Jun 25 Watch Obama Moves to Limit Greenhouse Gases Emissions Through Executive Order In an address at Georgetown University, President Barack Obama announced a new climate change plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The president zeroed in on new and existing power plants that burn coal, and called for public lands to… Continue watching
Jun 21 Sunday's Supermoon: Overhyped? The nearside of the moon. Photo by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. A message to the skywatchers: tilt your head back after nightfall on Sunday, and you'll see the closest full moon of the year -- a phenomenon… Continue reading
Jun 20 A Hormonal Happy Birthday By Dr. Howard Markel The word "hormone" made its scientific debut 108 years ago today. Photo by Alija/Getty Images The word hormone has long been a familiar part of the English vernacular. It can refer to a wide variety of things from the life-saving… Continue reading
Jun 19 Watch Cicada Mania: The Entomologists' 'Super Bowl' Miles O'Brien looks at the cicada emergence along the Eastern United States… Continue watching
Jun 19 Clarinet Player Seeks Cicadas for Jam Session EmbedVideo(6721, 482, 304); Musician David Rothenberg plays his clarinet with the buzz of cicadas as his accompaniment. In early June, David Rothenberg journeyed to the Ulster County Fairgrounds in New York's Hudson Valley in search of fellow… Continue reading
Jun 18 NASA's Cassini Cameras to Provide Breathtaking Image of Earth from Saturn In 2006, NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this backlit view of of Saturn's rings during an eclipse of the sun. Courtesy Cassini Imaging Team/ Image by NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI. Editor's note: Carolyn Porco is the leader of the imaging team for the… Continue reading
Jun 18 How to Woo a Cicada A periodical cicada basks in the sun at a cemetery in Lorton, Virginia. Photo by Jenny Marder. On a hot spring day in late May, I went hunting for periodical cicadas with John Cooley, a veteran expert… Continue reading
Jun 14 Do Dying Trees Lead to More Human Deaths? The Debate Continues The emerald ash borer has been attacking all 22 species of North American ash trees in the last few years, killing nearly every tree it infests. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Flickr user Darkroom Daze. The hypothesis: Trees improve people's… Continue reading
Jun 13 In India, Farmers Pick Heartier Seeds Over Those With High Yields By Larisa Epatko When a cyclone hits India, the sea-drenched soil can remain salty for years. Farmers are finding new high-yield rice seeds are not withstanding the salty onslaught as well as seeds developed more than a century ago. Continue reading
Jun 13 China Needs Milk and California Has Too Much. Is It a Match? By Larisa Epatko California dairy farmers are pumping out milk at higher rates each year to try to make a profit in light of the rising associated costs of corn and soy used in cow feed. Continue reading