Jul 06 What happened to Zika? By Amanda Grennell Two summers ago, Zika virus infected more than half a million people and caused more than 3,700 birth defects in the Americas. Then, the virus nosedived. With the weather warming and mosquitoes out, how much do we need to worry… Continue reading
Jul 05 Spiders fly on the currents of Earth's electric field By Amanda Grennell Spiders don’t have wings, but they can fly across entire oceans on long strands of silk. For more than a century, scientists thought it was the wind that carried them, but a new study shows the Earth’s electric field can… Continue reading
Jul 04 The U.S. natural gas industry is leaking way more methane than previously thought By Anthony J. Marchese, Dan Zimmerle, The Conversation A new study suggests that methane emissions from oil and gas operations are much higher than current EPA estimates. Continue reading
Jul 03 Watch 5:11 If you have Gmail, here's who's scanning your inbox A year ago, Google’s Gmail said it stopped its practice of scanning users’ inboxes to personalize ads. But it still allows outside app developers to scan inboxes, according to a Wall Street Journal report. John Yang talks with tech reporter… Continue watching
Jul 03 Watch 2:31 Drones are revolutionizing how we study humpback whales By Julia Griffin In our NewsHour Shares video of the day, this high-flying technology offers brand new insights into humpback whales and ocean science. Continue watching
Jul 01 The age plateau: New study suggests, at certain age, risk of death no longer increases By Meghana Keshavan, STAT Humans are living longer than ever before. But does our species have a fixed shelf life, or could we prolong our lives indefinitely?… Continue reading
Jun 30 Justice Department announces crackdown on fraudulent opioid prescriptions By Lev Facher, STAT Federal agencies on Thursday announced charges in what Attorney General Jeff Sessions called “the largest health care fraud takedown in American history,” an investigation into over $2 billion in alleged fraud by doctors, pharmacists, and nurses. Continue reading
Jun 27 'Oumuamua, the first known interstellar visitor, is just a comet By Nola Taylor Redd, Scientific American Oumuamua is almost certainly a comet, albeit one fittingly alien from those we find orbiting the sun, according to a new study published Wednesday. Continue reading
Jun 27 Hayabusa2, a Japanese spacecraft, arrives at Ryugu asteroid to retrieve minerals By Jeremy Hsu, Scientific American If all goes according to plan, two spacecraft will commence close encounters with two asteroids by the end of August, in order to retrieve organic materials dating back to the solar system’s birth. Continue reading
Jun 24 Will launching plants into orbit yield new medicines? By Eric Boodman, STAT A team of biologists and chemists hopes that this alien environment might prod these floral cosmonauts into producing new and improved molecules for drugs. Continue reading