Oct 26 2.1 million Americans use water wells with hazardous levels of arsenic, USGS estimates By Nsikan Akpan While arsenic is an ancient health threat, this analysis offers one of the first nationwide appraisals for the groundwater contaminant and spotlights regulatory gaps in the nation’s water infrastructure. Continue reading
Oct 26 How climate change is making these bamboo-eating lemurs go hungry By Rashmi Shivni Climate change is starving out Madagascar's greater bamboo lemur, a study published Thursday reports in Current Biology. Continue reading
Oct 25 Watch 7:50 Why Cuba is home to a bounty of rare species By Miles O'Brien Replete with rare and endangered species, Cuba is a crown jewel of biodiversity in the Caribbean. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports on the ways scientists and conservationists are working to survey and protect the island’s rich, and sometimes unique, wildlife… Continue watching
Oct 25 Fact or fiction: Do redheads feel more pain? By Julia Griffin, Nsikan Akpan Redheads are rumored feel more pain and need more painkillers than their blonde and brown-haired cousins, but the science itself is murky. Continue reading
Oct 25 Even earless oysters 'clam up' over noise pollution By Teresa Carey In response to noise pollution, oysters snap close their shells, which could affect their growth, a new study reports. Continue reading
Oct 22 Watch 9:08 Should states rely on nuclear power to combat climate change? By Christopher Booker, Connie Kargbo As older nuclear energy plants approach retirement or are threatened by closure, states worried about climate change are figuring out whether to keep them running. While they are cleaner for the environment, they are radioactive and significantly more expensive than… Continue watching
Oct 20 Watch 3:51 Keeping priceless pieces of space history safe By PBS News Hour In our NewsHour Shares moment of the day, nearly five decades after the historic Apollo 11 Command Module brought man to the moon and back, the spacecraft is part of a new adventure in a four-stop traveling exhibition across America. Continue watching
Oct 19 Analysis: Teens are sleeping less. Why? Smartphones By Jean Twenge, The Conversation By 2015, 43 percent of teens reported sleeping less than seven hours a night on most nights – meaning almost half of U.S. teens are significantly sleep-deprived. Continue reading
Oct 18 Watch 6:08 Witnessing the collision of two neutron stars is a 'textbook changer.' Here's why By Miles O'Brien Astronomers witnessed for the first time ever a rare collision of two dense neutron stars. The discovery began with an instrument called LIGO, which won this year’s Nobel Prize for its discovery of gravitational waves once predicted by Albert Einstein. Continue watching
Oct 18 This Japanese 'hidden figure' enlightened the world with her sunspot sketches By Rashmi Shivni Hisako Koyama's lifelong passion for the glimmering sky and her meticulous sunspot drawings shaped the modern field of space weather. Continue reading