Alan Yu
Alan was a Kroc Fellow at NPR and worked at WNPR as a reporter for three months. He is interested in everything from health and science reporting to comic books and movies. Before joining us, he studied journalism at Northwestern University, and worked at Psychology Today, NPR's Weekend Edition, and WBEZ in Chicago.
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A group of physicists banned PowerPoint from forums, and they aren't the only people who say we should cut back on slide-based presentations: Others include Amazon, LinkedIn and NASA.
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BMW has started making a car with optional laser headlights, which are brighter and more energy-efficient than even LED lights. Laser technology could also end up in street lights and projectors.
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Jason Munkel introduced his father to the game a year ago, and their channel on the streaming site Twitch has grown dramatically. Twitch has also grown, and with millions watching games every month.
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The Food and Drug Administration says the long list of side effects read rapidly at the end of pharmaceutical ads may be too much for people to grasp. The agency is looking at a streamlined approach.
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The organization that hands out Rhodes Scholarships says application essays — which are often heavily edited by family, advisers and universities — no longer reflect a student's true "values and aspirations." In a new rule, the organization says that help is no longer allowed.
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The CVS drugstore chain's decision to stop selling tobacco products drew praise as an important public health step. But, we wondered, how many people buy cigarettes at drugstores? Not as many as we thought.
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Hong Kong tycoon Cecil Chao initially offered $65 million to any man who married his daughter. Gigi Chao has since been flooded with marriage requests from eager men around the world. But in an open letter, she asks her father to accept her partner.
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The Public Bike System Company is the main supplier for bike-sharing systems around the country, from San Francisco to New York City, and it declared bankruptcy Monday. But experts say this isn't a big bump in the road — and in fact, bike-sharing is here to stay.
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It isn't just Bitcoin. You can now choose from more than 70 virtual currencies, and people are using them partly because it could be a free way of transferring money online. Given more time and widespread use, that could change the playing field for companies like Western Union and banks.
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TV makers, studios and streaming companies are all getting behind 4K TVs, which offer higher resolutions than even high-definition TVs. Some say it could worry Hollywood and lead to even less risk-taking in movies, but the technology still has significant hurdles to overcome.