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Sept. 13, 2012
As increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere warm the planet, sea surface temperatures rise, increasing ocean surface evaporation and creating more opportunities for hurricanes, says hurricane expert Kerry Emanuel.
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Aug. 23, 2012
During her 51-hour attempted swim from Cuba to Key West this week, Diana Nyad battled extreme exhaustion, severe sunburn, strained muscles, powerful storms and circling sharks. But the thing that really ground the 103-mile trek to a halt, she said, was the jellyfish.
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Aug. 16, 2012
On the Joides Resolution research vessel, a team of scientists study the Earth's climate history by drilling deep into the ocean floor and analyzing the deep sea dirt.
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Aug. 9, 2012
Today, with natural gas prices low and production booming, more trucking companies are making the switch from diesel to natural gas. But finding the infrastructure to fuel a fleet can be a challenge. The UPS branch in Denver is an example of a company that had to build its own fueling stations to accommodate the new trucks.
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Aug. 2, 2012
The prospect that Mars was once a cushy berth for life has waxed and waned as our abilities to study the planet have evolved.
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Aug. 2, 2012
With the youngest and most ambitious Mars rover yet zipping toward its final destination, we thought it appropriate to pause and take a look back at Curiosity's new home and robot brethren.
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July 25, 2012
In a four-day period this July, the Greenland ice sheet melted at a faster rate than satellite data has ever recorded and at higher elevations than we've ever seen in our lifetimes.
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July 19, 2012
Native Americans make up about one percent of the United States population, but they manage more than 95 million acres of land. Their reservations lie in some of the most diverse ecosystems in the country, ranging from Alaska to the coasts of Florida. And they are often on the frontlines of America's climate-related dangers.
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July 12, 2012
From a gigantic rainbow serpent fashioned out of recycled jerry cans to a painting of girls dancing against a Milky Way backdrop, the exhibit "African Cosmos: Stellar Arts" examines how African artists through time have looked to the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars for inspiration.
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July 12, 2012
From a gigantic rainbow serpent fashioned out of recycled jerry cans to a painting of girls dancing against a Milky Way backdrop, the Smithsonian's "African Cosmos: Stellar Arts" exhibit examines how African artists through time have looked to the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars for inspiration.
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July 4, 2012
Scientists in Geneva have found a particle, and they think it's the Higgs boson, the squirrely, elusive subatomic particle believed to be responsible for giving size, shape and - let's just say it, life - to all matter in the universe.
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June 28, 2012
In 1947, when film star Alan Alda was 11-years-old, he asked a teacher the seemingly innocuous question, "What is a flame?" The answer, "oxidation," was thoroughly unsatisfying to young Alda.
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June 21, 2012
Here are just a few of the fascinating facts from Carl Zimmer's book, "A Planet of Viruses": If you put all the viruses in the ocean on a scale, they would equal the weight of 75 million blue whales. And if you lined up all those viruses end to end, "they would stretch out past the nearest 60 galaxies."
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June 14, 2012
Stories have always captivated our attention, and narrative plays a central role in what makes us human. In his new book, "The Storytelling Animal," Jonathan Gottschall explores the art of telling tales and the science behind what's at work in our minds when we hear things like, "Once upon a time."
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June 7, 2012
The thrill of gazing into a night sky packed with stars, constellations and a stretch of our Milky Way galaxy is primal and timeless -- and it's become increasingly rare.
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May 31, 2012
On Friday, the NewsHour will report on how subsidence and rising seas have battered coastal Louisiana's Isle de Jean Charles, an island that has been home to Native Americans since the 1840s.As a preview to the report, Hari spoke with Doris Naquin, a member of the Biloxi-Chitimacha tribe and a lifelong resident of the island.
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May 24, 2012
"Turing's Cathedral" author George Dyson tells Hari Sreenivasan how the creation of the hydrogen bomb gave us the modern computer.
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May 17, 2012
On Saturday, if all goes as planned, the privately owned spaceflight company SpaceX will launch its Dragon capsule into low-Earth orbit and three days later dock with the International Space Station.
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May 10, 2012
Despite a strict no-breeding rule and extreme efforts to stop it, the chimps are having accidental babies. Tracy was born five years ago. And this Valentine's Day, 29-year-old Flora was found nursing a newborn chimp. The births occurred even though all males in the group were vasectomized - some twice.
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May 3, 2012
Think you understand climate science better than the average American teen? On the PBS NewsHour this week we've been focusing on how climate change is taught in the classroom.
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April 26, 2012
Experts have struggled for years to understand what's keeping more women from entering physics, engineering and computer science. Judy Woodruff interviews Maria Klawe from Harvey Mudd College on the subject.
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April 19, 2012
Space tornadoes, stellar nurseries, primitive galaxies - these are just a few of the dazzling images captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope since its 2003 launch.
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April 12, 2012
Today the number of green cemeteries across the country has grown to 36, with some 300 providers of green burial options. Natural burial eschews modern techniques for delaying decomposition and prohibits embalming fluids, formaldehyde. The body is placed in a simple shroud, a biodegradable casket or urn.
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April 5, 2012
Slime mold is not a plant or animal. It's not a fungus, though it sometimes resembles one. Slime mold, in fact, is a soil-dwelling amoeba, a brainless, single-celled organism, often containing multiple nuclei. Here's a look at this peculiar organism.
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April 3, 2012
The slime mold takes on hundreds of shapes, sizes, and colors. Some varieties are the size of dinner plates, while others are only visible through a microscope.
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March 29, 2012
When a major earthquake strikes, workers with the American non-profit Build Change arrive in the affected area about two months later, once the emergency relief phase is over, to investigate damaged and destroyed buildings.
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March 29, 2012
Here are some tips on building a home that could withstand an earthquake.
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March 22, 2012
Our Coping with Climate Change page is here. As temperatures increase and weather patterns shift, we'll be exploring how communities are feeling the impact of climate change. You'll find video reports, blog posts, slide shows and interactive features. We start with Hari Sreenivasan's visit to two drought-stricken Texas towns.
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March 15, 2012
How much is too much radiation, and why are Japanese authorities still grappling with that question? That's the subject of the latest blog from our science correspondent Miles O'Brien. We've compiled all of Miles reporting on the Japan quake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown on one easy-to-access page.
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March 8, 2012
For most portrait photographers, odds that subjects will defecate in front of them, rip their backdrops or charge at the camera tend to be low. But that's a regular day for photographer Joel Sartore, who is on a mission to photograph all of the roughly 6,000 captive species in the United States before some of them disappear.