Should scientists play a role in shaping global policy?
Albert Einstein knew scientists must be involved in determining domestic and global policy.When he wrote a letter to President Roosevelt warning him about Nazi Germany developing the atomic bomb, he...
View ArticleA Chinese pharmacologist who discovered a treatment for malaria in an ancient...
Some of the world's top scientists toil in anonymity, their breakthroughs recognized only years, sometimes decades after live-saving discoveries. That's the case for 84-year-old Chinese pharmacologist...
View ArticleA new map may help scientists figure out how Earth’s inner core formed
Right after the Big Bang, giant showers of neutrinos were spewed across the universe. These subatomic particles, produced by the decay of radioactive elements, are the focus of intense research by...
View ArticleThe EPA broke the law when it approved a new pesticide
The EPA failed to follow its own rules for ensuring chemical safety and illegally approved a powerful insecticide linked to declining numbers of honeybees, a federal appeals court has ruled.The Ninth...
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These people are practically the last line of defense for Louisiana's...
The Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana is one of the country’s last great cypress swamps, and a Spanish fisherman-turned-conservationist named Dean Wilson is fighting to protect it.Most days you can find...
View ArticleSolar power is booming in India. But will it reach those who need it most?
The sun is shining on India, and India is poised to take advantage of it, with massive investments in solar energy facilities to help meet the needs of a population that is expected to grow to make it...
View ArticleThe Carolinas''thousand-year' flood follows a big rainfall trend across the US
Twenty seven inches of rain over five days. More than 15 inches in just 10 hours.Those are just a couple of the unfathomable amounts of rain that fell in parts of South and North Carolina last weekend...
View Article'Global bleaching event' threatens corals around the world
A quarter of the world’s marine species depend on coral reefs for habitat. A half-billion people rely on them for their livelihoods or sustenance.Researchers say we’re now in the midst of the third...
View ArticleThe US Navy agrees to limit the use of sonar and explosives in key whale habitat
Whales off the coast of southern California and Hawaii recently won a modest victory in the courtroom. In response to a lawsuit brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the US Navy has agreed...
View ArticleAmericans throw out way more trash than we previously thought
Americans dumped 262 million tonnes of municipal trash into landfills in 2012, according to a new study published recently in Nature Climate Change. That's more than double the EPA estimate for that...
View ArticleIs sneaker innovation changing how we move?
Sneakers are a relatively recent innovation that owe their existence, according to Elizabeth Semmelhack, senior curator at the Bata Shoe Museum, to the rubber tree. “Sneakers right from the beginning...
View ArticleWhat will we be driving in the future? Electric vs. hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
“It drives like a regular car, operates like a regular car. You can refuel in three to five minutes and, you know, do 350 miles on a trip,” says Craig Scott, Toyota’s national manager for advanced...
View ArticleThe complex nature of GMOs calls for a new conversation
The GMO debate is one from which I’ve kept a purposeful distance.For one thing, it’s an issue that has already garnered more than its fair share of attention. For another, when you consider that many...
View ArticleExposure to insecticides may increase the risk of childhood cancers
A new meta-analysis from the Harvard School of Public Health finds that exposure to insecticides in and around the home may increase kids' risk of developing childhood cancers. “We find that for...
View ArticleAmerica slow to cede Internet control
The popularly held image of the Internet is that it exists as a global resource that — the best efforts of some governments notwithstanding — is impossible to fully control, almost like a technological...
View ArticleHere's what happens when you grow sunflowers in outer space
NASA astronaut Don Pettit is a bit of a space gardener. He even refers to his plants by affectionate nicknames. “I grew three plants on my last mission,” Pettit says. “Space zucchini, and then he had...
View ArticleFlaming, frothing lakes in India's Silicon Valley
The Indian city of Bangalore is known not only as the IT hub of India but also the City of Lakes. But recently, residents were shocked when one of those lakes caught fire.Over the last year the surface...
View ArticleIs climate change the new big election issue for Latino voters?
At the end of the summer, the polling firm, Latino Decisions, released the results of their 2015 Environmental Attitudes Survey. Of the Latinos polled, 74 percent said it was extremely or very...
View ArticleLove coffee? Need coffee? Your genes may have something to do with it.
Nearly 60 percent of Americans drink at least one cup of coffee a day, and for many, it’s an absolutely necessary part of their morning ritual.Marilyn Cornelis, a nutrition scientist at Northwestern...
View ArticleForecasting the Flu
Researchers seek to track the flu using nasal swabs and search engine queries.
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