Jul 21 Space Shuttle Atlantis Has Landed, Ending an Era Space Shuttle Atlantis and her four-member crew landed just before sunrise this morning, marking the historic final landing of the space shuttle program and closing out the shuttle era's 30 years of manned spaceflight. Commander Chris Ferguson controlled… Continue reading
Jul 20 NASA's Space Shuttle Program: 30 Years of Flight By Jenny Marder Atlantis and her four-member crew have been cleared for their historic return to earth on Thursday. Landing is scheduled for 5:56 ET. As NASA's final shuttle prepares for its final landing, we look back at the 30-year program. Continue reading
Jul 20 Just Ask: Epic Swim Tests the Limits of Human Endurance By Jenny Marder Legendary long distance swimmer Diana Nyad, 61, will attempt to be the first person to swim the 103 miles from Cuba to Key West without a shark cage. Photo by Miami Herald via Getty Images. What does swimming 103 miles… Continue reading
Jul 20 Watch Indonesian Plant Shows Promise for Male Birth Control A plant that reduces fertility, long used by Indonesian men, is being tested as a possible daily male birth control pill. Continue watching
Jul 19 Watch NRC Chief: U.S. Nuclear Plants Safe Despite Age, Needed Upgrades The earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Japanese coast and triggered a nuclear crisis raised major questions surrounding the safety of U.S. nuclear reactors. Gwen Ifill discusses new safety regulations issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with its head, Gregory… Continue watching
Jul 19 Watch Nuclear Regulatory Commission Advises U.S. Nuclear Reactor Safety Upgrade The Nuclear Regulatory Commission presented a new set of industry safety recommendations for the U.S. on Tuesday. Gwen Ifill reports on the safety changes sparked by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Japanese coast and triggered a nuclear crisis. Continue watching
Jul 18 What We're Reading: Quantum Quirks, Dying Oaks and Victorian Women By Jenny Marder Raffaello Cargo Module Returned to Shuttle Bay The Atlantis astronauts have loaded nearly three tons of trash and broken hardware onto the Raffaello cargo module and moved it to the shuttle's payload bay in preparation for the… Continue reading
Jul 15 Dawn to Rise Over Asteroid Vesta NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image of the giant asteroid Vesta with its framing camera on July 9, 2011. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA At 1 A.M. Eastern time on July 16, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will become the first man-made probe… Continue reading
Jul 15 Watch Washington, D.C.'s Water Wars A student from Washington, D.C. investigates water quality issues in his hometown. Continue watching
Jul 14 Loss of Top Predators Has Far-Reaching Effects Photo credit: Young aspen trees in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by William Ripple, courtesy of Oregon State University. Sea otters eat sea urchins and sea urchins eat kelp. When sea otters are present, the coastal kelp forests maintain a… Continue reading