Science & Technology 2011 Archive | PBS NewsHour

ABOUT US \| LOCAL TV LISTINGS EMAIL PRINT

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY


	2011 DECEMBER Dec. 28, 2011 How 2011 Became a 'Mind-Boggling' Year of Extreme Weather From snowstorms to floods and tornadoes, severe weather wreaked havoc across the United States this year, with 2011 marking far more extreme weather events than a typical year. Hari Sreenivasan discusses the science behind this year of extreme weather with NOAA's Kathryn Sullivan and Weather Underground's Jeff Masters.

	Dec. 28, 2011 Testing Hybrids and Tossing Sandals in the Fight Against 'Wheat Rust' Scientists say they are making promising strides in their race against Ug99, a stem rust disease that, left unchecked, could wipe out 80 percent of the world's wheat crop. But this is a science of watching plants grow. The race is a marathon and the number of farmers forced to be in it will likely drop in the years ahead.

	Dec. 28, 2011 The Daily Frame A visitor takes a picture on an iPad of a statue of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs at Graphisoft Park in Budapest, Hungary. The six-and-a-half foot bronze statue by Erno Toth depicts Jobs with his trademark turtleneck shirt, jeans, sneakers and round glasses.

	Dec. 26, 2011 RedditGifts Hopes to Unwrap Guinness Record for Largest Secret Santa Swap If you think organizing a secret Santa exchange for your office is tricky, try organizing one for the entire globe. As people finish unwrapping Christmas gifts, almost 40,000 people have also been unwrapping gifts for the past month given by anonymous gifters from 114 countries, thanks to the online community Reddit.

	Dec. 22, 2011 Fearing Bioterrorism, Government Panel Asks: What Research Should Be Secret? How much research about the deadly bird flu virus should be available to the public? Ray Suarez discusses the question that many in the science, bioterrorism and national security fields are considering with Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Bruce Alberts of the journal Science.

	Dec. 22, 2011 The Science of Snowflakes, and Why No Two Are Alike Peer through a magnifying glass at a snowflake, and you'll see an ice creation more elaborate than anything Martha Stewart could cut from folded paper.

	Dec. 21, 2011 New EPA Rules Target Power Plants' Toxic Mercury Emissions The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled new standards Wednesday to curb mercury emissions from coal- and oil-fueled power plants around the country. Gwen Ifill discusses the announcement with the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council's Scott Segal and the Natural Resources Defense Council's John Walke.

	Dec. 21, 2011 The Science of Snow Crystals It's true: no two snowflakes are alike. But they come in more shapes than you might think. Check out some samples in this slideshow.

	Dec. 20, 2011 Scientists Find Smallest Exoplanets Yet Scientists have found two fiery hot, Earth-sized exoplanets whizzing around a sunlike star.

	Dec. 19, 2011 Human Waste Killing Caribbean Coral The bright orange Elkhorn coral off the coast of Florida have been devastated by a disease that scientists have tracked to human sewage. Miles O'Brien reports.

	Dec. 16, 2011 5 Resources on Accused WikiLeaks Source Bradley Manning's Trial Months of debate and demonstrations over the flood of classified U.S. government documents that spilled onto the Internet and into the international media have come down to a military court proceeding with an Army private. Here are some resources to help you follow the trial.

	Dec. 15, 2011 Spare Parts for Humans: Tissue Engineers Aim for Lab-Grown Limbs, Lungs and More A new research breakthrough has enabled scientists to grow human tissue to repair or replace organs, and someday, maybe even limbs. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports.

	Dec. 15, 2011 Spacecraft Snaps Giant Asteroid Vesta Up Close NASA's Dawn spacecraft is in orbit around Vesta, the second-most massive object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, snapping pictures of the protoplanet's rugged surface and beaming them back to Earth, revealing images of craters, mountains, rocky plains and steep slopes.

	Dec. 15, 2011 Asteroid Vesta Revealed On December 12, Dawn maneuvered into its closest orbit yet around giant asteroid Vesta. The spacecraft is now circling Vesta at an altitude of about 130 miles. Since NASA's spacecraft dawn snapped into orbit around the object, it has been snapping pictures of the asteroid's rugged surface and beaming them back to Earth.

	Dec. 14, 2011 The Daily Frame A worker at the "European Organization for Nuclear Research walks past a mural representation of the ATLAS Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland.

	Dec. 13, 2011 Hunt for Elusive Higgs Boson Continues Evidence of the elusive Higgs Boson may be peeking out from some very dense data, but scientists at CERN are not ready to conclude that they've found it, they said Tuesday. What does the Higgs boson mean to physics, and how will particle physicists know when they've found it?

	Dec. 12, 2011 After Durban, What Comes Next for Climate Policy? At the 17th U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in South Africa, leaders from around the world came to a broad last-minute compromise, but details were scarce. Ray Suarez discusses what comes next after the Durban summit with the University of Maryland's Nathan Hultman and the Clean Air Task Force's Samuel Thernstorm.

	Dec. 12, 2011 What We're Reading: Durban Deal, Wind Farms and Vocal Fry A look at the most interesting reads this week from the realm of science, from a new emissions deal in Durban to energy-producing wind farms and the sacrifices they require.

	Dec. 9, 2011 Night Satellite Images Give Clues to Measles Outbreaks A team of researchers tracked satellite images of three cities in Niger and found that fluctuations in nighttime brightness were strongly correlated to measles incidence, according to results published in this week's Science.

	Dec. 9, 2011 Great Lakes: Beyond the Biology Lake Superior is warming at an alarming rate, according to oceanographer Tom Johnson of the University of Minnesota Duluth. Scientists from the observatory gather data from sediments, microbes and nitrate buildup in the Great Lakes to study how the lakes respond long-term to climate change.

	Dec. 8, 2011 Science, Skin Deep Carl Zimmer's latest book, "Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed," includes a virtual gallery of science-inspired tattoos, the stories of the scientists behind the ink and the science behind the stories. Here is a sample from his book.

	Dec. 8, 2011 The Art of the Science Tattoo Proof that scientists are a creative, edgy tribe, and eager to express themselves beyond the conference lecture and the journal abstract: a book of more than 1,000 images of body art, from DNA to galaxies.

	Dec. 7, 2011 A Possible Second Home for Humanity Found, but the Commute's Brutal Scientists have discovered a so-called "Goldilocks" planet with a temperature that is not too hot, not too cold, but maybe just right to support life. Correspondent Spencer Michels reports.

	Dec. 6, 2011 Newly Discovered Massive Black Holes Dwarf Previous Record Holders Astronomers recently discovered two massive black holes more than 300 million light years away. Nothing, not even light, can escape the pull of these black holes, which are each 10 billion times the mass of the sun. University of California, Berkeley professor Chung-Pei Ma joins Gwen Ifill to discuss the latest findings.

	Dec. 5, 2011 For Wind Energy's Future, Researchers Look High in the Sky The next major innovation in wind power might not involve big, white turbines dotting the countryside. KQED QUEST reports on research being done on "tethered airfoils" that could capture wind energy more efficiently that earthbound turbines. This report is part of the NewsHour's Connect series of quality public media reporting.

	Dec. 5, 2011 Researchers Discover Monstrous Supermassive Black Holes Researchers have discovered a monster black hole that appears to be the most massive found to date, weighing as much as 21 billion times the mass of our sun, in an elliptical galaxy some 300 light years away.

	Dec. 2, 2011 Quantum Entanglement Links Two Diamonds Usually a finicky phenomenon limited to tiny, ultracold objects, entanglement has now been achieved for macroscopic diamonds at room temperature. Diamonds have long been available in pairs--say, mounted in a nice set of earrings. Physicists have now taken that pairing to a new level, linking two diamonds on the quantum level.

	Dec. 1, 2011 For Frequent Fliers, How Big a Concern Is Backscatter Body Scan Radiation? As millions of Americans take to the skies for holiday travel, some scientists have raised concerns about the small dose of ionizing radiation emitted by backscatter full-body scanners used to screen passengers at U.S. airports. In partnership with ProPublica, Miles O'Brien examines what we do and don't know about the machines.

	Dec. 1, 2011 Behind the Backscatter: The Health, Security Implications of Body Scanners On Thursday's NewsHour broadcast, Miles O'Brien reports on the safety of the latest backscatter body-scanning machines that are widely used in American airport security. Hari Sreenivasan caught up with Miles this week to get some behind-the-scenes intelligence on the piece.



	NOVEMBER Nov. 30, 2011 Worms in Space: Will Invertebrate Astronauts Help Us Get to Mars? In December 2006, the Discovery space shuttle launched into orbit carrying 400 soil-dwelling, bacteria-munching microscopic worms. Though not the first worms in space, they were still pioneers, producing 12 new generations of offspring. A team of scientists observed the worms via video beamed back from space.

	Nov. 28, 2011 New Climate Change Deal to Succeed Kyoto a Long Shot What's behind the long struggle to reach a new international agreement on reducing greenhouse gases? Margaret Warner and The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin preview the U.N.'s annual climate conference.

	Nov. 28, 2011 Weekly Poem: 'The Radioactive Dating Game' Mala Radhakrishnan is an assistant professor at Wellesley College and is the author of a book of poems about chemistry called "Atomic Romances, Molecular Dances." Her aim is to use poetry, but also easy-to-understand analogies to teach such subjects as thermodynamics, kinetics and molecular reactions.

	Nov. 25, 2011 Curiosity Rover Prepped to Begin 300 Million-Mile Journey to Mars Weather permitting, the Mars Science Laboratory will lift off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 10:02 a.m. ET Saturday and start its eight-month, 354-million-mile journey to Mars.

	Nov. 23, 2011 Does Eating Turkey Actually Make Us Sleepy? Is turkey the sole culprit behind our drowsy spells after Thanksgiving dinner? Or are other side dishes in on the act, too? We turn to Dr. Howard Markel of the University of Michigan for some answers ahead of this year's holiday meal.

	Nov. 22, 2011 Can Tech Startup Schools Teach #TheNextBigThing? We explore the phenomenon of Startup Accelerators with Tech Stars, AngelPad, Thomas Korte, David Cohen, Vivek Wadhwa, Blackbox Ventures, Wade Roush. Are they helping find the next big thing or fueling a bubble.

	Nov. 22, 2011 Extreme Weather, Krypton 81 and Bunnies with Terminator-like Vision A look at the most interesting reads this week in science, from the latest UN climate change report to a rare isotope used to study a massive underground water.

	Nov. 21, 2011 Book Chronicles Fight to Save Web From Sophisticated Computer Worm In "Worm: The First Digital World War," journalist Mark Bowden chronicles computer security experts' campaign to detect and defeat a sophisticated new computer worm. Margret Warner and Bowden discuss the Conficker worm, which was first detected in 2008 and ultimately invaded at least 12 million computers worldwide.

	Nov. 21, 2011 Saving A Living Language Mary Hermes of the University of Minnesota, Duluth is a tribal language educator whose research focuses on preserving endangered languages like the Great Lakes region's Ojibwe.

	Nov. 17, 2011 How Do You Protect Against a Tsunami? Researchers in Japan are working to find ways to limit the most-catastrophic damage from tsunamis. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports.

	Nov. 17, 2011 Drooling Electrons, Thermodynamics and Beta Decay ... in Verse In Mala Radhakrishnan's world, where oxygen and palladium atoms clamor to get into the most sought-after beaker, and tortured carbon atoms become boron swans, chemistry is rift with mystery, jealousy and, yes, romance.

	Nov. 16, 2011 Congress Honors 4 Astronauts With Highest Civilian Honor Four astronauts were awarded the nation's highest civilian honor on Wednesday: the Congressional Gold Medal. Ray Suarez reports.

	Nov. 15, 2011 What Stirred Up the Moon's Ancient Magnetic Field? Lunar rocks collected during Apollo moon missions revealed a mysterious truth about the ancient history of the moon. These rocks were magnetized -- nearly conclusive evidence that at the time they solidified, four billion years ago, the moon had a powerful magnetic field that has since disappeared.

	Nov. 14, 2011 NewsHour Connect: World's Largest Dam Removal Set to Restore Ecosystem The world's biggest dam removal project -- and the second-largest environmental restoration project in U.S. history -- is in progress on the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.

	Nov. 14, 2011 Did Fracking Cause Oklahoma's Largest Recorded Earthquake? Probably Not. The biggest earthquake ever recorded in Oklahoma struck on November 5, a magnitude 5.6 temblor that buckled a highway and ruptured water pipes. This quake is part of a skyrocketing rise in seismic activity the state has seen in the past three years, leading many to wonder--and worry--about its cause.

	Nov. 10, 2011 Safecast Draws on Power of the Crowd to Map Japan's Radiation Eight months after a tsunami caused a nuclear accident in Japan, ordinary people are using new technology and the power of crowdsourcing to find radiation hotspots. NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports from Japan.

	Nov. 10, 2011 Obama Administration Delays Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Should President Obama approve a major extension of the Keystone XL pipeline? Ray Suarez discusses that question, which has divided business, environmental groups and labor unions, with The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin.

	Nov. 10, 2011 What's the Fallout for Dogs Near Fukushima? While in Japan for his report on radiation, Miles O'Brien saw a golden dog with a thick red collar trot into the street of the abandoned town, Katsurao. The dog was one of several scrawny, undernourished dogs and cats he encountered, most likely abandoned by their owners during rapid evacuation.

	Nov. 10, 2011 'Hacker' Group Safecast Crowdsources Radiation Data in Japan While in Tokyo, Miles spoke to Hari Sreenivasan about his trip with Safecast workers into the voluntary exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where they detected levels reaching the equivalent of six X-rays per day.

	Nov. 8, 2011 Supreme Court Hears Landmark GPS Tracking Case Can the government track a suspect using a GPS device without a warrant? That question was at the center of a high-profile case before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Judy Woodruff discusses the oral arguments in the case with the National Law Journal's Marcia Coyle.

	Nov. 8, 2011 Asteroid Encounter: YU55 To Fly By Earth on Tuesday This radar image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was obtained at 2:45 pm ET on Nov.

	Nov. 7, 2011 Mysterious Noncoding DNA: 'Junk' or Key Genetic Ingredient? On a regular basis, reporter Jenny Marder tackles a question in science and technology news. It's a feature we call "Just Ask." Today our topic is DNA.

	Nov. 4, 2011 Mars500 Crew Finally Freed The mock Mars500 mission ended and the crew emerged into the daylight in Moscow today after 520 days crammed inside a windowless capsule the size of a schoolbus.

	Nov. 4, 2011 Tough Questions on Dam Removal As river dams age, communities wrestle with how to how to repair and remove them, and a lack of scientific understanding on the subject doesn't help.

	Nov. 3, 2011 Peering Into the Cosmos with Brian Greene In NOVA's latest four-part series, physicist Brian Greene covers an astonishing swath of material in the world of physics: quantum mechanics, general relativity, light speed and gravity and the search for elusive subatomic particles.

	Nov. 2, 2011 Virus Hunter Tracks New and Deadly Pathogens Around the Globe Stanford University biologist Nathan Wolfe is the founder and director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative and one of the world's more prominent virus hunters. Ray Suarez and Wolfe discuss his new book, "The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age," and new viruses emerging around the planet.

	Nov. 1, 2011 The Sweet Smell of Chocolate: Sweat, Cabbage and Beef New science is revealing why cocoa's potent sensual properties have been so difficult to pin down. A recent analysis found that the individual aroma molecules in roasted cacao beans (the primary ingredient of chocolate) can smell of everything from cooked cabbage to human sweat to raw beef fat.



	OCTOBER Oct. 31, 2011 Antarctic Rocks Provide Clues to Bigger Earth Questions John Goodge of the University of Minnesota Duluth is studying rocks from the 2 percent of Antarctica that is not under ice, hoping to learn more about the history of ancient continents, the health of the planet and the impacts of global climate change.

	Oct. 28, 2011 Steve Jobs Biography Examines How Rule-Breaker Tied 'Artistry to Engineering' Author Walter Isaacson tells the story of Apple's late co-founder in a new biography simply titled "Steve Jobs." Jeffrey Brown and Isaacson discuss Jobs' personality, legacy and how his love of the arts shaped his views on innovation.

	Oct. 28, 2011 Advanced Weather-Watching Satellite Blasts Into Orbit A satellite designed to study the Earth's weather and climate launched into space aboard a Delta II rocket early Friday morning.

	Oct. 27, 2011 Will Space Junk Collide With Plans for Future Exploration? Hari recently spoke with retired NASA scientist Donald Kessler about the ins and outs of the debris that is littering low-Earth orbit, creating a so-called "junk belt."

	Oct. 27, 2011 It's Official: Fungus Causes Bat-Killing White-Nose Syndrome New research shows that a fungus known as Geomyces destructans is indeed responsible for the disease that has wiped out entire populations of Northeastern U.S. bat.

	Oct. 27, 2011 World Population Poised to Hit 7 Billion. What Challenges Lie Ahead? On Monday, a baby will be born somewhere and demographers will proclaim that the world's population has reached 7 billion. That's good news and bad news, according to a United Nations Population Fund report released Wednesday.

	Oct. 26, 2011 Why Do Some People Live Past 100? Genome May Hold Clues to Longevity Scientists call them supercontrols: people who have lived past 100, and have somehow evaded the age-related diseases most can't escape after a century of life, such as heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer's disease. A new research contest is seeking looking for answers in the human genome.

	Oct. 25, 2011 Kids Increasingly Staring at Glowing Screens, Study Finds How much time are our youngest children spending in front of screens? Jeffrey Brown discusses new studies that chronicle the increasing use of digital devices by young children -- and the resulting health effects -- with James Steyer of Common Sense Media and Dr. Ari Brown of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

	Oct. 25, 2011 Researchers Battle Parasite-Driven Frog Deformities Johnson and his team are researching the factors that drive the various infections and malformations in multi-limbed frogs, while searching for ways to reduce the number of deformities.

	Oct. 25, 2011 Bath Salts: What You Should Know About Latest DEA-Banned Drug No more picking up "Bliss," "Cloud Nine" or "Hurricane Charlie" at the corner grocery store. The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued a temporary ban on U.S. sales of the street drug more generically known as "bath salts."

	Oct. 24, 2011 Stellar Vampires, Snake Sperm and Optomechanics A look at the most interesting reads this week in science, from new theories on how "blue stragglers" are formed to a rattlesnake that -- after five years without contact with any other snake -- suddenly gave birth to 19.

	Oct. 21, 2011 Scientists Follow the Water to Better Understand Drought Infrared lasers that measure droplets and water vapor, sap flow sensors that track the rate that water flows through trees -- scientists at the Susquehanna Shale Hills Observatory are using these and other instruments to understand the water cycle.

	Oct. 20, 2011 Earthquake Prediction: Could We Ever Forecast the Next Big One? Hundreds of cities on the U.S. West Coast took part in the 2011 Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill on Thursday, just hours before a small tremor hit the San Francisco Bay Area. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports from Japan on efforts to predict big quakes before they hit.

	Oct. 20, 2011 While Rebuilding After Tsunami, Japan Seeks to Prevent Future Disasters Miles O'Brien talks to Hari about one little-known, but comparable precedent to the March tsunami, how Japanese are uniquely approaching the effort to rebuild tsunami-devastated areas, and their changing approach to nuclear energy in the wake of the disaster.

	Oct. 18, 2011 How Bright Is Solar Power's Future in a Post-Solyndra America? After the Obama administration-embraced solar-panel company Solyndra collapsed and defaulted on its government-backed loans, the surging U.S. solar industry is suddenly worried that the subsidies it receives -- tax credits and loans guarantees -- could dry up in the face of opposition from conservatives. Spencer Michels reports.

	Oct. 18, 2011 Scientists Turn Ph.D. Research Into Dance In 2008, a guy on a stage in a loin cloth pretended to kill a woman dressed as an antelope to the music of Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man. It was the beginning of what would become something of a cult competition among young scientists: the "Dance Your Ph.D. Contest."

	Oct. 17, 2011 Lost Ladybug Spotted On Long Island Farm Once so ubiquitous it was named New York's official state insect, the nine-spotted Ladybug has gone missing there for nearly three decades. That is, until just recently, when citizen scientist Peter Priolo spotted the bug on a Long Island organic farm.

	Oct. 14, 2011 Brain-Powered Technology May Help Locked-In Patients An estimated 50,000 people have a condition called locked-in syndrome, marked by normal brain cognition paired with paralysis so severe that they often can't speak. Boston University neuroscientist Frank Guenther and his team are researching the possibility of building technology to help these patients communicate.

	Oct. 13, 2011 Reconstructing Black Death: Why Was Plague Microbe so Deadly? Researchers announced Wednesday that they've managed to reconstruct the genome of the Black Death, the illness that wiped out around half of Europe's population in just a few years in the mid-1300s. Ray Suarez discusses the developments with geneticist Hendrick Poinar of McMaster University.

	Oct. 13, 2011 Black Death's DNA Decoded Using Teeth From London's 'Plague Pits' An international consortium of researchers announced this week that they've managed to reconstruct the genome of Black Death -- the "great-grandmother" of modern plagues and the same illness that wiped out around half of Europe in just a few years in the mid-1300s.

	Oct. 13, 2011 Ancient Paint Studio Unearthed Researchers have unearthed two abalone shells from a South African cave that they believe were used to produce and store a mixture of pigmented paint, and that possibly represent the first known use of containers.

	Oct. 12, 2011 Why Do Leaves Change Color? Why do leaves change to dazzling yellows, burnt oranges and deep red colors in the fall? What's the chemistry behind it all? Understanding why autumn leaves turn requires understanding some simple basics about tree pigments and photosynthesis.

	Oct. 11, 2011 Academia and Big Pharma Partner to Put New Drugs on the Market Big Pharma and university scientists are hopeful that a wave of new research collaborations between the two will speed up the drug discovery process and help put new drugs on a relatively stagnant market.

	Oct. 10, 2011 In Wake of Qwikster's Hasty Death, Netflix Faces Questions of Its Own Can you declare a company dead if it never actually began doing business?It's a slightly existential question one might pose to those who would have run Qwikster, the DVD-by-mail business that Netflix said it was launching just three weeks ago.

	Oct. 10, 2011 DIY Genetics, Dwindling Water and Seismologists on Trial A look at the most interesting reads this week in the realm of science, from dwindling supplies of drinking water to some scientists' assertions of a new geologic age, "do-it-yourself" genetics and the manslaughter trial of seismologists in Italy.

	Oct. 7, 2011 Virus Hunters Stalk the Next Global Epidemic Ask the not-so-simple question of one of the world's leading virologists, "What is a virus?" and the reaction is immediate. He sits up in his chair, throws one leg over another.

	Oct. 6, 2011 What Does Future Hold for Tech World, Apple Without Jobs? Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was remembered Thursday as being one the of world's greatest innovators. Jeffrey Brown discusses his life and work with Google's Vint Cerf, Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin and AOL co-founder Steve Case.

	Oct. 6, 2011 Remembering the Life, Designs of Digital Visionary Steve Jobs In a statement late Wednesday, Apple said its co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at age 56. Correspondent Spence Michels looks back on the life and work of the digital visionary.

	Oct. 6, 2011 Steve Jobs in 1985: Apple Has 'Common Vision' on Changing the World Upon the death of Steve Jobs, we dipped into the NewsHour's video vault for past coverage of Apple and Jobs.

	Oct. 6, 2011 Steve Jobs Must-Reads: Reflections, Tributes, Photos and Webcomics The Web was awash in tributes and remembrances for late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs Thursday as people reacted to news that that the technology and device pioneer had died at age 56 after a long battle with several ailments, including pancreatic cancer.

	Oct. 5, 2011 Apple's Steve Jobs Dies at Age 56 Apple said in a brief statement late Wednesday that company co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs -- who has been battling cancer -- has died.

	Oct. 5, 2011 What are Quasicrystals, and What Makes Them Nobel-Worthy? The 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded on Wednesday to an Israeli scientist named Dan Shechtman who discovered a type of crystal so strange and unusual that it upset the prevailing views on the atomic structure of matter, leading to a paradigm shift in chemistry. But why?

	Oct. 5, 2011 Eric Schmidt on Google vs. Facebook Gwen Ifill interviewed Google's Eric Schmidt -- the company's former CEO and current executive chairman -- as part of the Washington Ideas Forum Wednesday.

	Oct. 5, 2011 Text-Messaging for Health Still Has Its Challenges At first glance, text-messaging health alerts to poor, rural populations with widespread mobile phone use is a no-brainer. But what about the challenges of providing useful information and the simple act of re-charging phones in isolated spots?

	Oct. 4, 2011 U.S. Scientists' Research on Universe Expansion Earns Nobel Nod Three U.S. physicists won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for discovering through the study of supernovae that the universe is not just expanding, but speeding up. KQED's Andrea Kissack profiles one of the scientists and his research.

	Oct. 4, 2011 Physicists Awarded Nobel for Accelerating Universe Discovery Three U.S. physicists won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for discovering, by studying supernovae, that the universe is not just expanding, but speeding up.

	Oct. 3, 2011 Nobels Honor Immune System Research Paving Way for New Vaccines, Treatments American Bruce Beutler and Luxembourg-born Jules Hoffmann shared this year's Nobel Prize in medicine with Canadian-born Ralph Steinman, who died on Friday, for their discoveries related to the immune system. Jeffrey Brown discusses their work with Dr. Anthony Fauci of The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

	Oct. 3, 2011 Dragonflies: Mavericks of Mid-Air Dragonflies hunt their prey, mate and lay eggs in mid-air. They have eyes that wrap around their head, giving them great visibility. They can fly straight up, straight down, hover like helicopters and disappear in a blur. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports for Science Nation on research about these ancient insects.



	SEPTEMBER Sept. 30, 2011 Researchers Reconstruct Movies Using Scans of Brain Activity A group of researchers from the University of California at Berkeley were able to reconstruct movies clips using scans of their subjects' brain activity. That technology could open the door to advances in health and medicine in the future.

	Sept. 30, 2011 Solar Decathlon Contest Refocuses on Affordability of New Homes WASHINGTON \| In addition to more space for her family, Lakiya Culley's new home in Southeast Washington, D.C., comes with another big benefit: miniscule power bills. Culley will be living in the Empowerhouse, one of 20 houses built for the 2011 Solar Decathlon.

	Sept. 29, 2011 Cameras May Soon Recognize Criminals by Their Gait As terrorists and criminals change their tactics to slip through security the surveillance technologies designed to stop or catch them must likewise become more sophisticated, including whether potential security threats can be identified via unique patterns of movement.

	Sept. 23, 2011 'Contagion' Reality Check: CDC Experts Explore Some of the Film's Scenarios So just how plausible is some of the science represented in "Contagion"? A group of Centers for Disease Control experts helped the NewsHour sort through some of the facts.

	Sept. 23, 2011 Small Particles Raise Big Questions About Foundations of Physics News Friday that a group of European physicists may -- and the may is important -- have discovered that subatomic particles traveled faster than the speed of light (the constant c in Einstein's equation) could call our fundamental understanding of the universe into question.

	Sept. 20, 2011 Must-Read List: Understanding the Netflix Split Netflix's announcement that it will split its video service into two separate operations -- with a renamed DVD-by-mail service that will now be called Qwikster and an online-streaming service that will remain known as Netflix -- seems to be crash-landing with a big thud among many customers.

	Sept. 20, 2011 Spacecraft Beams Back New Images of Asteroid Vesta An asteroid with cliffs that climb 9-miles high, deep grooves and craters can be seen in new images recently beamed back from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. The images come from Asteroid Vesta in the asteroid belt circling the sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

	Sept. 19, 2011 Cowboys vs. Gray Wolves: Predator Once Again Prey For the first time in years, hunting season for the once-endangered gray wolf is underway in Idaho and Montana to reduce the predator's population. Cattle ranchers say the hunts are necessary to protect their herds, but environmentalists disagree. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports.

	Sept. 19, 2011 Tracking the Return of the Gray Wolf On Monday's NewsHour, Miles O'Brien reports on the return of a once endangered species: the gray wolf. Is it a growing and threatening predator or a pivotal player to the ecosystem of the Western U.S.?

	Sept. 19, 2011 The Return of the Gray Wolf Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on the successful return of a once endangered species now caught in the crosshairs of cattle ranchers.

	Sept. 16, 2011 Earthworm Invasion Damages Trees The wrong kind of earthworm can upset the chemistry and nutrient dynamics of soil, damaging plant and tree growth, scientists say.

	Sept. 15, 2011 Experimental Malaria Vaccines Attack the Parasite in New Ways Research in the New England Journal of Medicine shows for the first time that a vaccine targeting the malaria parasite at the blood stage, which is when the parasite is emerging from the liver into the patient's bloodstream, could provide protection against specific strains of the disease.

	Sept. 14, 2011 Forensic Meteorology: Harsh Weather Spurs a Growth Industry Forensic meteorologists reconstruct the weather conditions that occurred at a specific time and location in question by retrieving and analyzing archived atmospheric data and re-creating a time line of meteorological events.

	Sept. 14, 2011 9/11 to Now: Ways We Have Changed With the 10th anniversary this week, we take a look at some of the other changes in American life.

	Sept. 12, 2011 Study Shows Insulin Spray Boosts Memory in Alzheimer's Patients Researchers have been exploring the use of an insulin nasal spray for some time, but a new study out Monday provides the best indications yet that such a treatment might provide some hope for helping at least early stage Alzheimer's patients.

	Sept. 12, 2011 Testosterone Plummets When Men Become Fathers, Study Finds Published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study shows that testosterone production drops as males are forced to shift priorities, duties and mindset when they transition into fatherhood.

	Sept. 11, 2011 The Complexity of 2,982 Names on the September 11 Memorial When the National September 11 Memorial opens Sunday a decade after the attacks, family members will for the first time be able to see the names of the victims etched in permanent relationships to those with whom they lived, worked and died.

	Sept. 7, 2011 Supernova Burns Bright in a Galaxy Not So Far Away Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists recently discovered a supernova about 21 million light years away in the Pinwheel Galaxy. Jeffrey Brown and Peter Nugent, who found the brightest and closest supernova in decades, discuss how the dying star could prove to be "a real treat" for Northern hemisphere stargazers.

	Sept. 7, 2011 New Photos Show Tracks from Apollo Landings Decades Ago New images show the sharpest pictures yet of lunar rover tracks and human footprints crisscrossing the thin soil at the surface of the moon from the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landings. These include the last tracks made on the moon by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972.

	Sept. 7, 2011 Texans Displaced by Raging Fires Flames tore through more than 550 homes near Austin this week, leaving thousands displaced and at least four dead statewide, with the number expected to rise. In the midst of a severe drought, firefighters are struggling to bring the fire under control as residents flee its path.

	Sept. 6, 2011 How Has Skyscraper Design Changed Since 9/11? The collapse of the Twin Towers served as a stark and stunning reminder to architects and engineers of the value of using concrete to protect skyscrapers from the ravages of fire. Miles O'Brien reports on how the design of skyscrapers has changed since 9/11. This report was produced in collaboration with the PBS program "NOVA."

	Sept. 5, 2011 NASA Technology, At Work on Earth Variations of many NASA inventions, initially developed for space travel and exploration, have worked their way into consumer culture, ranging from common household items to complex medical technology.

	Sept. 5, 2011 Motion Sickness Treatments Make Waves Researchers are looking to find better ways to treat the miserable phenomenon of motion sickness. And the many who suffer from nausea in cars, planes, boats or even the tamest amusement park rides would welcome a cure.

	Sept. 5, 2011 Lee Downgraded to Tropical Depression, 2 Die in Texas Fire After sweeping through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama Sunday morning, causing flooding in low-lying areas and leaving thousands without power, a weakened storm is continuing to move north through the Tennessee Valley and is expected to cause more flooding.

	Sept. 1, 2011 iPods and Androids Could be Cancer Detection Tools A newly developed device run by an iPod Touch, iPad or Android tablet could help diagnose cancers in poor or rural settings, researchers say. The hand-held and solar-powered system, called a Gene-Z, can perform analysis of blood samples in the field.



	AUGUST Aug. 30, 2011 Augmented Reality Expands Borders of Tech Landscape Augmented reality software places computer-generated images on top of real world environments, such as a smartphone's camera or a live television broadcast. The technology could shape everything from food safety procedures to crime scene investigation.

	Aug. 29, 2011 Earthquakes to the Core A team of scientists are drilling a mile and a half under the Earth and retrieving and studying rock samples that exist in fault zones in order to better understand the mechanics of earthquakes.

	Aug. 26, 2011 Cars of the Future May Keep Us Safe Behind the Wheel at Any Age The MIT AgeLab's latest creation is the "Aware Car," with $1.5 million dollars worth of medical, computer, camera and robotic equipment which will sense and predict a driver's performance -- and even intervene to prevent accidents.

	Aug. 25, 2011 What Will Happen to Innovation at Apple With Jobs Out as CEO? Apple announced Wednesday that CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs had stepped down from his helm, but will serve as chairman of the board. Ray Suarez discusses Jobs' lasting impact on innovation and what comes next for Apple and the tech world with Walter Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal and Charles Golvin of Forrester Research.

	Aug. 25, 2011 Star Swallowed By Black Hole A supermassive black hole has been found shredding and swallowing a sun-sized star that wandered too close, according to two papers published Thursday in the journal Nature.

	Aug. 25, 2011 Hurricane Irene Strengthening, Residents Evacuating Carolina Coastlines Hurricane Irene is on track to become a Category 4 storm on Thursday as it moves from the Bahamas toward the East Coast, spurring evacuations in North and South Carolina. It is expected to weaken in the next few days.

	Aug. 24, 2011 Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO Apple Inc. announced Wednesday evening that CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs will resign from the helm of the technology giant, effective immediately.

	Aug. 24, 2011 El Nino Found to Drive Tropical Civil Wars The warmer, drier conditions of El Nino have had a baleful effect on conflict in the tropics since 1950, research shows.

	Aug. 24, 2011 Charging Cell Phones on the Sly in Syria, the True Story Earlier this month, we aired a report from our partners at GlobalPost about protesters in Syria -- the mistreatment they endured and their tactics for getting around a restrictive regime.

	Aug. 23, 2011 Check How Intense East Coast Earthquake Was in Your Zip Code Tuesday afternoon's earthquake was a shared experience for millions of Americans along the East Coast, but how intense was it where you live?

	Aug. 23, 2011 Rare 5.8-Magnitude Earthquake Jolts East Coast, Causing Various Disruptions A 5.8-magnitude temblor shook much of the densely populated East Coast Tuesday afternoon, including Washington, D.C. and New York City. No serious injuries were reported, but travel from airports and train stations was disrupted.

	Aug. 23, 2011 Are Category 6 Hurricanes Coming Soon? There is talk of adding a sixth level to the current Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, on which category 5 intensity means sustained winds higher than 155 miles per hour for at least one minute, with no speed cap.

	Aug. 22, 2011 What We're Reading: Brain Walls, Critter Vision and Microfossil Wars A look at what's new this week in science news.

	Aug. 22, 2011 Brain-Eating Amoeba Lurk in U.S. Lakes. But Should You Worry? Three people have died in recent weeks after attacks from a single-celled organism called Naegleria fowleri. But health experts say infection, while almost always fatal, is extremely rare.

	Aug. 19, 2011 Study: Black Researchers Receive Fewer NIH Grants A new study by the National Institutes of Health found a disturbing gap between the number of grants awarded to white scientists and those awarded to black scientists.

	Aug. 19, 2011 Could Bacteria Be the Energy Producer of the Future? What if wastewater could be turned into energy? Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on scientists from Penn State University that are developing microbial fuel cells that could channel energy produced when bacteria breaks down waste into electricity.

	Aug. 17, 2011 Human Sewage Identified as Coral Killer A Florida biologist has linked a vicious coral-killing pathogen in the Caribbean and Florida Keys to human sewage that leaks into the ocean from improperly treated wastewater.

	Aug. 16, 2011 The Secret Language Code Are there hidden messages in your emails? Yes, and in everything you write or say, according to James Pennebaker, who uses computer analysis of texts to understand their psychological content.

	Aug. 15, 2011 Black Planets, Moon Blasts and Octopus Camouflage A look at the most interesting reads this week from the realm of science, including a giant planet so black that it is less reflective than "the blackest acrylic paint" and an octopus engulfed in camouflage against an ocean plant that suddenly blanches white, shoots ink and darts away.

	Aug. 15, 2011 Computer Simulation Brings Maps to Life on Campus For the National Science Foundation's Science Nation, science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on a computing concept called Geo-immersion, which relies on virtual computer simulation to reflect the world around us in real-time.

	Aug. 11, 2011 Pregnant Plesiosaur Fossil May Shed Light on Ancient Animal's Behavior Scientists have pieced together the first-ever fossil of a pregnant plesiosaur, a giant Mesozoic sea reptile from the Cretaceous Era, with an embryo still inside.

	Aug. 11, 2011 Drought Monitor Tracks Extreme Heat Across the Nation Researchers have developed a tool called the Drought Monitor to compile and visualize the scope and impact of heat across the United States. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey, one of the authors of the Drought Monitor, speaks with Hari Sreenivasan about the impact of the recent extreme heat.

	Aug. 9, 2011 Tweeting Your Health Woes Could Help Fight Disease According to a recent slate of independent studies, Twitter can accurately track the spread of a virus or disease -- and do it much faster than traditional surveillance methods.

	Aug. 9, 2011 Thelon River Explorers Check in from the Campground After 16 days of battling fierce mosquito swarms and hauling heavy equipment along a poorly charted river, Nature Conservancy's M. Sanjayan and a group of young members from the Dene First Nation have completed their 200-mile trek along Northern British Columbia's Thelon River.

	Aug. 8, 2011 Halfway to Cuba, Diana Nyad Ends Her Swim After 29 hours in the water, shifting winds and strong ocean currents forced 61-year-old Diana Nyad to end her swim early Tuesday morning.

	Aug. 8, 2011 Can Seawater Solve Our Water Woes? Desalinization of ocean water has been a dream and goal of scientist for decades, but the project takes on more urgency as the fast-growing world population's water needs outstrip supply. The technology is developing, but not without costs.

	Aug. 5, 2011 Mapping the Human Brain For this week's Science Nation, Miles O'Brien reports on a neuroanatomist who is using real brains to build three-dimensional brain maps.

	Aug. 5, 2011 Juno Blasts Off for Planet Jupiter For the first time in 16 years, NASA is heading back to planet Jupiter to look beneath the planet's clouds and hopefully get some answers on how the solar system formed.

	Aug. 4, 2011 Massive Campaign of Cyber Spying Uncovered The public learned this week of a five-year, high-level hacking campaign that infiltrated computer systems of more than 70 governments, corporations and public and private organizations in 14 countries. Margret Warner discusses the hack, uncovered by McAfee, with Vanity Fair's Michael Joseph Gross, who broke the story.

	Aug. 4, 2011 Mysterious Markings May Indicate Water on Mars During its warmer seasons, dark fingerlike streaks that look like rivers, streams and small channels appear along the hills and slopes of Mars.

	Aug. 3, 2011 From Netflix to Hulu, Streaming Video Businesses Gaining Ground What have you been watching on your computer lately? More and more Americans are checking out movies and television program online. Hari Sreenivasan discusses the recent push toward more streaming content with GershonMedia's Bernard Gershon.

	Aug. 3, 2011 Airplane Turbulence: Is It Dangerous? No frequent flyer is a stranger to turbulence. But what causes it, and how dangerous is it?

	Aug. 2, 2011 Asteroid Close-Up, Giant Fungus and Tomato Blight A look at some of the most interesting reads in science this week.

	Aug. 1, 2011 New Widget Tracks Record-Breaking High Temperatures Using data collected by the NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, the PBS NewsHour has set out to track the number of high temperature records set each day of the year across the U.S.

	Aug. 1, 2011 The Science of Shopping "With so many products and so many stores and websites, how do we decide what to buy and where to shop?" NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien poses this question in the National Science Foundation's latest Science Nation piece.



	JULY July 29, 2011 How Will New Fuel Efficiency Rules Affect Consumers? President Obama, flanked on stage by executives from the country's leading automakers, announced new fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks Friday that would double the current requirement to 54 mpg.

	July 29, 2011 How Will New Fuel Efficiency Rules Affect Consumers? President Obama, flanked on stage by executives from the country's leading automakers, announced new fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks Friday that would double the current requirement to 54.

	July 28, 2011 Asteroid Is a Dance Partner for Planet Earth A team of Canadian scientists have discovered a "Trojan" asteroid that is caught in a synchronized orbit with the Earth. Jeffrey Brown discusses what this discovery means with the California Institute of Technology's Mike Brown.

	July 28, 2011 5 Years Later, Scientists Still Puzzled by Honeybee Decline Five years ago, honeybees began dying in large numbers and hives were becoming defunct. Spencer Michels reports on the scientists who are still trying to figure out why this is happening and what can be done to help the problem.

	July 28, 2011 NewsHour Connect: Heat Wave Imperils Midwest Agriculture Temperatures have been rising in the Midwest this summer -- and with them, food prices may also be heading upward.

	July 28, 2011 What's Behind the Problem of Disappearing Bees? Five years ago, bees in America and Canada were dying in large numbers and hives were becoming defunct. The problem was called Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD, and it threatened a handful of California's very profitable crops.

	July 28, 2011 River Explorers Face Mosquitos, Grizzlies in Remote Canadian Wilderness On July 23, the Nature Conservancy's lead scientist, M. Sanjayan, embarked on a three-week river expedition through one of the most remote wilderness areas of Northern British Columbia with a group of teens from the Dene First Nation, a community indigenous to the area.

	July 27, 2011 Asteroid Found Locked Into Earth's Orbit: Meet Our Traveling Companion An asteroid is caught in a synchronized orbit with the Earth, dancing back and forth relative to our planet as both circle the sun, a team of Canadian scientists has discovered.

	July 26, 2011 French Guiana To Be Newest Soyuz Spaceport In addition to launching Soyuz rockets from the usual spaceports in Kazakhstan and Russia, the country is adding a new working launch pad to its arsenal -- located in a jungle in French Guiana, along South America's northern coast.

	July 26, 2011 Soyuz Rockets Prepare for Liftoff From New Spaceport This fall, Russian Soyuz rockets are expected to begin launching from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana, headquarters of France's Ariane satellite-launching rocket program. This will mark the first time that a Soyuz launcher will lift off from a spaceport other than Baikonur in Kazakhstan or Plesetsk in Northern Russia.

	July 25, 2011 Mongolian Herders See Changes as Temperatures Rise Since 1960, Mongolia's average temperature has increased 4.1 degrees -- a change faster than the global average. The uptick has had an impact on herders living close to the land.

	July 25, 2011 Changing the World: One Idea at a Time Meet the top winners in the "Technology 4 a Better World" campaign by Ashoka's Youth Venture, a global organization supporting youth social entrepreneurs, and electronic retailer, Best Buy.

	July 22, 2011 'Wheels Stop': Saying Goodbye to the Space Shuttle Program David Waters, a space reporter, videographer and a longtime resident of the "Space Coast", reflects on the final landing of the space shuttle.

	July 21, 2011 Medical Apps Slated for FDA Checkup This week, the Food and Drug Administration began seeking input on proposed guidelines that would allow it to regulate the ballooning market for "mobile medical apps," which are already used to monitor heart rate, dosage, and even conduct ultrasounds.

	July 21, 2011 Hubble Telescope Finds a New Moon Orbiting Pluto The Hubble Space Telescope peered 3 billion miles into space and found a fourth, previously unseen moon orbiting Pluto. And as moons go, it is tiny -- only an estimated 8 to 21 miles across.

	July 21, 2011 Space Shuttle Atlantis Has Landed, Ending an Era Space Shuttle Atlantis and her four-member crew landed just before sunrise on Thursday morning, marking the historic final landing of the space shuttle program and closing out the shuttle era's 30 years of manned flight.

	July 20, 2011 Indonesian Plant Shows Promise for Male Birth Control A plant that reduces fertility, long used by Indonesian men, is being tested as a possible daily male birth control pill.

	July 20, 2011 NASA's Space Shuttle Program: 30 Years of Flight Atlantis and her four-member crew have been cleared for their historic return to earth on Thursday. Landing is scheduled for 5:56 ET. As NASA's final shuttle prepares for its final landing, we look back at the 30-year program.

	July 20, 2011 Testing the Limits of Human Endurance As soon as the Gulf Stream water reaches the optimal temperature -- not too hot, not too cold -- 61-year-old Diana Nyad will set off for one of the greatest tests of human endurance, ever. She will swim from Havana, Cuba to the Florida coast -- a 103-mile swim.

	July 19, 2011 NRC Chief: U.S. Nuclear Plants Safe Despite Age, Needed Upgrades The earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Japanese coast and triggered a nuclear crisis raised major questions surrounding the safety of U.S. nuclear reactors. Gwen Ifill discusses new safety regulations issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with its head, Gregory Jaczko.

	July 18, 2011 What We're Reading: Quantum Quirks, Dying Oaks and Victorian Women A look at the most interesting reads this week from the realm of science, from loading cargo on to the space shuttle Atlantis to decoding trends in London criminal trials from the 1800s.

	July 15, 2011 Dawn to Rise Over Asteroid Vesta On July 16, NASA's Dawn spacecraft is expected to become the first man-made probe to enter orbit around a so-called main-belt asteroid.

	July 14, 2011 Loss of Top Predators Has Far-Reaching Effects The animal that sits at the top of the food chain matters, and its loss has large, complex effects on the structure and function of its ecosystem, according to an article published on Thursday in the online issue of the journal, Science.

	July 14, 2011 Has Google Changed Our Memories? A new study out Thursday in Science shows that the rise of search engines such as Google and Bing have actually changed the way our brain remembers information. Hari Sreenivasan discusses the study with lead author, Columbia University psychologist Betsy Sparrow.

	July 14, 2011 Quick Take: The Pentagon's Cybersecurity Plan Rather than equating cyber attacks to acts of war, as some had expected, the Pentagon's policy statement describes cybersecurity in the context of protecting military networks, and outlines five strategic initiatives to undertake toward that aim.

	July 13, 2011 What We're Reading: Superbugs, Second Thumbs and Potato Genomes A look at the most interesting reads this week in the realm of science, from increasingly drug-resistant gonorrhea to the mole's mysterious sixth digit.

	July 13, 2011 Murdoch Halts Bid to Purchase BSkyB as Phone Hacking Fallout Continues Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has dropped its bid to purchase British satellite broadcaster BSkyB in light of the still-unfolding scandal over the use of phone hacking by journalists from News of the World.

	July 12, 2011 Colorado Kids Act as Citizen Scientists in National Lady Bug Hunt Some Colorado kids have become citizen scientists as part of a nationwide effort to catalog lady bug species. Cornell University scientists are trying to understand why some species have vanished and others have appeared. Correspondent Tom Bearden reports on the lady bug hunt that might help students discover careers in science.

	July 12, 2011 How Do You Hack Into Someone's Voicemail? As British investigators study the scope of phone hacking's role in a far-reaching media and political scandal there, it's become clear that breaking into someone else's voicemail isn't very difficult.

	July 12, 2011 Searching for 'Lost' Ladybugs Gail Starr, a volunteer spotter for a national research study called "The Lost Ladybug Project," gathered students at Palmer Park in Colorado Springs, Colo., where they collected hundreds of ladybugs from the spiny yucca plants that dot the area.

	July 11, 2011 As Shuttle Retires, What's NASA's New Mission? After 30 years and millions of miles traveled, the 135th and final mission of NASA's space shuttle program blasted off Friday. Ray Suarez discusses the post-shuttle era of space exploration and NASA's future purpose with former astronaut Mae Jemison, former NASA official Eric Sterner and science correspondent Miles O'Brien.

	July 11, 2011 Record Drought Threatens Millions in Eastern Africa More than 10 million people are desperately in need of food assistance in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, the World Food Program estimated this week, as the worst drought in 60 years continues to ravage eastern Africa.

	July 8, 2011 Big Sky Country Struggles With Yellowstone Oil Spill Aftermath In Montana, contractors have been working 12 hours a day to soak up what they can of the estimated 42,000 gallons of crude oil that escaped into the Yellowstone River from a broken ExxonMobil pipeline. Correspondent Tom Bearden reports from Laurel, Mont., on the cleanup effort and health concerns for humans and wildlife.

	July 8, 2011 NASA's Shuttle Era Winds Down With Bittersweet Moments, Grocery Run Despite troublesome weather, space shuttle Atlantis blasted into orbit for the final time Friday with a four-person crew and a payload of food for the International Space Station. Judy Woodruff and science correspondent Miles O'Brien discuss this final mission, the end of the space shuttle era and what's next for NASA.

	July 8, 2011 The Space Shuttle Era in 10 Stories On the occasion of the last space shuttle launch, we looked back at some notable NewsHour coverage of the shuttle program over the years.

	July 8, 2011 Montanans Worry About Fallout from Yellowstone Spill Many people are worried that the state's reputation as a tourist attraction has been badly damaged by worldwide news coverage of an oil spill. Last Friday, a pipeline called the Silvertip released an estimated 42,000 gallons of crude oil into the storied Yellowstone River.

	July 8, 2011 Atlantis Lifts Off Into History, Launching Last Shuttle Mission Mission managers remained cautiously hopeful on Friday morning as the countdown to the final launch of space shuttle Atlantis continued, despite a stormy weather forecast.

	July 7, 2011 Mock Mission to Mars Tests Psychological Rigors of Long-Distance Space Travel As astronauts and scientists are getting set for the end of the space shuttle era in the United States, science correspondent Miles O'Brien looks at how the Russians have been preparing for the rigors of future flights to Mars with a simulated mission here on Earth. But can space travel's stresses really be faked?

	July 7, 2011 Miles O'Brien: 'Mixed Emotions' Surround Final Space Shuttle Launch The space shuttle Atlantis will be the last liftoff for NASA's shuttle program. Miles O'Brien reflects on his memories of covering dozens of launches.

	July 6, 2011 Twitter Town Hall Showcases Social Media's Political Potential In a "Twitter town hall" Wednesday at the White House, people across the country tweeted questions for President Obama to answer. Jeffrey Brown discusses the town hall and how technology is changing politics with techPresident's Andrew Rasiej, The Brookings Institution's Darrell West and The Washington Post's Cecilia Kang.

	July 6, 2011 Wrinkled When Wet: Accidental or Adaptive? Beachgoers know it well. You soak in the sea or the tub long enough, and your waterlogged fingers get puckered and funny looking. But why do our fingers and toes wrinkle in water?

	July 6, 2011 Obama to Host Twitter Town Hall Sure, President Obama may use his 2 p.m. ET Twitter event to move the ball rhetorically on the deficit talks, but his hosting of the first ever White House town hall on the popular micro-blogging social media site is well worth noting.

	July 5, 2011 Schweitzer Confident of Full Oil Spill Cleanup, Future Pipelines Will Be OK Three days after an ExxonMobil pipeline ruptured on the Yellowstone River, spewing 42,000 gallons of crude oil, crews are still scrambling to contain the spill but rising water levels blocked efforts to reach some of the soiled shoreline. Jeffrey Brown discusses the scope of the damage with Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

	July 5, 2011 'Microsleep' Software Doubles Battery Life of Connected Gadgets No matter how fancy mobile gadgets get, they're useless when their batteries run out. Laptop, tablet and smart phone batteries are being asked to do more despite no real breakthroughs in battery technology hitting the market.

	July 4, 2011 A Fireworks Show for the Nation Fireworks will be illuminating the skies in cities across the country on this July 4 holiday. Among the classic destinations for Independence Day displays is the fireworks show on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

	July 4, 2011 Chew On This: Muscles Used for Munching Underwent Significant Evolutionary Shift Fish do it. Lizards do it. Cows do it. Get your heads out of the gutter, readers. We're talking about chewing.

	July 1, 2011 'Life on Mars' Author Explores Humans' Relationship With Universe Through Poetry "Life on Mars," Tracy K. Smith's third book, explores the cosmos through words. The Princeton creative writing professor and poet reflects on the relationship between our lives and the universe at her Brooklyn home.

	July 1, 2011 Hamming Up the Airwaves An estimated 30,000 hams across the country set up transmitters in public places this weekend to show off the emergency communications capabilities of their hobby, and to possibly attract new amateur radio enthusiasts.



	JUNE June 30, 2011 Are Social Media Services the Next Tech Bubble? The estimated value of tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is soaring, but could another tech bubble be building? Ray Suarez discusses the social media services that are at the center of this question with Fortune magazine's Jessi Hempel and Forrester Research's Josh Bernoff.

	June 29, 2011 Mythbusters' Adam Savage on Finding the Fun and the 'Danger' in Science On Wednesday's NewsHour, science correspondent Miles O'Brien looks at a growing effort to get kids more enthused about science, engineering and math: "Maker Faire" in San Mateo, Calif.

	June 29, 2011 Can DIY Movement Fix a Crisis in U.S. Science Education? Miles O'Brien reports from a gathering in California on a growing movement that embraces the art of making cool things and a quirky do-it-yourself spirit. Supporters see "making" as one way to overcome a crisis in American science and math education.

	June 28, 2011 Minds, Machines Merge to Offer New Hope for Overcoming Impairments Scientists are creating a new generation of artificial body parts to help people with disabilities see, walk, swim, grip and run among other things. Miles O'Brien reports on the latest advances in prosthetics.

	June 28, 2011 Tasmanian Devils, Toxic Shampoos and Tracking Sea Turtles A look at the most interesting reads from the realm of science, including an "underwater Serengeti" in the Pacific Ocean to studies on how power grids affect electric clocks.

	June 27, 2011 On Its Final Mission, Atlantis to Help Ready NASA for Post-Shuttle Era Space shuttle Atlantis will haul supplies and a robotic experiment to the International Space Station for its final flight.

	June 24, 2011 Can Robots Learn to Learn? When it comes to robots, are two heads better than one? A team of scientists at the University of Delaware believe that robots can be taught to adapt to changing circumstances by observing and communicating with other robots.

	June 22, 2011 New Clues to Deadly Strength of Germany E. Coli Strain A deadly strain of E. coli in Europe combined the abilities of two known pathogens to create a dangerous, virulent blend, new research shows.

	June 22, 2011 Oceans Face Mass Extinctions, New Report Warns When 27 marine experts from a half-dozen countries met in England this April for a workshop on the state of the oceans, they knew the news would not be good.

	June 21, 2011 Snake Genome Suggests Treatments for Human Heart Disease Snakes have been around for some 150 million years, but their ancient physiology might hold some important clues to developing new drugs.

	June 20, 2011 Study: Severe Food Allergies More Common Among Children One in 13 American children have a food allergy -- far more than previously reported, according to a study released Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

	June 17, 2011 Science Nation: Inside the Teen Brain Ever wonder what's going on in the teen mind? Adriana Galvan, a UCLA psychologist who studies the structure, function and firing patterns of teen brains, says the architecture of the teen brain is fundamentally different than that of an adult.

	June 16, 2011 What Is a Black Hole, and How Are They Formed? As new findings are released on the most ancient black holes ever detected, we break down the basics.

	June 15, 2011 'Fracking' for Natural Gas Continues to Raise Health Concerns Energy companies are increasingly scouring the U.S. for natural gas deposits. As they do, one of the extraction methods they are using, known as fracking, is coming under sharp scrutiny for potential health consequences from the chemicals involved. Tom Bearden reports from Colorado.

	June 15, 2011 Tracking Energy Booms, Busts and the Rise of the 'Fracking' Debate NewsHour correspondent Tom Bearden reports Wednesday on a community in Colorado that was once the site of large-scale oil drilling operations. Now, it is filled with gas-producing wells in another kind of energy boom.

	June 14, 2011 Twitter Is Everywhere Now, but Can It Make Money? From the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden to Rep. Anthony Weiner's scandal, Twitter has been in the news recently for helping break news. While the social media giant's popularity has soared among politicians, movie stars and people around the world, can the micro-blogging service make money? Spencer Michels reports.

	June 14, 2011 What We're Reading: Ancient Fossils, Opossums, and Bones A look at the most interesting reads from the realm of science, selected by the NewsHour.

	June 10, 2011 What Will Sea Level Rise Do to Marshes? Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on how sea level rise could affect saltwater and freshwater marshes for National Science Foundation's* Science Nation.

	June 9, 2011 At the Far End of the Solar System: Space Bubbles Some 10 billion miles from Earth, the decades-old twin Voyager spacecraft have beamed back new data that show frenzied bubbles near the edge of our solar system.

	June 9, 2011 'Up in Smoke' Chronicles Slash and Burn Agriculture in Honduras We're looking at the film "Up in Smoke," a documentary on the use of slash and burn agriculture in Central America, this week as part of our partnership with The Economist magazine that showcases the art of filmmaking.

	June 9, 2011 NASA Images of Arizona Wildfire Detail Scope of Blaze NASA's Earth Observatory has released detailed images of the wildfires in Arizona this week, which have scorched some 389,000 acres in the past ten days and forced thousands of residents to evacuate.Known as the Wallow Fire, the blaze has been spread by winds up to 40 miles per hour and dry, hot air.

	June 9, 2011 Shattered Expectations: Ultrabright Supernovae Defy Explanation A rare, superluminous kind of stellar explosion does not fit into the usual supernova categories

	June 8, 2011 Search for Effective PTSD Treatments Shows Some Promise As part of a new partnership with the NewsHour, Jay Shefsky of WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" reports on scientists' search for effective treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder.

	June 8, 2011 World Tests IPv6: Why 4.2 Billion Internet Addresses Just Weren't Enough More than 400 organizations and Internet giants participated Wednesday in a trial run of a new addressing system, called Internet Protocol version 6, known as IPv6. Hari Sreenivasan reports on World IPv6 Day, and Leslie Daigle of the Internet Society explains how it will affect your life online.

	June 8, 2011 Vint Cerf on IPv6 Trial: 'The Internet Is Not Going to Melt Down' On Wednesday, the Internet's addressing system was updated with a test of the new IPv6 protocol. Hari Sreenivasan turns to one of the Internet's original architects, Google's Vint Cerf, for more on the wildly growing Web.

	June 7, 2011 Internet Readies for Transition to IPv6 As the Internet's first major batch of IP addresses runs out, organizations worldwide are test driving a new system starting this week. CNET's Molly Wood explains what the transition to IPv6 means.

	June 7, 2011 To Combat Human Rights Abuses, California Company Looks to Computer Code Spencer Michels reports on a California nonprofit using high-tech tools to document patterns of brutality and combat human rights abuses across the globe.

	June 7, 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: 'a Failure of Regulation, not Operation' Three months after a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power Plant in Japan, a new report puts the amount of radiation released at more than double earlier estimates. Judy Woodruff discusses the report's findings with James Acton of The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

	June 7, 2011 Report: Puts Fukushima's Radiation Release at 1/6th of Chernobyl's It's been three months since a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. A new official report says the amount of radiation released was more than double the earlier estimates. Judy Woodruff reports on the findings.

	June 7, 2011 Developers Have Stars in Their Eyes at Apple Event The line to get in stretched around the block in the cold drizzle of a San Francisco June day.

	June 6, 2011 Apple Unveils New iCloud Music Service, but Privacy Issues May Lurk Steve Jobs returned to the public stage Monday to announce Apple's iCloud, a new online music storage service. Ray Suarez discusses the announcement with The Washington Post's Technology Reporter Cecilia Kang.

	June 6, 2011 Sprouts? Cucumbers? Authorities Still Searching for Source of E. Coli Bacteria like E. coli can flourish on certain types of farms. Here's a look at why.

	June 3, 2011 The Physics of Flying Dragons Behind every cartoon is a whole lot of science. Creating computer animations requires a finely-tuned grasp on physics, physiology and anatomy, Miles O'Brien reports in the National Science Foundation's* latest Science Nation piece.

	June 3, 2011 5 Top Global Health Stories: E. Coli Strikes Europe, Possible Cell Phone-Cancer At least 18 people have died and more than 1,700 have been sickened in Germany from an outbreak of a new strain of E. coli. Though the first cases were discovered in early May, the source of the outbreak has not yet been confirmed.

	June 3, 2011 Could Studying Seawater Saltiness Be Key to Decoding Climate Puzzle? A satellite slated to launch into space next week will study the saltiness of the oceans, and, scientists hope, provide a better grasp of extreme weather events.

	June 2, 2011 Europe's Deadly E. Coli Outbreak a 'Wake-Up Call' Over Global Food Distribution A new strain of E. coli is sickening hundreds throughout Europe and leaving health officials baffled. Ray Suarez discusses the outbreak's global impact with attorney Bill Marler, who has worked on foodborne illness cases, and Cornell University food science professor Robert Gravani.

	June 2, 2011 In Europe, Fingers Pointing Over Origin of Deadly, Costly New E. Coli Strain A deadly new strain of E. coli is sickening hundreds throughout Europe and so far baffling researchers and health officials. Ray Suarez reports on the outbreak that has many Europeans concerned about the contents of their salads and soups.

	June 1, 2011 Scientists Strive for Way to Issue Earlier Tornado Warnings This spring has been one of the deadliest tornado seasons ever, prompting questions about just how well scientists can anticipate and warn people of storms about to strike. Tom Bearden reports on researchers who are trying to improve warning systems in the hopes of saving more lives.

	June 1, 2011 Gauging the Impact, Motivations of Today's Hackers Cyber attacks are having a big impact on governments, businesses, individuals and even PBS, the NewsHour and Frontline. Judy Woodruff examines the proliferation of criminal hacking and its fallout with ICANN security chief Jeff Moss, Alan Paller of The SANS Institute and cyber threat consultant Mischel Kwon.

	June 1, 2011 Tornado Tracking Attempt in Time-Lapse Video Can scientists develop better ways to identify developing tornadoes?

	June 1, 2011 Woodruff: Calculating the Cost of an Attempt to Silence the Press Senior correspondent Judy Woodruff writes about this week's hacking attacks on PBS websites and overcoming efforts to silence a free press.

	June 1, 2011 Shuttle returns, Statistical Fights and Space Beer A look at what NewsHour science is reading about this week, from Endeavour's final mission to new doubts about a study on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

	June 1, 2011 Headlines: 41 Killed in Yemen Clashes, Space Shuttle Endeavour Lands Also: Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad laid to rest amid suspicions over the cause of his death, Pentagon to reclassify cyber attacks.

	June 1, 2011 NASA Celebrates 50 Years of Space Art The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum opened an exhibit of space art this week. We take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the artwork.



	MAY May 31, 2011 Neurosurgeon: 'Your Cell Phone Is Not Necessarily a Safe Device' A World Health Organization panel of 31 scientists raised some concerns Tuesday when they reported that cell phones are "possibly carcinogenic" and may be associated with "some risk" for brain cancer. But the group also called for further study. Jeffery Brown discusses concerns and precautions with neurosurgeon Keith Black.

	May 27, 2011 Spirit No More: NASA Bids Mars Rover a Final Goodbye Science Correspondent Miles O'Brien reflects on the Mars rover Spirit, following NASA's final attempt at contact. Spirit's radio fell silent last year.

	May 24, 2011 Stink Bug Invasion: Is a Wasp the Solution to Save Valued Crops? When it comes to fruit and vegetables, brown marmorated stink bugs don't discriminate. They extract fluid from the apples, turning them dry and corky, and then leave them to rot.

	May 23, 2011 116 Confirmed Dead After Tornado in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of Joplin, Missouri, Sunday, May 22, 2011, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses.

	May 20, 2011 Furry Robots, Foldable Cars and More Innovations from MIT's Media Lab We recently visited the Media Lab at MIT for our story on George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen's ebook, "The Great Stagnation." Cowen argues that the pace of innovation is stalling. We went to MIT for the counterargument. Here's a sampling of some of the Lab's recent high-tech creations.

	May 20, 2011 'Lab in a Can' Puts Underwater Worlds in Closer Reach Microbiologists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have developed a machine that uses built-in robotics to study water quality while underwater.

	May 19, 2011 Mark Kelly Followed Wife Giffords' Latest Surgery From Space NASA's space shuttle Endeavour launched Monday on a 16-day mission to the International Space Station. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien posed crowdsourced questions to the commander and crew early Thursday in a collaboration with Google and YouTube. Here is an excerpt.

	May 19, 2011 You Talk to Endeavour: Shuttle Crew on Giffords, Tile Damage, Trips to Mars Google, YouTube and the PBS NewsHour took you aboard space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station for a live interview with Commander Mark Kelly and crew. Watch the full interview here.

	May 19, 2011 Giffords Recovering 'Really Well' Post Surgery, Mark Kelly Reports Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is recovering well after a piece of her skull was repaired during surgery in Houston on Wednesday, reports her husband Mark Kelly, in an interview Thursday morning from space.

	May 19, 2011 Exclusive: Watch Live Interview With Shuttle Cmdr. Mark Kelly, Astronauts Set your alarm clock and the timer on your coffeemaker for daybreak on Thursday because Google, YouTube and the PBS NewsHour are taking you aboard space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station for a live interview with Commander Mark Kelly and crew as they orbit the earth at 17,500 mph.

	May 18, 2011 The Great Stagnation: Why Hasn't Recent Technology Created More Jobs? As part of his continuing coverage of Making Sen$e of financial news, Paul Solman reports on why more good jobs haven't been created in recent years. Can new technological innovations create widespread job growth as past generations have seen?

	May 18, 2011 Mississippi River Floodwater Could Create Long-Term Toxic Impact A 15-mile stretch of the swollen Mississippi River, closed Tuesday due to pressure on levees, has been reopened to barges moving one at a time. Tom Bearden reports on the short- and long-term environmental effects the floodwater could have on Lake Pontchartrain, oyster beds and more.

	May 18, 2011 Farm Runoff in Mississippi River Floodwater Fuels Dead Zone in Gulf A dead zone -- already the size of the state of New Jersey -- is growing in the Gulf of Mexico, fueled by nutrient runoff from the swollen Mississippi River.

	May 17, 2011 Author James Gleick Traces Information's Evolution in New Book Author James Gleick's new book, "The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood," chronicles the evolution of information. Jeffrey Brown and the science and technology author discuss how our era of information overload evolved from pre-digital times.

	May 16, 2011 Morganza Spillway Before and After Photos Released After engineers opened the Morganza spillway Saturday in an attempt to divert surging floodwaters from heavily populated areas in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Google and GeoEye released some before and after satellite photos Monday evening.

	May 16, 2011 'Life on Mars' Author Explores Humans' Relationship With Universe Through Poetry "Life on Mars," Tracy K. Smith's third book, explores the cosmos through words. The Princeton creative writing professor and poet reflects on the relationship between our lives and the universe at her Brooklyn home.

	May 16, 2011 News Wrap: Space Shuttle Endeavour Blasts Off for Final Mission In other news Monday, Space Shuttle Endeavour blasted into orbit, marking the penultimate takeoff for the shuttle program. The launch attracted a large crowd including Gabrielle Giffords, wife of the mission commander. Also, Wall Street never got off the ground amid concerns over European debt and unease about the U.S. economy.

	May 16, 2011 Morganza Spillway Reduces Pressure on Cities' Levees; Towns Brace for Water On Saturday, the Army Corps of Engineers opened the floodgates of the Morganza Spillway on the Mississippi River to reduce pressure on the levees that protect Baton Rouge and New Orleans. A number of smaller towns are now having to deal with the possibility of devastating flooding. Correspondent Tom Bearden reports.

	May 16, 2011 Watch Live: Space Shuttle Endeavour Ready for Liftoff Space shuttle Endeavour, NASA's youngest orbiter, is scheduled to blast off into space for the final time at 8:56 am ET today, marking the next-to-last scheduled launch of the 30-year shuttle program.

	May 13, 2011 Does Music Feed the Mind? NewsHour Science Correspondent Miles O'Brien profiles Georgia Tech music professor Parag Chordia, whose research shows that creativity sparked from music can help students grasp other concepts in math, science and engineering.

	May 12, 2011 A Sea of Magma Feeds Hundreds of Volcanoes on Jupiter's Moon New data confirms that an ocean of molten lava under the surface of Jupiter's moon, Io, feeds the moon's many active volcanoes.

	May 12, 2011 Why Did April Spawn so Many Deadly Tornadoes in the South? A deadly outbreak of tornadoes hit the southern U.S. in April, causing widespread fatalities that some say were compounded by power outages and communications disruptions.

	May 11, 2011 In Wake of Duerson Case, 5 Questions About Football and Brain Injury Just before he took his life this winter, former football great David Duerson sent a text message to his ex-wife -- and wrote a suicide note as well -- that would call attention once again to some big questions surrounding football and the possibility of permanent brain injury among some players.

	May 10, 2011 NASA Releases New Images of Mississippi River Flooding NASA's Earth Observatory has released new before and after images of the Mississippi River flooding around Memphis.

	May 10, 2011 What's Behind Microsoft's Decision to Buy Skype? Microsoft announced Tuesday it was purchasing the Internet telephone service Skype in a deal valued at $8.5 billion. Jeffrey Brown discusses the deal with The Washington Post's Technology Reporter Cecilia Kang.

	May 10, 2011 The Making of a Memory Master: An Interview with Joshua Foer Hari Sreenivasan caught up with journalist-turned mental athlete Joshua Foer recently to discuss the neuroscience and history of memory and Foer's recent book, "Moonwalking with Einstein."

	May 9, 2011 Mississippi River Flooding Hits Historic Levels, Tests Levee System The Mississippi River approached its highest level ever Monday, forcing the city of Memphis to evacuate homes as they wait for the river to peak, which is expected as early as tonight. Jeffrey Brown gets the latest on the surging flood waters from Memphis Mayor A C Wharton and the Army Corps of Engineers' Steve Stockton.

	May 9, 2011 Still Taking Your Questions for LIVE Space Interview with Endeavour Crew There is a new proposed launch date for the space shuttle Endeavour, and Google, YouTube and the PBS NewsHour are still poised take you aboard the craft on its final mission.

	May 9, 2011 Study: Drudge Report Drives More Top News Traffic than Twitter or Facebook The Drudge Report outranks social media when it comes to driving news traffic to top Web sites, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

	May 6, 2011 Sneak Peek at a New Google News? Google is constantly experimenting, and this morning I happened to be one of the lucky random people included in what looks to be an experiment for a potential redesign to the front door of Google News.

	May 6, 2011 Picturing Proteins in 3-D University of Arkansas biochemist James Hinton developed a program to help his students understand the structure and function of proteins.

	May 5, 2011 3D Transistors, Fertilizer Runoff and Frappuccino Straws Here's a look at what we're reading on the science and technology beat this week.

	May 4, 2011 Controlled Levee Breach Floods Missouri In an effort to spare Cairo, IL and other cities downstream, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used explosives to breach a protective levee near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

	May 4, 2011 Mississippi River Valley Flood Areas: Before and After Despite some relief after the Army Corps of Engineers this week blasted holes into a Missouri levee to draw down the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, flooding fears continue flowing south.

	May 3, 2011 Levee Blast Floods Missouri Town, Spares Others Along Mississippi River On Monday night, the Army Corps of Engineers stuck explosives into levee pipes, and blasted a gaping hole through one of the levees. The Mississippi River poured into Wyatt, submerging more than 130,000 acres of farmland.

	May 3, 2011 A New Take on Bird Brains Ever wonder how much our animals understand us when we talk to them? When parrots talk, are they consciously forming words or just mimicking sounds? Science correspondent Miles O'Brien addresses these questions in the National Science Foundation's latest Science Nation piece.

	May 2, 2011 What's Behind Space Shuttle Endeavour's Electrical Glitch? At the root of Friday's scrubbed space shuttle launch is a simple fact about fuel.



	APRIL April 29, 2011 Space Shuttle Endeavour To Launch No Earlier Than May 10 Space shuttle Endeavour, NASA's youngest orbiter, was scheduled to blast off into space for the final time at 3:47 pm ET, but will be delayed by at least 48 hours.

	April 28, 2011 Less-Prepared Central U.S. Also Prone to Earthquakes While there's more awareness of earthquake risk in the West and Pacific Northwest, a Central U.S. quake could impact a larger area and cause more damage, experts say.

	April 27, 2011 Sony PlayStation System Hacking Incident Highlights Web-Security Gaps Sony officials announced Tuesday that hackers might have obtained personal information, including credit card numbers, from 77 million users of its PlayStation gaming system. Ray Suarez discusses the breach's impact on Sony, its users and the future of online security with former hacker and Wired.com editor Kevin Poulsen.

	April 27, 2011 You Talk To Endeavour: Ask NASA Crew Questions for a LIVE Interview Google, YouTube and the PBS NewsHour are teaming up to take you aboard space shuttle Endeavour on its final mission. NASA astronauts -- led by Endeavour commander Mark Kelly -- will answer some of your questions in a LIVE interview from space. Submit your questions here.

	April 25, 2011 Why Does Antimatter Matter? This week, a team of researchers from the Brookhaven National Laboratory announced they had discovered helium's twin particle, antihelium-4, the heaviest antimatter nucleus ever observed. So what does that mean, and why do we care?

	April 25, 2011 With the Space Shuttle Retiring, Dream Chaser Aims to Fill the Gap With the NASA space shuttle fleet retiring this year, graduate students at the University of Colorado have been tasked with an important mission: to help NASA and the Sierra Nevada Corporation design the cockpit for a new space capsule to transport cargo and crew to the International Space Station.

	April 22, 2011 What We're Reading: Human Brain Map, PhillieBot and 'Brain Time' A look at the most interesting reads this week from the realm of science.

	April 22, 2011 Earth Day: Around the Nation Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, one year after an oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif.

	April 22, 2011 Supercomputer Simulations Reveal Supernova's Insides Imagine being able to see inside a star during the moments before it explodes.

	April 21, 2011 Share Your iPhone, iPad Location Maps The smart-phone world is buzzing over the fact that some iPhones store location data in your phones and keep a copy on the computers that sync with your devices.

	April 21, 2011 'Louisiana Water Stories' Documents the Culture and Curses of SOLA Jon Bowermaster's latest documentary, "SOLA: Louisiana Water Stories," looks at the relationship between man and water in the region, from the rich culture of Cajun Country to devastating environmental disasters.

	April 20, 2011 Gulf Oil Spill: 1 Year and 232 Stories Later It was a year ago Wednesday that a massive oil spill began in the Gulf of Mexico with an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. In a timeline, we look back on the NewsHour's coverage of the disaster.

	April 20, 2011 Along Gulf Coast, Cautious Optimism for Future a Year After Oil Spill Began Wednesday marked the first anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that killed 11 people and began to dump millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Jim Lehrer reports on the day's vigils, and Tom Bearden reports on the clean-up progress and compensation efforts along the Gulf Coast.

	April 20, 2011 One Year Later, Where Has All the Oil Gone? One year ago, BP's deepwater Macondo well ruptured and blew out, releasing a massive geyser of oil that gushed wildly for 86 days until the well was sealed in September. What's in the water now? Where did the oil go? And what has it done to the ecosystem?

	April 19, 2011 One Year Later, Louisianans Still Recovering From Gulf Oil Spill Wednesday marks the one year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

	April 15, 2011 A Year After BP Oil Spill Began, No Easy Answers on Gulf Coast's Future Nearly a year ago, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and triggered a massive oil spill before the leaking well was plugged. Tom Bearden returned to the Gulf to assess the environmental damage and found significant reports of erosion.

	April 15, 2011 Reporter's Notebook: The BP Oil Spill, One Year Later As the first anniversary of the BP oil well blowout approaches, Gulf coast residents are taking stock of what has happened to them and contemplating what the future might hold.

	April 15, 2011 Science: If These Teeth Could Talk The microscopic scratches and pits found on ancient teeth can be used to reconstruct the diets of human ancestors and ancient animals, science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports in his latest piece for the National Science Foundation's Science Nation.

	April 14, 2011 'Into the Cold': A Filmmaker's Trek to the Top of the World To get to the North Pole, Sebastian Copeland and his partner Keith Heger had to trek 400 miles on foot, scaling high boulders and forging icy rivers -- all while dragging a 200-pound sled in temperatures as low as -50 degrees Fahrenheit. Copeland chronicles their journey in his latest documentary, "Into the Cold."

	April 13, 2011 In China, Factory Workers Allege Poisoning From iPhone Production Special correspondent Jeffrey Kaye reports from the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, where some factory workers say they've been poisoned by exposure to a toxic chemical while working at an Apple iPhone assembly plant.

	April 12, 2011 In Moscow, Miles O'Brien Remembers Yuri Gagarin's Monumental Space Trip Miles O'Brien spoke with Hari Sreenivasan from Moscow's Red Square about the 50th anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's gutsy mission to become the first human to fly in space and the future of space tourism.

	April 12, 2011 China Weighs Environmental Concerns Against Economic Growth Special correspondent Jeffrey Kaye reports from Guangdong province in southern China on the clash between the populous nation's economic ambitions and worsening pollution problem.

	April 12, 2011 China Series Continues With Pollution, iPhone Workers, Health Care Reports The NewsHour continues its series from China this week as special correspondent Jeffrey Kaye looks at workers' rights, environmental concerns and the country's latest attempt at health care reform.

	April 12, 2011 Social Media Curation Tool Storyful Helps Separate News From Noise Social media services are being used as new tools for journalists, protesters and everyday people looking for the news. However, as they grow, the amount of content is overwhelming and tough to verify. That's where Storyful comes in.

	April 12, 2011 NASA Announces New Homes for Space Shuttle Fleet: Think You Know the Shuttles? NASA marked the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch and the 50th anniversary of the first human in space -- Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961 -- by naming the final destinations of its retiring space shuttle fleet. Test your shuttle knowledge in our quiz.

	April 11, 2011 Are California's Schools Ready for the Next Big Earthquake? The earthquake in Japan is prompting concerns about the ability of U.S. buildings to withstand a similar disaster. Special correspondent Anna Werner reports on the seismic safety risks in many California schools. Her report was jointly produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting and KQED.

	April 11, 2011 'On Shaky Ground' Shows Oversight Faults in California School Buildings A new report by California Watch found that hundreds of California's public schools do not meet the legal construction codes for earthquake safety.

	April 8, 2011 North Carolina School Engages Tech Generation With Digital Learning Tools John Tulenko of Learning Matters, which produces education stories for the NewsHour, reports on a North Carolina school district switching from textbooks to all-digital learning materials.

	April 8, 2011 Facing Long-Term Effects of Chernobyl Chernobyl's lasting impacts are not easy to package into a single story. Several of the people we interviewed for Miles O'Brien's tape report, "Revisitng Chernobyl: a Nuclear Disaster Site of Epic Proportions," had such courageous tales that it was impossible to tell them in one short news piece.

	April 8, 2011 The Science of Protecting Antique Silver The National Science Foundation's latest Science Nation piece looks at a team of conservateurs working to protect antique silver from overpolishing, heavy lacquer and the ravages of time.

	April 7, 2011 7.1-Magnitude Quake Hits off Japan Coast A tsunami warning has been lifted after a 7.1-magnitude quake hit off Japan's northeastern coast. Officials had warned those in low-lying areas to move to higher ground. Tepco says there is no immediate indication of damage at the Fukushima plant.

	April 6, 2011 Estrogen Study Lead Researcher on Risks, Benefits of Hormone-Replacement Therapy Once a popular treatment for menopause symptoms, hormone-replacement therapy had come under scrutiny for raising the risk of certain diseases, but a new study found a reduced risk of breast cancer and other benefits for some women. Jeffrey Brown discusses the latest findings with Dr. Andrea LaCroix, the study's lead author.

	April 6, 2011 Heavy Rockets, Higgs and TV Science Space X's Falcon Heavy rocket will be primed to carry twice as much weight into orbit as a NASA space shuttle, according to design plans unveiled Tuesday by SpaceX.

	April 6, 2011 Nuclear Reactors and Nuclear Bombs: What Defines the Differences? What is the difference between the nuclear material in a bomb, versus a reactor?

	April 4, 2011 Miles O'Brien: Cracks in the System at Southwest If you have ever unwound and bent a paper clip to and fro until it snapped, you understand the concept behind metal fatigue.

	April 4, 2011 Staring at the Sun As the sun enters its stormy season, and as GPS systems and electricity networks become increasingly vulnerable to solar eruptions, NASA scientists are working to better understand the mysteries of space weather.

	April 1, 2011 'Lord of the Tree Rings' Peers Into the Past There's an interactive spirit at the University of Arkansas' department of geosciences, where dendochronologist David Stahle encourages visitors to touch a cross-section of a redwood tree.



	MARCH March 31, 2011 Tsunami in the Northwest? Japan Disaster Offers Wake-Up Call to Coastal U.S. The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan has sparked new concerns about the safety of people living along the coast in the U.S. Spencer Michels reports on new attention to earthquake and tsunami preparation on the West Coast.

	March 31, 2011 Japan's Radioactive Leak: What Are the Long-Term Consequences? Environmental and nuclear scientists in the U.S. are watching apparent leakage discovered at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor site this week with a concerned eye, for both health effects and impact on the environment.

	March 30, 2011 NOVA Explores Science Behind Japan's Earthquake, Tsunami NOVA looks at the scenes behind the earthquake and tsunami that destroyed much of Japan's northeastern coast and killed at least 11,000 people. The documentary includes footage from a conservationist who was in the region when the disaster struck.

	March 30, 2011 Obama Outlines Energy Goals: Is U.S. Balancing Conservation, Consumption? In a speech at Georgetown University on Wednesday, President Obama spelled out an energy road map centered on reducing dependence on oil imports. Gwen Ifill discusses the president's plan with the Bipartisan Policy Center's Jason Grumet, Rice University's Amy Jaffe and the New Yorker's Elizabeth Kolbert.

	March 30, 2011 Miles O'Brien Visits Deserted Town at Chernobyl The nuclear crisis in Japan has evoked memories of the Chernobyl meltdown, the worst nuclear accident in history. Miles O'Brien and crew returned last week to survey the scene, 25 years later.

	March 30, 2011 President Obama Presents Energy Plan, Calls for Cut in Imports of Foreign Oil In a speech at Georgetown University, President Obama heavily emphasized new technology and alternative sources, in addition to "safe and responsible" offshore drilling.

	March 29, 2011 Revisiting Chernobyl: A Nuclear Disaster Site of Epic Proportions The nuclear crisis in Japan has renewed interest in the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl in Ukraine. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien travels to the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster, which is approaching its 25th anniversary.

	March 29, 2011 Reporting on Chernobyl, 25 Years Later As the world's attention remains transfixed on the crippled nuclear reactors in Japan, Science Correspondent Miles O'Brien approaches nuclear energy from another side of the world: the Ukraine, which suffered its own disaster nearly 25 years ago.

	March 29, 2011 Japan in 'Maximum Alert' as It Struggles to Contain Nuclear Crisis Prime Minister Naoto Kan said his government was "in a state of maximum alert" as the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant continues to spread, with radioactive contamination in the air, soil and water near the plant.

	March 28, 2011 Long-Term Impacts of Fukushima Reactor Could Linger For 'A Generation or More' Japanese officials reported that radioactive water has spread beyond a damaged building at the Fukushima nuclear power plant and had contaminated the ground near the site. Jeffrey Brown talks to Columbia University's David Brenner and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's James Acton.

	March 28, 2011 Broadband Access: Exploring Internet Connectivity by U.S. Community Type The federal government wants you to have access to a broadband connection. Badly. It's one reason why more than $7 billion of the 2009 stimulus plan was dedicated to broadband expansion. But if broadband is indeed key to helping the economy's recovery, how close is the U.S. to achieving a goal of universal access to broadband?

	March 28, 2011 What We're Reading: Ancient Stone Scraps, Stardust and Rock People Thousands of stone scrappings and chips, believed to be discarded during an ancient toolmaking process, were unearthed by archaeologists in a Texas creek bed...

	March 28, 2011 Radiation Levels Spike Near Japan Plant, Detected in Seawater Workers are racing to pump out tons of radioactive water inside the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant as levels continue to rise in both the air and seawater off Tokyo's eastern coast.

	March 25, 2011 To Combat Human Rights Abuses, California Company Looks to Computer Code Spencer Michels reports on a California nonprofit using high-tech tools to document patterns of brutality and combat human rights abuses across the globe.

	March 25, 2011 The Panic Button: High-Tech Protection for Human Rights Investigators A California-based nonprofit organization has developed a computer program designed to safely store data about torture, murder, killings and other human rights abuses that has a unique feature -- a way to delete all the data, plus the program itself, with one keystroke.

	March 25, 2011 Can Babies Teach us Morality? What can one baby, three puppets and a tricky Tupperware lid tell us about the roots of morality? Can infants distinguish between good and bad at such a young age?

	March 25, 2011 Future Remains Murky for Newly Unveiled Orion Spacecraft Despite budget constraints, Congress last October approved a deep-space crew vehicle called Orion. Lockheed-Martin got the assignment and unveiled the spacecraft in Denver last week.

	March 25, 2011 Possible Breach in Core at Fukushima Reactor; PM Says Situation 'Very Grave' Japanese authorities said Friday that a breach in the core of the No. 3 reactor at the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant could indicate a more serious release of radioactive material.

	March 24, 2011 Tsunami Prediction: What Can and Can't Be Done to Save Lives As horrific as the March 11 earthquake and tsunami were in Japan, they were exciting events for geologists and oceanographers around the world. While not rare, big tsunamis are infrequent enough that scientists are eager to jump on them for study.

	March 23, 2011 After Japan Crisis, What's Next for U.S. Nuclear Policy, Plants? As Japan struggles to bring the damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor under control, new questions are surfacing on where U.S. nuclear development stands. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports.

	March 22, 2011 How Will Consumers Fare in T-Mobile, AT&T Merger? AT&T announced plans on Monday to buy wireless competitor T-Mobile for $39 billion. If approved, the sale would create the U.S.'s largest wireless carrier. Ray Suarez talks with Jeffrey Silva of Medley Global Advisors and Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge about the merger's potential impact on consumers and the industry.

	March 22, 2011 Radiation in Japan's Food Supply: Dangerous or Benign? The Japanese government announced on Monday that it had halted some food shipments to prevent tainted samples of milk and spinach from reaching consumers.

	March 21, 2011 Japan Works to Restore Reactors' Power Supplies; Fear of Contaminated Food Rises Japanese officials reported new concerns over radiation levels in food and water from areas close to the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. Alex Thomson of Independent Television News reports from Japan, and Judy Woodruff talks with former IAEA official Olli Heinonen about the struggle to control the radiation threat.

	March 21, 2011 AT&T to Buy T-Mobile: Duopoly in the Making or Basic Business Merger? It's safe to say that AT&T's big move to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion took much of the tech world by surprise Monday -- and that seems to include Sprint, who had been in talks with T-Mobile recently.

	March 21, 2011 Visualizing Japan's Power Outages After Earthquake, Tsunami Power losses on March 12 indicated in red.

	March 21, 2011 Smoke Rises From Nuclear Reactors; Concerns Over Radiation in Food Smoke rose from two reactor units at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant Monday, stopping work to reconnect power lines and fix cooling systems to Japan's nuclear complex damaged by the March 11 earthquake.

	March 18, 2011 Japan's Crises: A Critical First Week It's been one week since the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan unleashed a devastating tsunami.

	March 18, 2011 Nuclear Plant Control Room Simulator: Learning to Avoid Future Disasters Science correspondent Miles O'Brien is working on a segment on nuclear safety, and we caught up with him as he visited a simulated nuclear plant control room at the Westinghouse Electric Company headquarters near Pittsburgh.

	March 18, 2011 Rating Nuclear Accidents and Incidents: Which Were the Worst? With three reactors having at least partial meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan, the country raised the alert level from four to five on a seven-point international scale for atomic incidents Friday.

	March 17, 2011 Satellites Offer New Window Into Documenting, Preventing Genocide Tom Bearden reports on the push to use private satellites to document genocide from space.

	March 17, 2011 Spent Fuel Pools: Assessing the Threat at Damaged Nuclear Plant American and Japanese officials have offered sharply different assessments of the situation at the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. Judy Woodruff weighs the threat of the spend fuel pools with the University of Southern California's Najmedin Meshkati and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Rearch's Arjun Makhijani.

	March 17, 2011 China Health Minister on Japan Crisis: 'Uncertanities' Loom on Radiation Risk The PBS NewsHour has a reporting team in China this week, working on health, economy and other stories for a series you'll see in coming weeks. Jeffrey Kaye spoke with Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu about how Beijing is responding to the Japanese crisis.

	March 16, 2011 First Rock From the Sun: NASA Set to Explore Mercury's Extreme Atmosphere Imagine traveling to a planet where the sun is 11 times stronger than on Earth, the temperature can swing 1,100 degrees and you have to maintain contact with headquarters back on Earth. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on NASA's tricky task of building a spacecraft to withstand the extreme environment on Mercury.

	March 16, 2011 Miles O'Brien on Mercury, Microscopic Martians and Hi-Tech Oven Mitts After its nearly seven-year voyage, NASA's Messenger space capsule is expected to pull into orbit around our smaller, denser sister planet, Mercury, at 8:54 pm EST on Thursday.

	March 16, 2011 The 'Fukushima 50': Nuclear Workers Stay Behind to Brave Plant's Woes As the nuclear crisis continued in Japan Wednesday, the world's attention turned to small corps of thus far anonymous workers who make up the last line of defense against a nuclear catastrophe at the earthquake and tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.

	March 15, 2011 Mechanics of a Nuclear Meltdown Explained With Japanese workers still struggling to regain control of a damaged nuclear power plant amid worsening fears of a full meltdown, we ask, what exactly is a nuclear meltdown?

	March 15, 2011 In Japan, Fears of Radiation Exposure Grow as Nuclear Crisis Worsens Japan's nuclear crisis continued Tuesday, as cooling systems continued to break down at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in earthquake and tsunami-stricken northeastern Japan.

	March 15, 2011 Japan's Reshaped Coastline as Seen From Space NASA's Aqua satellite took images of Japan's northeastern coast before (left) and after (right) the March 11 tsunami. Plant-covered land is shown in bright green. After the disaster, the city of Sendai, where about 2,700 homes washed away, appears brown. An orange spot near Sendai shows the thermal signature of a fire.

	March 14, 2011 Explore Tsunami's Aftermath in Japan Google Earth has published updated satellite images that show earthquake and tsunami damage in Japan. Explore these images and view related video and photos.

	March 14, 2011 Boiling Water Reactors 101: Science, Health Concerns of Japan's Nuclear Plants Authorities in Japan are trying to bring several nuclear reactors under control after cooling systems failed following an earthquake and tsunami. Gwen Ifill talks to science correspondent Miles O'Brien and David Brenner of Columbia University's Center for Radiological Research about the science and health concerns at the plants.

	March 14, 2011 Japan's Nuclear Crisis: Does it Compare to Three Mile Island, Chernobyl? Even as Japanese officials try to sort out whether jolted nuclear reactors could slip into full meltdown after Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami, experts are weighing in on how events unfolding there compare to previous high-profile nuclear disasters.

	March 14, 2011 Explore Tsunami's Aftermath in Japan using Google Earth Explore images and view related video and photos that show earthquake and tsunami damage in Japan.

	March 14, 2011 Fears of Third Explosion at Nuclear Plant, At Least 10,000 Believed Dead A second explosion rocked a nuclear plant in Fukushima, Japan, injuring 11 and sending plumes of smoke into the air.

	March 11, 2011 Afghan Civilian Casualties Database Appears in Unexpected Place: Science In January, 2011, the military released an entire database of civilian casualties to the journal, Science -- a first for a science magazine.

	March 11, 2011 Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami: How They Happened The 8.9-magnitude earthquake that struck coastal Japan on Friday, devastating large swaths of the coast and spawning a powerful tsunami, was caused by the Pacific tectonic plate thrusting underneath the country, and forcing the seabed and ocean water upward.

	March 11, 2011 Live Seismic Data From Japan View live seismic activity in the region with a Google Earth map, overlaid with United States Geological Survey data.

	March 10, 2011 Classroom Culprits? Invasive Crayfish Threaten Western Waterways Vince Patton of "Oregon Field Guide" reports on the threat posed to western waterways by invasive crayfish from the eastern U.S. that had been shipped to elementary schools for biology classes and later released where they don't belong.

	March 9, 2011 Scientists Scramble to Understand Deadly 'White-Nose Syndrome' in Bats Ed Jahn of "Oregon Field Guide" reports on a mysterious fungus that is killing millions of bats and spreading in bat populations across the country.

	March 9, 2011 Why Mars Mission Tops Wish List: Space Exploration Priorities Explained Exploring icy planets, lunar oceans and martian soil should rank high on NASA's to-do list, an expert panel of the National Research Council concluded this week.

	March 9, 2011 NewsHour Connect: Mass. Community Reacts to Living Near Wind Turbines Wind turbines, used around the world to provide energy, are often seen grouped together in wind farms in rural parts of Iowa, Texas and Nebraska.

	March 7, 2011 Study: 'Exergames' Provide Some Real Exercise A new study aims to quantify exactly how much exercise kids are getting when they play "exergames" like Dance Dance Revolution or Wii Fit.

	March 7, 2011 Stellar Wormholes, Space Data and Supercooling Sodawater A look at some of the most interesting reads in science this week.

	March 4, 2011 Glory Rocket Mission Launch Failure as Told in Tweets The story of the Taurus XL rocket -- which launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base early Friday morning, failed to reach orbit and then crashed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean -- can perhaps be best told from this morning's tweets.

	March 3, 2011 Spider-like Brain Cells May Be Active in Memory Making This image shows the interaction of astrocytes and neurons in the hippocampus of a rat.

	March 2, 2011 Go Fish? Not in Pacific Ocean Sanctuaries off California's Coast Correspondent Spencer Michels reports on the controversy over dozens of no-fishing zones off the California coast.

	March 1, 2011 Congressman vs. the Machine: Rocket Scientist Rep. Rush Holt Bests Watson Two weeks after IBM's computer Watson trounced Jeopardy! masterminds Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, Rep. Rush Holt dealt the upstart trivia champion computer a defeat on Monday.

	March 1, 2011 Superfluids, Dolphin Deaths and Dinosaur Thighs From superfluids to mysterious dolphin deaths and dinosaur thighs, a look at some of the most interesting reads in the realm of science this week.



	FEBRUARY Feb. 28, 2011 Shuttle Debris, Explained We answer a viewer question about recent debris from shuttle Discovery.

	Feb. 25, 2011 'King's Speech' Draws Attention to New Stuttering Research "The King's Speech" is leading the Oscar buzz this year with 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

	Feb. 24, 2011 Discovery's Launch Marks Beginning of End for NASA Shuttle Program The final mission for Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Fla., after several months of delays. Hari Sreenivasan talks with science correspondent Miles O'Brien about the legacy of Discovery and the space shuttle program.

	Feb. 24, 2011 Space Shuttle Discovery Lifts Off for Final Mission After a series of scrubbed missions in late 2010, Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off on Thursday, for the final time.

	Feb. 24, 2011 Mobile Banking Could Be Global Health Tool Cell phone technology is flourishing in developing countries, and health experts are hoping to capitalize on a wave of mobile banking products.

	Feb. 23, 2011 New Documentary Explores The Virtues of Venom The phrase "that which does not kill you only makes you stronger" couldn't be more true for toxinologists, the scientists studying the world's deadliest venoms in hopes of unlocking their beneficial properties.

	Feb. 23, 2011 Venom From Around the World Dr. Zoltan Takacs hunts deadly snakes around the world in search of their venom. Once he's captured the reptile's poison, he brings it back to his Chicago lab where he studies the neurotoxins. Takacs is also photographer and takes advantage of his position to capture the snakes on camera.

	Feb. 23, 2011 Scientists Forecast an Altered Ocean At the National Press Club Wednesday morning, scientists showed a video of an ocean teeming with wildlife: colorful coral, crabs, sea anemone and bright orange starfish. But if trends continue unchecked, a new report says, our ocean may soon be robbed of its coral reefs and many of the 4,000 fish species that depend on them.

	Feb. 22, 2011 Study: Cell Phone Radiation Stirs Brain Activity, but Health Effects Unknown Talking on a cell phone increases the activity in the parts of your brain near the phone's antenna, according to researchers who scanned the brains of a small group of people making 50-minute cell phone calls.

	Feb. 22, 2011 Just Ask: Why Do Onions Make Us Cry? We all know the stinging sensation and welling up of tears that comes from chopping onions.

	Feb. 22, 2011 Predator Fish in Freefall; Anchovies and Sardines Taking Over Overfishing is robbing the oceans of large predator fish, like tuna, cod and grouper, and leaving the sea packed instead with smaller prey, like anchovies, while drastically altering ocean ecosystems.

	Feb. 21, 2011 Faith in Science, Threatened Particle Colliders and PCB-Resistant Fish An article in Science News says fish in New York's Hudson River have developed a resistance to toxic PCBs and other pollutants.

	Feb. 18, 2011 Obama Takes Messages of Innovation, Jobs to Silicon Valley Leaders Correspondent Spencer Michels reports from Silicon Valley on the response of business leaders and the high-tech community to President Obama's drive for innovation and the debate over how much the federal government should be involved in funding incentives for entrepreneurs amid calls for federal austerity.

	Feb. 17, 2011 Powerful Solar Flares Headed Toward Earth The most powerful solar flares in four years blasted toward Earth Thursday, raising fears about disruption to communication and navigation satellites.

	Feb. 17, 2011 Hibernating Bears Slow Down More, Cool Down Less A hibernating black bear in a manmade "hibernaculum," a wooded area with straw for bedding, which mimicked a natural bear's den.

	Feb. 17, 2011 NPR's Andy Carvin on Tracking and Tweeting Revolutions We caught up with NPR's Senior Strategist Andy Carvin between his 400+ tweets a day for a chat about his Twitter stream.

	Feb. 16, 2011 Watson Wins: IBM's Machine Rages Against Jeopardy! Champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter -- the least-likely Jeopardy! underdogs ever -- found themselves no match Wednesday night for Watson -- IBM's Frankenstein of trivia.

	Feb. 16, 2011 Helium 3 Shortage Affects National Security, Medicine Inside a storage room at Andrew's Air Force Base is a cluster of neutron radiation detectors, and alongside them, a tiny amount of plutonium, used for training drills.

	Feb. 16, 2011 Study: Dwarfism Gene May Offer Protection From Cancer, Diabetes A gene mutation that causes dwarfism may also protect its bearers from developing age-related diseases like cancer and diabetes, according to a new study. The findings could someday lead to new preventative treatments.

	Feb. 15, 2011 Restoring Ancient Artifacts - What Does it Take? As the dust settles on Egypt's recent protests, one less-discussed outcome of the uprising is the damage done to some of the country's ancient artifacts.

	Feb. 15, 2011 Science Alone Won't Close the Case on Anthrax, Committee Says The investigation into the mailing of Anthrax-laced letters in 2001 took a new turn Tuesday when a committee convened by the National Academy of Sciences and commissioned by the FBI found that scientific evidence alone is not sufficient to link the flask of anthrax grown in Bruce Ivins' lab to the letters.

	Feb. 14, 2011 What We're Reading: Foot Bones, Color Decay and the Science of Obesity A particle accelerator helps to explain why the bright yellows in Van Gogh paintings fade to brown over time...

	Feb. 14, 2011 A: This Computer Could Defeat You at 'Jeopardy!' Q: What is Watson? Science correspondent Miles O'Brien goes head-to-circuit board with IBM's computer Watson on the game show "Jeopardy!" to explore the limits of language and artificial intelligence for machines.

	Feb. 14, 2011 Mars500 'Lands' on the Red Planet On Monday, an international crew of six men landed on "Mars." They stepped onto a wide plane of red dust, sand and rock beneath a black and starry sky, where they will conduct experiments for the next week.

	Feb. 14, 2011 Mars500 'Lands' on the Red Planet Mars 500

	Feb. 14, 2011 Miles vs. Watson: Watch the Full Man Against Machine Jeopardy! Showdown Tonight on prime-time, "Jeopardy!" champions will face off against IBM's new supercomputer, Watson, developed to dominate human brain-game champs.

	Feb. 11, 2011 Mubarak Steps Down; Twitter, Internet Erupt With Responses Reaction to the announcement from Egypt

	Feb. 9, 2011 Preview: Watson Creams Miles O'Brien Starting Monday, "Jeopardy!" viewers will witness a classic three-day man vs. machine.

	Feb. 8, 2011 If a Boy Scout Can Get Nuclear Materials, What's Stopping Terrorists? Back in the days when we thought a "dirty bomb" might be a raunchy joke gone awry, young David Hahn was gathering all the radioactive material he could get his hands on.

	Feb. 8, 2011 How Tough Is it to Build a Dirty Bomb? Science correspondent Miles O'Brien examines the threat that radioactive "dirty bombs"could pose to cities in the U.S., and what's being done to prevent a radiological attack from happening.

	Feb. 7, 2011 Maptivism, Pond Fleas and One Polar Bear's Long Journey Introducing Sukey, the "maptivism" app. Detailed in this column is a sort of Four Square for nonviolent organizing...

	Feb. 7, 2011 Testing New Tools to Quash Bed Bugs Bed bugs are survivors. They grow as large as ladybugs and can live a year without eating. With a long list of restrictions preventing the use of chemicals like DDT, which are noxious, but effective, researchers and pest control officials are in a race to develop the best new ways to detect and treat them.

	Feb. 6, 2011 The Other Side of the Sun Two solar probes have beamed back the first full images of the sun.

	Feb. 4, 2011 News Wrap: Winter Weather Disrupts Super Bowl Travel in Dallas In other news Friday, winter weather continued its assault around the U.S. as bitter cold gripped New Mexico for a fourth straight day. In Dallas, five inches of snow canceled flights ahead of Super Bowl weekend. At Cowboys Stadium, the site of Sunday's game, six people were hurt by ice falling from the roof.

	Feb. 3, 2011 My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us New Planets -- 1,200 of Them Perhaps you learned a mnemonic device such as the one above to help remember the planets -- Mercury, Venus, Earth, etc. -- and their order away from the sun. Turns out, we're going to need a longer mnemonic after the discovery of some 1,200 planets outside our solar system. Miles O'Brien discusses the findings with Jim Lehrer.

	Feb. 3, 2011 On Mars, Shifting Sand Dunes Surprise Scientists A sand dune on Mars changes over the course of two seasons.

	Feb. 3, 2011 Searching for the Source of Phantom Sounds A Georgetown neuroscientist's theory on the origins of tinnitus, the phantom ringing that plagues millions of Americans and countless military veterans.

	Feb. 2, 2011 Tracking the Egypt Crisis via Google, News Curation Tools After a widespread shutdown of Internet and mobile phone service in Egypt as street protests intensified last week, there were reports Wednesday that Web access was restored in the country. The NewsHour has been compiling original sources and new ways to track the developments as protests continue to grow.

	Feb. 1, 2011 Frontline: U.S. Needs More Competent Pathologists for Autopsies Frontline explores the patchwork system of death investigations in the U.S. Varying greatly from the high-tech operations depicted in popular crime shows, these investigations often lack uniform standards, oversight and trained doctors. Watch a preview of an episode airing Tuesday on many PBS stations.



	JANUARY Jan. 31, 2011 How Wired Are Egyptians? With social media helping organize the throngs of protesters taking to the streets of Egypt, we spoke with Mohammed el-Naway of North Carolina's Queens University of Charlotte, author of "Islam Dot Com," for some insight on social media and Internet use in Egypt.

	Jan. 31, 2011 New Government Guidelines on Salt Intake: Are They Achievable? Federal guidelines on what Americans should -- and should not -- be eating were released on Monday.

	Jan. 31, 2011 Mars Rover Overbudget, Long-Lasting Dispersants and Dancing Brittle Stars Sea creatures with bodies like snakes and heads like sea urchins. Monkeys with Lollipop Paws. Dancing brittle stars...

	Jan. 28, 2011 Remembering the Challenger Disaster: The Big 'Y' All seven crew members were killed when the Challenger shuttle exploded during take-off on Jan.

	Jan. 28, 2011 One Year Later, Strong Sales for iPad as New Competitors Eye Market The iPad's introduction last year changed the market for the tablet computer as earlier models never really took off. As the iPad turns 1, Hari Sreenivasan spoke with Washington Post technology writer Rob Pegoraro about the device's impact on tablet computing and how it is fighting off a host of new rivals.

	Jan. 27, 2011 Tools Hold Clues to Early Human Migration Out of Africa A large sampling of ancient stone tools unearthed from a once-fertile area in the Persian Gulf Basin may indicate that early humans migrated from Africa much earlier than previously thought.

	Jan. 27, 2011 Astronomers Say They've Found Oldest Galaxy Yet Hubble has peered back into the far-ancient past and spotted a tiny galaxy of blue stars, possibly the oldest ever seen, researchers reported in the journal Nature.

	Jan. 25, 2011 What is a Neutrino...And Why Do They Matter? Neutrinos are teeny, tiny, nearly massless particles that travel at near lightspeeds...

	Jan. 24, 2011 What We're Reading: Giant Crayfish, Wacky Weather and Geomagic Squares A new species of crayfish was spotted climbing out from under a rock in Tennessee, according this Reuters story...

	Jan. 20, 2011 2010 Ties as Hottest Year on Record Despite slight variations in data, a flurry of reports from different agencies has reached the same general conclusion: 2010 takes the prize as one of the hottest years ever recorded.

	Jan. 19, 2011 NOVA's 'Making Stuff' Explores Spinning of Steel-Strength Spider Silk NOVA and New York Times technology columnist David Pogue look at innovative technologies for stronger, sleeker future products, including Kevlar, nanotubes and "invisibility cloaks."

	Jan. 19, 2011 David Pogue Learns What Goes Into 'Making Stuff' NOVA has enlisted the help of New York Times technology reporter David Pogue to answer the question: 'What will the future be made of?' The new miniseries called "Making Stuff" is a four-part look at the materials and innovative technologies that will make things stronger, smaller, cleaner and smarter.

	Jan. 18, 2011 How Does Salt Battle Road Ice? Since as early as the 1930s, a variation on simple table salt has been used to keep wintry roads from getting dangerously slippery.

	Jan. 17, 2011 Giffords' Case Offers Insight on Mysteries of the 'Changeable' Brain The treatment of severe brain injuries has garnered increased attention in the wake of the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

	Jan. 17, 2011 What We're Reading: Worm Bots, Dark Energy and Climate Psychology Why Dire Climate Warnings Boost Skepticism: Dire predictions on climate change don't seem to be working.

	Jan. 13, 2011 New Early Dinosaur Fossils Shift Family Tree Scientists have discovered a four-foot-long, meat-eating dinosaur, with serrated teeth and long finger bones, that roamed the earth some 230 million years ago.

	Jan. 13, 2011 Australia Flooding Threatens Already Sensitive Great Barrier Reef As muddy river water swept through parts of Australia, inundating more than 20,000 homes and claiming at least 15 lives, it also poured into the ocean, where it now threatens one of the country's most precious natural ecosystems: The Great Barrier Reef.

	Jan. 11, 2011 After Haiti Quake, Using Science to Build Sturdier Buildings As Haiti recovers from the devastating earthquake that flattened Port-au-Prince one year ago, researchers are examining how the country can lessen the damage from another disaster using building science. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports.

	Jan. 11, 2011 How Close Are We to Finding an Earthlike Planet? The Kepler Space telescope has found a small, rocky planet, the smallest yet to be orbiting a star outside our solar system, scientists announced Monday at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

	Jan. 10, 2011 Giffords Faces Uncertain Road for Medical Recovery Judy Woodruff gets more on the medical condition of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from Dr. Peter Rhee, the chief of trauma and emergency surgery at University Medical Center in Tucson.

	Jan. 10, 2011 Tears and Testosterone, Interstellar Dust Clouds and a Medical Mystery, Unsolved The New York Times had a nice write-up on last week's study on tears and testosterone. When a man gets close enough to sniff a woman's tears, his sex drive and hormone levels drop, but his mood and empathy remain unchanged...

	Jan. 7, 2011 Oil and Oysters: Testing Continues in Louisiana After Gulf Disaster The Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals adopted a sophisticated two-tiered testing system to examine how safe oysters are for human consumption. Bill Rodman from Louisiana Public Broadcasting reports on their findings.

	Jan. 6, 2011 Methane-Munching Bacteria Ate Potent Gas From Gulf Oil Leak at Top Speed As soon as oil began spewing into Gulf of Mexico waters, bacteria went to work, gobbling up mass amounts of methane. And as the oil continued to spill, the bacteria bloomed swiftly to consume the growing quantities of gas.

	Jan. 5, 2011 Is Technology Wiring Teens to Have Better Brains? Science correspondent Miles O'Brien looks at what could be happening to teenagers' brains as they develop in a rapid-fire, multitasking world of technology and gadgets.

	Jan. 5, 2011 Miles O'Brien: This is Your Teen's Brain on Technology and Multitasking Hari Sreenivasan caught up with science correspondent Miles O'Brien and his teenage children for an inside look at how teen multitasking and the way they interact with technology is shaping their developing brains.

	Jan. 4, 2011 Clips of the Eclipse From Around the World Skygazers across the Eastern Hemisphere watched as a partial solar eclipse darkened the sky Tuesday morning and changed the sun's shape into that of a crescent moon.

	Jan. 4, 2011 Birds Tumbling From the Sky; Mass Fish Kills: How Unusual Are These Die-Offs? On New Years Day, residents of Beebe, Ark., awoke to find some 5,000 dead blackbirds strewn across roads, lawns and rooftops. Three days later, 125 miles from Beebe, thousands of fish were found dead on riverbanks and floating along the Arkansas River.

	Jan. 3, 2011 Goldman Sachs, Digital Sky 'Friend' Facebook With Big Investment According to The New York Times, a new investment deal makes Facebook more valuable than eBay or Starbucks -- a new landmark for a site now used by half a billion people globally. Ray Suarez talks to Andrew Ross Sorkin, who cowrote the Times story, about what this latest valuation means for the social networking giant.