Watch 8:42
The sacred and the scientific clash on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea
Over a thousand years ago, Polynesians followed the stars in the Mauna Kea sky on their path to Hawaii. Those stars are now of interest to astronomers, who believe the mountain's summit is the perfect spot to build a giant,…
Landing an airplane with John Glenn as my copilot
On May 17, 2006, PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien got the chance to fly with his boyhood hero, astronaut and pilot John Glenn, for a story he was working on about the future of aviation.
Watch 10:30
Remembering John Glenn, space pioneer and American statesman
Former astronaut and senator John Glenn has died at age 95. In every chapter of his life, whether on Earth or above it, Glenn accumulated achievements -- serving as a Marine fighter pilot in two wars and later launching into…
Watch 5:46
The amazing, complicated science of the Nobel winners explained
A trio of scientists won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating some of the world’s tiniest machines. Their nanorobots use extremely controlled movements to perform tasks that the creators hope will one day be useful in the world of…
Scientists have discovered a potentially habitable new world, a mere four light years away from Earth. They call the planet “Proxima B,” and it may feature characteristics that are just right for human life. Nonetheless, it has some major differences…
Hawaii’s Kilauea has been erupting for over 30 years, making it the longest-flowing volcano on earth. Because of this remarkable activity, it is also currently the most researched. Geologist Mike Garcia has studied Kilauea for decades and believes that analyzing…
Lenny and Amy’s 5-year-old son has epilepsy. When conventional medications caused terrible side effects, they started giving him a daily drop of cannabis oil, with dramatic results. But it’s a calculated risk: While there is anecdotal evidence of cannabis’ effectiveness,…
Confined spaces, low gravity and high concentrations of oxygen mean any unexpected fire on a space station could well be a death sentence, especially since fire extinguishers aren’t very effective away from Earth. So NASA scientists are trying to develop…
Over the weekend, astronauts aboard the orbiting International Space Station added a module like none other. Think an RV that expands out the back with extra space for sleeping quarters. In the case of the ISS, it was an inflatable…
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