Basic Research

Police militarization fails to protect officers and targets black communities, study finds

By Nsikan Akpan

Police militarization neither reduces rates of violent crime nor changes the number of officers assaulted or killed, a new study finds. It is arguably the nation’s first systematic analysis on the use and consequences of militarized police forces.

How to avoid a catastrophic ‘Hothouse Earth’

By Julia Griffin, Nsikan Akpan

Humanity only has a handful of decades to determine the future of our planet.

Skin poaching of Asian elephants, a crisis unfolding in Myanmar, could crush the species

By Nsikan Akpan

Asian elephants are 10 times more endangered than African savanna elephant and facing a new serious threat. Poachers are taking the skin of Asian elephants in Myanmar and turning it into ruby red jewelry.

WATCH: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe blasts off for 7-year mission around the sun

By Nsikan Akpan

NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched at 3:31 a.m. ET on Sunday. Watch live here.

CDC says 1 in 7 babies exposed to Zika have health problems

By Amanda Grennell

One in seven infants exposed to Zika in utero experienced microcephaly, seizures, hearing deficiencies or other health problems during their first year of life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

A child lost a sixth of his brain, then made an amazing comeback

By Amanda Grennell

A child's major brain surgery could have sacrificed key skills, including the ability to recognize faces. Instead his brain shifted the jobs elsewhere.

Here’s proof that open office layouts don’t work, and how to fix them

By Nsikan Akpan, Julia Griffin

A new study shows moving to an open office dramatically cuts face-to-face conversations, but architects say not all open offices should be treated equal.

Life on Mars? Watery new discovery raises tantalizing possibilities

By Miles O'Brien

Scientists have finally found for the first time a large watery reservoir beneath the southern ice cap of Mars. Radar suggests it is more than 12 miles wide and similar in some ways to lakes found beneath the Greenland and…

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As glaciers shrink, iceberg tourism booms

By Teresa Carey

Scientists are concerned that global warming is destabilizing glaciers and ice shelves, creating larger and more frequent icebergs, like the Petermann Ice Island and the iceberg off the Innaarsuit settlement in Greenland.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will ‘shake’ hands with sun, thanks to small push from Venus

By Anna Kusmer

With the Parker Solar Probe, NASA must strike the perfect balance between flying close enough to collect data but not so close that it burns up. Here’s what the mission will take.