Ari Daniel
Ari Daniel is a freelance contributor to NPR's Science desk.
He has always been drawn to science and the natural world. As a graduate student, he trained gray seal pups (Halichoerus grypus) for his Master's degree in animal behavior at the University of St. Andrews, and helped tag wild Norwegian killer whales (Orcinus orca) for his Ph.D. in biological oceanography at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. For more than a decade, as a science reporter and multimedia producer, he has interviewed a species he's better equipped to understand — Homo sapiens.
Over the years, he has reported across six continents on science topics ranging from astronomy to zooxanthellae. His radio pieces have aired on NPR, The World, Radiolab, Here & Now, and Living on Earth. He formerly worked as a reporter for NPR's Science desk where he covered global health and development. Before that, he was the Senior Digital Producer at NOVA where he helped oversee the production of the show's digital video content. He is a co-recipient of the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Gold Award for his radio stories on glaciers and climate change in Greenland and Iceland.
In the fifth grade, he won the "Most Contagious Smile" award. [Copyright 2025 NPR]
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A new look at the "Dueling Dinosaurs" fossil reveals that Tyrannosaurus rex was not the only tyrannosaur roaming the land. -
The idea of asking kids to collect coins for needy children abroad was born of one couple's desire to add meaning to Halloweening. Some say it's now more important than ever. -
In Pamplona, where the bulls run, a scientist studies the physics of crowds. -
In 1812, hundreds of thousands of men in Napoleon's army perished during their retreat from Russia. Researchers now believe a couple of unexpected pathogens may have helped hasten the soldiers' demise. -
A new pachycephalosaur, officially named Zavacephale rinpoche, was described in the journal Nature. The word rinpoche is Tibetan for "precious one" and refers to the domed skull. -
According to a new report, cancer rates are skyrocketing in this tiny country. What's causing this to happen? And what steps can be taken to turn the tide? -
One kind of tiny ant can serve as a monumental example for how to keep members of a community safe from pathogens. A new study shows how they do it. -
The Sudan Emergency Response Rooms was considered a front-runner for the Nobel Peace Prize winner this year and last. Here's their story. -
Kristina Douglass wanted to find out the truth about how past communities adapted to environmental change. Her revelatory work has earned her a MacArthur award. -
Pythagorean Triple Square Day, as one man affectionately calls 9/16/25, is a day like no other this century.
