said that he's not sure global warming is an issue that the space agency — or humans — need to "wrestle with."
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In the coming weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue a regulation that will extend 1 million years into the future. But the EPA doesn't even know if humans will exist a million years from now.
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In a stunning reversal of fortune, it now seems likely that Pluto will lose its title of planet. Scientists meeting in Prague were presented with a new definition of the word "planet" last week, which would have included Pluto as a planet. But the proposal met with fierce protests. Opponents say there are hundreds of objects like Pluto.
