Oct 22 Before the bubonic plague wrecked Europe, it was way less contagious By Nsikan Akpan A new study in the journal Cell rewrites the evolutionary history of the bubonic plague. Continue reading
Oct 22 Will you die prematurely? This blood test may contain the answer By Nsikan Akpan In a new study in Cell Systems, scientists present the possible reasons why a set of blood markers correlate with premature death in ostensibly healthy people. Continue reading
Oct 22 Do bigger family jewels mean deeper voices (in howler monkeys)? By Nsikan Akpan A new study spots a "Barry White" effect and other sexual trade-offs in howler monkeys. Continue reading
Oct 21 The countries where global warming will shrink bank accounts By Nsikan Akpan Global warming might tighten your wallet no matter where you live, according to a new study from Stanford University. Continue reading
Oct 20 Watch 3:48 Encouraging girls to become scientists? It's not rocket science By PBS News Hour Women in the U.S. receive less than 20 percent of Bachelor's degrees in computer science, engineering and physics. Eileen Pollack, one of the first two women to receive an undergraduate degree in physics at Yale, offers a solution to getting… Continue watching
Oct 17 Watch 1:39 New imagery from Pompeii yields surprising findings about ancient humans By PBS News Hour Researchers in Italy are now using modern medical technology to shed more light on the ancient mystery of the volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii. NewsHour's Megan Thompson reports. Continue watching
Oct 17 Robots teach themselves martial arts to avoid smashing into the ground By Nsikan Akpan A new computer program from Georgia Institute of Technology takes tips from judo. Continue reading
Oct 15 Watch 6:39 These hunter-gatherer tribes sleep less than you, and sleep better By PBS News Hour By studying the habits of three hunter-gatherer groups who live much the way humans have for thousands of years, a team of scientists is challenging conventional wisdom about how much sleep we need. Hari Sreenivasan goes to UCLA to learn… Continue watching
Oct 15 Did our paleo ancestors sleep better than us? By Nsikan Akpan Did the inventions of modern electricity, the light bulb and the Internet lead to less sleep? A new UCLA study of hunter-gatherer populations has a surprising answer. Continue reading
Oct 14 The life of Sally Ride, America's first woman astronaut, in pictures By Nsikan Akpan A new photobiography details Sally Ride's childhood, her early struggles with stardom and the scientific zeal of America's first woman in space. Continue reading