May 12 Powerful Earthquake Destroys Buildings, Builds Mountains in China By PBS News Hour There's a saying among seismologists: "Earthquakes don't kill people. Buildings do." The powerful 7.9 magnitude earthquake that rocked central China on Monday afternoon, killing upwards of 8,500 people, was a grim reminder of that common phrase. Continue reading
May 07 Platypus Genome Reflects Animal’s Unusual Exterior, Research Finds By PBS News Hour With its webbed feet, fur-covered body and venom-shooting spurs, the platypus is famously one of nature's strangest-looking animals -- a motley combination of bird, mammal and reptile. Continue reading
May 06 Little-known Drug Draws New Scientific, Legislative Attention By PBS News Hour Most of what the public knows about the hallucinogenic drug salvia divinorum comes in disturbing snippets from a growing collection of online videos. Continue reading
Apr 25 Watch Senate Votes to Prevent Genetic Discrimination in the Workplace As research of preventative genetic testing increases, many fear the impact this information can have on employment and health-insurance practices -- leading the Senate to vote Thursday to ban genetic-based discrimination. An expert on genetics examines the issue. Continue watching
Apr 25 Watch Pittsburgh Renews Itself With ‘Green’ Technologies Pittsburgh, once described as the nation's "dirtiest city," is working hard to reverse that image with new energy efficient initiatives. Paul Solman looks at how the Steel City has become reinvigorated by implementing new "green" energy technologies. Continue watching
Apr 25 Social Status is Hard-Wired into the Brain, Study Shows By PBS News Hour Our world is defined by social hierarchies: parent and child, teacher and student, employee and boss. From the playground to the office, our place in the pecking order helps us decide how to behave. Continue reading
Apr 23 Watch In Pittsburgh, Robots Help Rebuild Struggling Economy As Pittsburgh continues to rebuild itself after the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the 1980s, a technology industry is emerging. Tom Bearden reports on how engineers in the city are developing robots for everything from elderly care to… Continue watching
Apr 18 Wal-Mart, Nalgene Pull BPA Items After Report Sparks Concerns By PBS News Hour Retail giant Wal-Mart and water bottle maker Nalgene are taking steps to phase out the use of the plasticizer Bisphenol A, only days after a major report linked the omnipresent chemical to a range of possible hormonal and other health… Continue reading
Apr 16 Researchers Track Global Flu Travel Patterns By PBS News Hour If you live in North America, the flu strain that laid you low last winter likely originated in East or Southeast Asia six to nine months before you caught it, according to a new study of the worldwide circulation of… Continue reading
Apr 11 Scientists Create Plan to Save Madagascar Species By PBS News Hour The island nation of Madagascar is one of the world's poorest countries, but it is rich in one resource -- biodiversity. Perched in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, Madagascar broke from the continent more than 80… Continue reading