Jun 10 When Does Genetic Modification of Animals Cross a Line? By Ellen Rolfes In a web exclusive interview, Emily Anthes, author of the book, "Frankenstein's Cat," talks to Ray Suarez about the ethical limits when using animals in biotech research and development. Continue reading
Jun 10 In Costa Rica, Farmers Start to See Value of Biodiversity By Larisa Epatko In Costa Rica, birds, bats and bees serve vital roles in controlling pests and pollinating crops. Now, researchers are measuring the contributions of these critters to encourage farmers to move away from the single-crop model and toward biodiversity. Continue reading
Jun 10 Biotech's Brave New Beasts By Ellen Rolfes Chickens that lay eggs with life-saving drugs inside. Cyborg rats with microchips embedded in their brains. Beetles wired for wartime surveillance. These are just a few examples of the science fiction-type fantasies that are becoming reality in the animal kingdom… Continue reading
Jun 05 Expanded List of Science Rap Contest Finalists This rap about the math concept known as the Fibonacci Sequence, is by Elissa Malcolm. Last week, we announced the finalists for the PBS NewsHour's Gza-inspired science rap contest. The entries were terrific and ranged from rocks and space… Continue reading
Jun 05 Chemistry Teacher Mixes Science and Innovation and Sets It on Fire By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy Jamie Munkatchy teaches juniors and seniors how to make ethanol in their South Bronx classroom. A trio of girls start shrieking as their crucible of clear liquid catches fire. This is exactly the result they were hoping for. Continue reading
May 31 Investigating Bombs with Robots and Shrapnel By Ray Suarez EmbedVideo(6586, 482, 304); For Tuesday's NewsHour, Science correspondent Miles O'Brien visited the barren desert canyons of New Mexico, where investigators study explosives... by building and exploding bombs. While there, they assembled a pressure-cooker bomb -- the kind used… Continue reading
May 29 Watch Are Faces the New Fingerprints? The New York Police Department's facial identification unit might not quite measure up to Hollywood standards, but they are on the cusp of a big change in the way police do their job. Miles O'Brien examines the software that turned… Continue watching
May 28 Watch How to Solve a Terrorist Bombing Understanding the Bombs Used at the Boston Marathon… Continue watching
May 24 Wheels Stopped for Kepler, but Still More to Study This artist's concept depicts Kepler-62e, a super-Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of a star smaller and cooler than the sun, located about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. It was discovered by the Kepler spacecraft. Image… Continue reading
May 24 Does Technology Offer Anyone a Big Break in Entertainment Industry? Changes in technology have opened up new opportunities in the entertainment industry, offering platforms for the most scrappy or eclectic of musicians, filmmakers and other creative artists. That's the argument of a new book, "The End of Big: How the… Continue reading