Oct 27 It’s Official: Fungus Causes Bat-Killing White-Nose Syndrome Scientists have identified the cause of a vicious disease devastating the northeastern U.S. bat population. Photo by Jonathan Mays, Wildlife Biologist, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. A fungus known as Geomyces destructans is indeed responsible for the… Continue reading
Oct 26 Why Do Some People Live Past 100? Genome May Hold Clues to Longevity Photo by Flickr user the Waltherfamily. Scientists call them supercontrols: people who have lived past 100, and have somehow evaded the age-related diseases most can't escape after a century of life, such as heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer's… Continue reading
Oct 25 Watch Kids Increasingly Staring at Glowing Screens, Study Finds How much time are our youngest children spending in front of screens? Jeffrey Brown discusses new studies that chronicle the increasing use of digital devices by young children -- and the resulting health effects -- with James Steyer of Common… Continue watching
Oct 25 Researchers Battle Parasite-Driven Frog Deformities At a University of Colorado lab, a leopard frog named Flipper flaps a half-formed seventh leg as he tries to navigate his aquarium. Another frog kicks himself onto his back and, burdened with two useless extra legs, can't manage… Continue reading
Oct 25 New Ban on Bath Salts After ‘People Started Dying From It’ Photo courtesy of the Drug Enforcement Administration No more picking up "Bliss," "Cloud Nine" or "Hurricane Charlie" at the corner grocery store. The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued a temporary ban on U.S. sales of street drugs generically known… Continue reading
Oct 24 Stellar Vampires, Snake Sperm and Optomechanics By Jenny Marder Did Giant Stars Feed Blue Stragglers? Last week, scientists presented new theories on blue stragglers, stars that are bluer and brighter than other stars. The origins of how these stars formed have long confounded scientists. Astrophysicist Aaron Geller… Continue reading
Oct 21 Scientists Follow the Water to Better Understand Drought Infrared lasers that measure droplets and water vapor, sap flow sensors that track the rate that water flows through trees -- scientists at the Susquehanna Shale Hills Observatory are using these and other instruments to "understand the water… Continue reading
Oct 20 Watch Earthquake Prediction: Could We Ever Forecast the Next Big One? Hundreds of cities on the U.S. West Coast took part in the 2011 Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill on Thursday, just hours before a small tremor hit the San Francisco Bay Area. Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reports from Japan on… Continue watching
Oct 20 Watch After the Tsunami, Rebuilding Japan Miles talks to Hari about the effort to rebuild the tsunami-devastated areas in Japan. Continue watching
Oct 20 While Rebuilding After Tsunami, Japan Seeks to Prevent Future Disasters EmbedVideo(1795, 482, 304); On the NewsHour Thursday, Science correspondent Miles O'Brien looks at the elusive science of earthquake prediction -- whether seismologists will ever be able to predict an earthquake with any certainty -- and how far they've… Continue reading