Basic Research

How rising seas could sink the sea turtle

By Nsikan Akpan

Climate change and sea level rise do more than just wash away sea turtle habitat.

How NASA measures the death of a glacier from space

By Catherine Woods

In 2017, a new NASA satellite called ICESat-2 will measure how fast ice is melting in order to estimate how soon coastal cities might suffer from sea level rise.

The race for the unbreakable password is almost over

By Nsikan Akpan

Consumers may soon have access to quantum cryptography, a system for building secret codes that are so secure and difficult to intercept, some call it unhackable.

The heart rates of black bears spike when drones fly overhead

By Nsikan Akpan

Drones are a popular toy/tool among ecotourists, ecologists and conservationists, but a new study shows an unintended health consequence of their use with bears.

Debunking the biggest genetic myth of the human tongue

By Catherine Woods

You didn’t inherit your tongue rolling ability from your parents.

What’s all the fuss about fizzy drinks?

By Catherine Woods

snap-click. ahh. gulp. -- Familiar sounds at a summer BBQ. Get to know your carbonated beverage.

Meet three scientists behind the Pluto mission

By Megan Crigger

Shortly after the July 14 flyby of Pluto and its moons, we spoke with three members of the New Horizons mission team: Alice Bowman, the mission operations manager, and Cathy Olkin and Kimberly Ennico-Smith, deputy project scientists. Editor’s note: Women…

There’s a story living in your beer’s DNA

By Catherine Woods

Dash Masland has a British fungus hanging on her wall. The fungus, framed in a picture, is beer yeast and the main ingredient in the farmhouse-style beer brewed in her Maine-based microbrewery. It is also her muse. The marine…