May 01 Using humor to protect ‘ugly’ animals, because they can’t all be as cute as pandas By Shehryar Nabi Go to any zoo that boasts having a giant panda, and you’ll see their cute faces plastered on everything from T-shirts to key chains. But imagine going to the zoo and being welcomed with a banner featuring a big ol’… Continue reading
May 01 It’s not easy to sever a human spine. Here’s why By Nsikan Akpan After his arrest, Freddie Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury in the back of a police van. Neurosurgeons explain how such an injury might occur. Continue reading
Apr 30 NASA Probe Ends Mercury Mission With A Bang By Nsikan Akpan The planet Mercury earned a new crater when NASA’s MESSENGER probe smashed into its scorched surface earlier this afternoon. The intentional crash landing ended an 11-year mission that brought us the most intimate peeks at our solar system’s smallest… Continue reading
Apr 29 Why the Nepal earthquake may have been inevitable By Nsikan Akpan On Saturday, a portion of the thrust fault underneath central Nepal ruptured, causing an earthquake that killed at least 5,200 people, injured more than 10,000 and destroyed centuries-old temples, towers and buildings. Continue reading
Apr 25 New species of Costa Rican glass frog bears resemblance to Kermit By Carey Reed A new glass frog species that bears an uncanny resemblance to Kermit the Frog was discovered by scientists in Costa Rica, the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center announced earlier this week. Continue reading
Apr 24 Watch 3:33 Before it showed us distant reaches of the universe, the Hubble telescope ‘needed glasses’ By PBS News Hour Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has sent back more than a million observations and amazing images, offering scientists and stargazers an unmatched window to the universe. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien joins Judy Woodruff to celebrate Hubble’s… Continue watching
Apr 24 Watch 5:36 How maps packed with data help scientists fight malaria By PBS News Hour High-tech maps may help researchers understand and predict disease outbreaks like malaria, an illness that kills between 600,000 and 1 million people each year. Scientists have begun using temperatures, rainfall patterns and other data to better target areas most at… Continue watching
Apr 24 Carnegie Mellon wagers that an AI can take on the world’s top poker players By Justin Scuiletti How much would you be willing to bet that a computer program could go toe-to-toe with professional poker players?… Continue reading
Apr 23 5 key things we learned about oil spills from the Gulf Coast disaster By David Valentine The Deepwater Horizon event was a national tragedy: 11 workers killed in a blowout, an ecosystem inundated with oil and the livelihoods of many in the Gulf states disrupted. In a response effort of unparalleled scale, a diverse group of… Continue reading
Apr 22 43 dinosaur eggs discovered at construction site in China By Colleen Shalby On Sunday, 43 fossilized dinosaur eggs were discovered in the city of Heyuan, located in the Guandong province of China. Continue reading