Basic Research

Explainer: Why the August night sky lights up with the Perseid meteor shower

By Christopher Conselice, The Conversation

Many people have some idea that a meteor shower is when material in space falls to the earth. That is essentially true, but what these particles are and where they come from isn’t as well known. A greater understanding of…

Forget coral bleaching. Warming oceans are killing reefs and dissolving their skeletons

By Berly McCoy

Hotter oceans are killing corals, not just bleaching them. Then their reef corpses dissolve.

United Nations predicts hungry future, due to global warming, that can be avoided

By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press

A new United Nations report examines how global warming and land interact in a vicious cycle. Human-caused climate change is dramatically degrading the land, while the way people use the land is making global warming worse.

Why mental illness can’t predict mass shootings

By Nsikan Akpan

More than 90 percent of violent crimes — including shootings — would likely still occur even if every suspect with a mental health condition was stopped before they carried out an attack.

New 3D maps of the Milky Way confirm our galaxy is warped

By Vicky Stein

It turns out our Milky Way galaxy isn't the flat spiral disk we thought it was before -- dark matter or collisions with other galaxies could have twisted it out of shape.

This new nanotech could help clean up Earth’s microplastics

By Berly McCoy

Chemists have adapted emerging technology -- called nanocoils -- to dissolve microplastics and turn the pollution into food for algae.

This everyday chemical was cast aside. Its replacement might be making cats sick

By Berly McCoy

Manufacturers phased out flame retardants called PBDEs because of health concerns in pets and humans. New research suggests their replacements may be just as bad.

By making plant roots grow deeper, these geneticists hope to curb climate change

By Berly McCoy

A new genetic discovery could help researchers trap more climate-altering carbon underground.

CRISPR gene-editing ‘eliminates’ HIV in some mice. What does it mean for humans?

By Berly McCoy

Antiretroviral therapy is the standard HIV treatment, but patients are never rid of the virus. A new study raises the possibility of HIV elimination through gene-editing with CRISPR.