Oct 29 How will coastal cities weather future superstorms? This week, PBS NewsHour Science correspondent Miles O'Brien reported on new technologies engineers are using to protect coastlines from rising waters. For an expanded look at how mussels could save New York, how 600-year-old windmills enabled the Dutch… Continue reading
Oct 23 What’s in a name? In physics, everything and nothing By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy The term “Big Bang theory” began as an insult, but it ushered the idea into pop culture, spawning namesakes like the CBS sitcom about scientists. Photo by Monty Brinton/CBS Broadcasting Inc. If it were up to Peter Higgs,… Continue reading
Oct 16 Chasing the origins of the Gulf’s giant shrimp The invasive Asian tiger shrimp, which can grow as long as a human forearm and weigh as much as eleven ounces, has gained a foothold in Gulf of Mexico waters. Photo by Ryan Werner In the coastal town… Continue reading
Oct 09 The new climate normal: coming soon to a city near you Map displaying years when cities around the world will cross the climate threshold. Created by Mora Lab/University of Hawaii Manoa By 2047, the global climate will have veered drastically off course from weather as we know it,… Continue reading
Oct 02 Naked mole rats show us how to build a better protein Naked mole rats' long lifespan and resistance to disease may give us clues to living longer healthier lives. Photo by Brandon Vick/University of Rochester A naked mole rat will never win a beauty contest. But the nearly hairless rodents,… Continue reading
Sep 25 Oysters Reclaim Ancient Reefs in the Chesapeake An Oyster Recovery Partnership boat scatters oyster shells covered in oyster larvae into the tributaries of the Chesapeake. Photo by the Paynter Lab/University of Maryland. For centuries, the oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay were so massive they rose above… Continue reading
Sep 18 Ocean Acidification Threatens Tiny ‘Sea Butterflies’ Rising levels of ocean acidity is bad news for pteropods or "sea butterflies", a species that plays a critical role in its ecosystem. Photo by Nina Bednarsek/NOAA SEATTLE - It's a sunny and mild summer's day in the Pacific… Continue reading
Sep 11 The Frog and the Pot Farmer Battle for Land in the Santa Monica Mountains A plan to reintroduce the red-legged frog in Los Angeles County's Santa Monica Mountains has been complicated by an unforseen factor - illegal marijuana farms. Photo by USGS and Adam Backlin It was the red-legged frog -- a… Continue reading
Sep 04 The Science of Surviving a Chemical Weapons Attack United Nations arms experts arrive to inspect a site suspected of being hit by a deadly chemical weapons attack last week on the northeastern outskirts of Damascus. Photo by Mohamed Abdullah/AFP/Getty Images. The deadly nerve gas Sarin… Continue reading
Aug 28 New Technology Demystifies Panda Pregnancies EmbedVideo(7249, 482, 304); Mei Xiang delivers a panda cub on August 23. Video by Smithsonian's National Zoo. On Friday afternoon, a live panda cam captured giant panda Mei Xiang at the moment her water broke, and two hours… Continue reading