The decline of coal means less money to clean up coal mining's toxic past
The dramatic drop in coal production in states like Pennsylvania has had an unfortunate consequence: less money to clean up abandoned coal mines that continue to pollute rivers and streams.Much of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Zika is a window into a much bigger story in Brazil
As the country where doctors first noticed a suspected link between the Zika virus and serious birth defects, Brazil is the epicenter of the Zika-related global health emergency.But Zika is only part...
View ArticleWhat India can teach us about producing clean water
Access to clean water has become a global crisis, but in India, that problem is particularly acute: 99 million people there do not have access to clean water. The World Bank estimates that unsafe water...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The rise and fall of Argentina’s real-life X-Files unit
Even at the best of times, Argentina’s former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was controversial.Accused of populism, corruption, mismanaging the economy and un-statesmanlike mood swings, she...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We're not sure if Zika is causing all those microcephaly cases. But there's...
The Zika virus isn't the only thing that seems to be spreading quickly in Brazil. Rumors about the surge in microcephaly cases are, too.The most widely accepted hypothesis is that Zika is responsible...
View ArticleScientists in the UK are now allowed to edit the genes of human embryos. Are...
Recently, the UK’s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority gave scientists the green light to use the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique in human embryos. The scientists will not be using the...
View ArticleApple's scuffle with the FBI could affect privacy and freedom of speech...
On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the tech giant Apple to help the federal government break into an iPhone. The phone in question belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters — making this case a...
View ArticleNew research reveals how our own voice influences our moods
Our voices are a critical part of human communication, but it turns out there’s still a lot we don’t know about how our brains perceive and produce the emotions in our voice.A new study focuses on the...
View ArticleDon't panic about this hairy panic. Seriously.
There's panic in southern Australia! And not just any panic — a "hairy panic."Imagine tumble-weeds blowing, swirling and piling up six feet high outside your front door. That's what residents of the...
View ArticleDid a group of photo-taking tourists really kill an endangered dolphin in...
The photo above has been circulating in some international media, presented as an ugly display of humans' obsession with photographing and posting everything to social media.It's a mass of tourists in...
View ArticleIs water the next resource crisis?
While most of the northern US has been walloped by snow and rain this winter, many cities around the world have spent years facing a devastating drought. Places like Beijing, Northern India, Tokyo, and...
View ArticleThe trolls are winning. GamerGate case will not go to trial.
In the battle over online harassment, it looks like the trolls are winning.In the summer of 2014, Zoe Quinn, an online game developer and reviewer, went through a breakup with her boyfriend. He...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sweden's capital is on its way to becoming fossil fuel free by 2040
At the recent Paris climate summit, world leaders set an ambitious global target: no net carbon emissions by mid-century. That means all of the carbon we burn from fossil fuels must be absorbed by the...
View ArticleThis is your brain on lead, and lots of other nasty pollutants
The water crisis gripping Flint, Michigan has exposed thousands of the city’s residents to dangerous lead levels, triggering a federal emergency declaration and a national conversation about basic...
View ArticleGlobal temperatures rise to scary new levels
Suns out. Guns out. You know, as in sleeveless shirts. That might be the next big style in the Arctic.Because last month, it was warmer than usual up there — a lot warmer.NASA says January 2016...
View ArticleClik here to view.
This giant stick insect is so rare only three females have ever been found in...
Seeing this giant Australian stick insect species, Ctenomorpha gargantua, in the wild would be a little like hitting the jackpot.Males are spotted here and there, but only three of the much-larger...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A new agreement protects most of Canada's Great Bear Rainforest from logging
After decades of negotiation, an agreement has been reached that will protect 85 percent of the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia from logging. The agreement was hammered out among...
View ArticleWhy we don't fix anything anymore
About five years ago, Apple made a change to the iPhone. A tiny change. One that you probably wouldn’t think is that important.Apple changed the phone’s screws. Specifically, they shifted from Phillips...
View ArticleDespite low gasoline prices, automakers are moving ahead with affordable...
Back in 2011, when gasoline prices in the US were close to $4 a gallon, President Barack Obama called for automakers to put a million electric cars on the road in America by 2015.So far, Americans have...
View ArticleGermany's second largest city just says 'nein' to coffee pods
First comes knowing that Keurigs and other single-use coffee makers are wasteful. Then comes refusing to buy one even though they are extremely convenient and allow for more variety than your average...
View Article