PBS Science Shows & Nature Programs, News & More

Ocean Tipping Point?

NOW on PBS

NOW looks at a growing body of evidence that suggests climate change is affecting the chemistry of the seas, which could have potentially catastrophic results on the way we live. NOW travels deep into our oceans with a scientist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and help from other researchers for a first hand look at this stunning sea change, and what we can do about it. Continue

Paralyzed Woman Powers Robotic Arm With Her Mind

PBS NewsHour

On April 12, 2011, a 59-year-old woman with a sensor implanted in her brain picked up her cinnamon latte with a robotic arm, brought it to her lips and took a sip through a straw, using only her thoughts. Continue

Feed Your Kids' Creative Spark with Engineering

PBS Parents

Nate Ball is an inventor, entrepreneur, athlete, musician, and TV host of the PBS KIDS series Design Squad. Join the discussion he's leading on how to encourage children to explore the world of engineering in order to help them develop lifelong skills. Continue

Mapping Alligator Genomes Is Risky Business

PBS NewsHour

Collecting DNA samples isn't easy when your subject could snap off your hand with one bite, but it's a risk David Ray -- a researcher at Mississippi State University -- and his team are willing to take, as they wrestle alligators and crocodiles in hopes of finding answers in these animals' genes. Continue

News Wrap: SpaceX 'Dragon' Reaches Space Station

PBS NewsHour

In other news Friday, the unmanned SpaceX "Dragon" spacecraft was captured by the International Space Station's robot arm in a rendezvous high over Australia. In Syria, anti-government activists reported an army assault killed at least 50 people in the central part of the country. Continue

How the Nuclear Bomb Gave Us the Computer

PBS NewsHour

"Turing's Cathedral" author George Dyson tells Hari Sreenivasan how the creation of the hydrogen bomb gave us the modern computer. Continue

Correcting History as Golden Gate Bridge Turns 75

PBS NewsHour

The Golden Gate Bridge opened to traffic on May 27, 1937. This weekend, 75 years later, San Francisco plans to celebrate while honoring the engineer whose contributions to the design were purposefully obliterated: Charles Ellis. Spencer Michels delves into Ellis' story, and into the man who did get the credit -- Joseph Strauss. Continue

'Dear World, From Joplin With Love'

PBS NewsHour

Marking the one year anniversary of the devastating tornado that hit Joplin, Mo., a new exhibit, "Dear World, From Joplin With Love," opened Saturday at the Spiva Center for the Arts. The collection of portraits by Robert X. Fogarty focuses on storm-affected residents, first responders, volunteers and city officials. Continue

Video: The Hatchery Illusion

Nature

Hatcheries fail to deliver on their promise of a future full of salmon. Continue

Salmon Fact Sheet

Nature

Facts and stats about the members of the Salmonidae family. Continue

Future of Prosthetics: Mind-Bending Robotic Arms

PBS NewsHour

Researchers have shown that patients paralyzed from the neck down can move robotic arms with their minds, according to a new report in the journal Nature that documents two cases involving brain-stem stroke victims. Margaret Warner discusses the hopes for the technology with Dr. Leigh Hochberg of Massachusetts General Hospital. Continue

Cracking the Koala Code

Nature

From the miracle of marsupial birth to tender moments of discovery between mother and newborn joey, encounters with threatening forest creatures, battles between rival males and the complex chorus of bellows and grunts that have become so important to science — join leading scientists as they unravel just what a forest needs to support a healthy population of koalas by listening to these marsupial Continue

'The Information Diet': Managing a Technology Glut

PBS NewsHour

Clay Johnson, author of "The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption", discusses with Hari Sreenivasan how abundant technology affects our health -- producing pulsing side effects such as "email apnea" or "reality dysmorphia." Continue

Are U.S. Nuclear Plants Ready for a Meltdown?

PBS NewsHour

When Chairman Gregory Jaczko resigned from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week, reports suggested it was linked to battles within the commission over safety requirements. In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Miles O'Brien reports on how government regulators in the U.S. set the safety bar for nuclear plants. Continue

International Space Station Catches 'Dragon by the...

PBS NewsHour

"Looks like we've got us a dragon by the tail," announced NASA astronaut Don Pettit as the International Space Station's robotic arm reached out and grabbed the SpaceX Dragon capsule Friday morning. Continue

Ancestral Traits: How Genetics Determines Aspects of Ourselv

Finding Your Roots

Geneticists discuss how DNA and genetics determines our traits, like eye color, and how our shared DNA can surface recurring traits down our family lines. Continue

Hatcheries and Dams of the Pacific Northwest (MAP)