Basic Research

A Pennsylvania study suggests links between natural gas drilling and asthma, lymphoma in children

By Marc Levy, Associated Press

In the reports, University of Pittsburgh researchers found what they called significant associations between gas industry activity and two ailments: asthma, and lymphoma in children, who are relatively rarely diagnosed with this type of cancer.

What a NASA mission to study a metallic asteroid may teach us about Earth's core

By Jim Bell, The Conversation

Liftoff to the distant asteroid Psyche is scheduled for Oct. 5, 2023 – the beginning of a six-year journey to one of the most unusual objects in the solar system.

Inside the Fukushima nuclear plant 12 years after catastrophic meltdown

By Miles O'Brien

Japan will soon begin the process of releasing radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant. As final preparations are being made, Science Correspondent Miles O'Brien has a rare look inside the facility.

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How the Hawaii fires will take a toll on the state's natural treasures

By Doug Glass, Jennifer McDermott, Associated Press

Experts say the fires are likely to transform the landscape in unwanted ways including hastening erosion, sending sediment into waterways and degrading coral that is critically important to the islands, marine life and the humans who live nearby.

Russia launches its first mission to the moon in almost 50 years

By Jim Heintz, Emma Burrows, Associated Press

A rocket carrying a lunar landing craft blasted off Friday on Russia’s first moon mission in nearly 50 years, racing to land on the lunar south pole before a spacecraft from India gets there.

Antarctic sea ice at record lows as global temperatures rise

By William Brangham, Shoshana Dubnow

As temperature records fall all over the planet this summer, scientists are also increasingly concerned about what’s happening to the sea ice around Antarctica. William Brangham reports.

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A billion-dollar coastal restoration project begins in Louisiana. Will it work as sea levels rise?

By Kevin McGill, Associated Press

If the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project works as intended, solids in the river water will settle out in the basin and gradually restore land that has been steadily eroding for decades.

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic flies its first tourists to the edge of space

By Susan Montoya Bryan, Marcia Dunn, Associated Press

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has now taken seven trips to space since 2018, but this was the first with a ticket-holder.

Scientists look for additional factors beyond climate change and El Nino in July heat wave

By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press

Researchers say by far the biggest cause of the recent extreme heat is human-caused climate change, with a smaller contribution from a natural El Nino. But some scientists are searching for an additional factor.

The race to rescue corals from a blistering marine heat wave

By Michael Childress, The Conversation

While corals can recover from mass bleaching events like this, long periods of high heat can leave them weak and vulnerable to disease that can ultimately kill them.