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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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.
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An international panel has unanimously recommended that Pluto retain its title as a planet, and it may be joined by other undersized objects that revolve around the sun.
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The space shuttle Discovery lands at the Kennedy Space Center after a successful visit to the International Space Station. NASA now turns its attention to the launch of Atlantis. That mission may go as early as Aug. 27 and will haul a major addition to the space station. -
In nine days, NASA will launch the space shuttle Discovery on a mission to the International Space Station, despite the safety concerns of two senior officials. They spoke with reporters Wednesday to explain their reservations about the mission. Both were worried about a repeat of the Columbia Shuttle accident.
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A new NASA mission to the moon will pelt the lunar surface to study plumes of dust and search for ice crystals. The unmanned mission, slated for October 2008, will launch a lunar orbiter from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., using the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.
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After Katrina, sections of wall holding back water in New Orleans canals failed when they should have held. In a letter released Friday, an independent panel says engineers who designed the canal walls should have included a larger safety margin.
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A government panel issues preliminary findings about why New Orleans' levees failed after Hurricane Katrina. The 800-page report concludes that the disaster wasn't due to faulty work by the Corps or anyone else. That's at odds with conclusions reached by two other independent teams.
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The Department of Energy has been quietly working on a grand plan for nuclear power to be included in next year's budget. Ideas for the Global Nuclear Energy Initiative include reprocessing nuclear fuel so it can be re-used in reactors -- a process the United States abandoned earlier.
