Jul 29 Mars Rover sets extraterrestrial distance record By Andrew Troast NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity has now traversed 25.01 miles on the surface of the Red Planet, setting a new record for off-Earth distance traveled. Continue reading
Jul 26 Solar ‘superstorm’ missed Earth in 2012 — but another could strike By Xander Landen Two years ago, the worst solar storm in almost two centuries tore through Earth's orbit. Luckily, the storm's path just missed Earth. Continue reading
Jul 25 Watch Connecting strength and vulnerability of the creative brain By PBS News Hour Why have so many creative minds suffered from mental illness? Nancy Andreasen, Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa, has devoted decades of study to the physical differences in the brains of writers and other highly… Continue watching
Jul 25 Probing the creative brain By Jenny Marder "As a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who studies creativity, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many gifted and high-profile subjects over the years, but Kurt Vonnegut—dear, funny, eccentric, lovable, tormented Kurt Vonnegut—will always be one of my favorites."… Continue reading
Jul 24 Making a cheaper, cleaner diesel fuel to do industry’s heavy lifting By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy Diesel can be made from just about any carbon-based source, but the process can be expensive and wasteful. Chemists are working on new methods to fix that. Continue reading
Jul 23 Watch How studying fruit flies and zebrafish might unlock secrets of the human brain By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jul 23 How concerned should we be about the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus? By Jenny Marder On Thursday, federal officials announced that the tropical Chikungunya mosquito-borne disease had been transmitted for the first time within the United States, infecting two Florida residents. What’s notable about these cases is that the people affected reported no recent… Continue reading
Jul 23 Bats use polarized light to calibrate internal compasses By Andrew Troast Bats navigate the evening sky using patterns of polarized light, according to a new study. Researchers from Queen’s University in Belfast have found that in addition to their uncommon echolocation skills, bats use polarized sunlight at dusk to set their… Continue reading
Jul 21 Earth sees hottest June on record since 1880, NOAA says By Anna Christiansen The world’s heat record was broken for a second consecutive month. With the exception of Antarctica, new temperature highs were recorded on every continent. Continue reading
Jul 18 White House approves sonic cannons for Atlantic energy exploration By Talia Mindich The Obama administration opened the way to gas and oil exploration off the U.S. Atlantic coast bygiving final approval Friday to the use of sonic cannons that can pinpoint energy deposits beneath the ocean floor. Continue reading