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	NPR Health From NPR: in-depth reports on medicine, the environment, space and more. The best of Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other award-winning NPR programs. Format : Health Add to iTunes Internet Radio Podcasts Internet Radio Radio Search Music News Sports Regional Religious NonTraditional Most Popular Today's Buzz Add Station Podcasts Podcast Directory Genre Regional Most Popular Add Podcast Today's Buzz Tech Support Firefox Plugin TV (Coming Soon) Videos (Coming Soon) Contact	Why California Almonds Need North Dakota Flowers (And A Few Billion Bees) Updated: 2012-02-14 22:51:00 Description: This month, the bees from 1.6 million hives — many of them trucked in commercially from as far away as North Dakota — will pollinate California's almond orchards. Then beekeepers will pack up their colonies and drive them back to the northern Pla...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Why The Best Chocolate Is The One You Eat Last Updated: 2012-02-14 21:55:00 Description: In a recent study, people were three times more likely to favor the last chocolate when they were told no more were coming. Researchers say this built-in bias for endings might also have implications in the world of online dating....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Caregivers Press For Experimental Alzheimer's Drug Updated: 2012-02-14 18:00:00 Description: A medical study published in Science finds that an FDA-approved skin cancer drug can reduce Alzheimer's-like symptoms in mice. It is unclear if the drug, marketed as Targretin, will have the same effect on humans. Some researchers want to begin testi...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Digging Deeper Into Obama's 2013 Budget Updated: 2012-02-14 06:57:00 Description: President Obama laid out his proposed federal budget for 2013 at a community college in Virginia on Monday. The $ 3.8 trillion plan calls for new government spending, including stimulus-style spending on roads. It also seeks to achieve $4 trillion in...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Washington Nuclear Cleanup Project Under Scrutiny Updated: 2012-02-13 20:00:00 Description: The federal government's largest nuclear cleanup project is being called into question by some key players. Managers for the Hanford Nuclear Reservation's waste treatment plant say the design is deeply flawed and could endanger workers or the public....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Virtual Penguins A Prescription For Pain? Updated: 2012-02-12 20:51:00 Description: When Sam Brown was terribly burned in an IED attack in Afghanistan, he found relief from the pain in an unlikely place: a cool, cartoony virtual reality game called SnowWorld. Research shows virtual reality can often help ease the pain of burn vict...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Zebra's Stripes, A Personal No-Fly Zone Updated: 2012-02-11 13:00:00 Description: Scientists in Hungary and Sweden say they've found an answer to the age-old question of how the zebra got its stripes. It turns out the pattern may have evolved to repel Africa's biting flies. The researchers discovered this by placing models of patt...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Real Estate Deal That Spans The Earth Updated: 2012-02-11 11:12:00 Description: For sale: 160 acres of rolling hills in California perfect for a vineyard, cattle ranch or communication with outer space. The Jamesburg Earth Station and its 10-story satellite dish once relayed broadcasts of historical events like the Apollo 11 moo...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Deconstructing Dengue: How Old Is That Mosquito? Updated: 2012-02-11 11:12:00 Description: Dengue fever, a nasty disease caused by a virus, is just beginning to show up in the U.S. It's carried from person to person by mosquitoes, and one researcher studying the spread is looking for clues in the age of the insects. But it's not very easy ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD As Gray Wolves Return, So Does Debate Over Hunting Updated: 2012-02-10 21:53:00 Description: Back from near-extinction, the gray wolf will soon be removed from the endangered species list. Now, Wyoming has struck a deal with the federal government to allow trophy hunting of the predator in certain parts of the state. But the move has drawn t...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Next Supercontinent Could Form At The North Pole Updated: 2012-02-10 18:00:00 Description: Several times in earth's history continents have collided to form supercontinents only to later break apart. Geologist Ross Mitchell discusses a new study in Nature that predicts in 50 to 200 million years time the Americas and Eurasia will collide t...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Valentine's Day Special: Look Of Love Updated: 2012-02-10 18:00:00 Description: When you gaze into your sweetheart's eyes, look for enlarged pupils. Studies show that our pupils dilate when we feel strong emotions. Psychologist Bruno Laeng, of the University of Oslo, explains how scientists are using "pupillometry" and what pupi...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Why Vinyl Sounds Better Than CD, Or Not Updated: 2012-02-10 18:00:00 Description: According to Rolling Stone magazine, sales of vinyl albums continue to grow, setting a new record in 2010. Does vinyl reproduce sound better, or is it just a trend? Two audio experts join guest host John Dankosky to talk about the science of audio, a...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Drug Rapidly Counters Effects of Alzheimer's In Mice Updated: 2012-02-10 18:00:00 Description: Reporting in Science, researchers write that an FDA-approved drug for skin cancer had surprising results in mice with Alzheimer's. The drug rapidly cleared up amyloid protein from the brain and improved cognitive function. Co-author Gary Landreth dis...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Science Of Yoga: The Risks And The Rewards Updated: 2012-02-10 18:00:00 Description: In his book The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards, New York Times science writer and long-time yoga practitioner William Broad investigates popular health claims about yoga--that it boosts metabolism, for example--and finds that scientific s...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Nuclear Safety, Cost Issues Loom As U.S. OKs Reactor Updated: 2012-02-10 05:01:00 Description: Southern Co. will build the reactors at its Vogtle site in Georgia. An industry-backed group hopes it's the first wave of new reactors, but a coalition of groups plans to sue to stop the project. Among its arguments: Engineers are still figuring out ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Drilling Team Finally Hits Antarctica's Liquid Lake Updated: 2012-02-09 08:00:00 Description: After years of trying, Russian scientists say they have drilled into an Antarctic lake that is buried beneath more than two miles of ice. They are looking for signs of life that haven't been exposed to sky in 20 million years....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A New Weapon Against Nukes: Social Media Updated: 2012-02-08 22:38:00 Description: A top State Department official wants to unleash the power of Twitter, Facebook and other services to "crowdsource" the fight to control the world's nuclear weapons....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 'Amasia': The Next Supercontinent? Updated: 2012-02-08 22:02:00 Description: More than 100 million years from now, the Americas and Asia might fuse together, squishing the Arctic Ocean shut in the process. That's according to a new model that predicts where the next supercontinent may form. But don't worry: Humans will likely...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 20 Million Years Later, Russians Work To Drill Into Lake Updated: 2012-02-04 14:25:00 Description: Russian researchers in Antarctica are on the verge of piercing a hole through two miles of ice into an ancient lake, untouched by the light of day for some 20 million years. But it'll be a delicate process to break through without disturbing the pris...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD New USDA Map May Mean Earlier Planting In North Updated: 2012-02-03 20:00:00 Description: A new map from the USDA has some northern gardeners hoping to grow plants that used to be considered too fragile for cold weather zones. The hardiness zone chart is about a half zone warmer than the last one issued in 1990. The USDA says the changes ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 'Arctic Oscilliation' Behind Season's Mixed Winter Weather Updated: 2012-02-03 20:00:00 Description: For snow fans in the contiguous US, this winter has left much to be desired. The warm and mild season in the lower 48 and the wild snow dumps and cold weather up north in Alaska can be blamed largely on a weather pattern called "arctic oscillation." ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Drone Technology Reaches New Heights Updated: 2012-02-03 18:00:00 Description: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are replacing boots on the ground in some wars. Commercially, UAVs are being used for things like crop-dusting and flood mapping. Experts discuss advances in drone technology and how to address legal and privacy conce...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Addicts' Brains May Be Wired At Birth For Less Self-Control Updated: 2012-02-03 05:01:00 Description: A study of cocaine addicts finds that they have abnormalities in areas of the brain involved in self-control. And these abnormalities appear to predate any drug abuse....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Could Cheap Gas Slow Growth Of Renewable Energy? Updated: 2012-02-02 18:57:00 Description: The relatively clean gas is replacing dirty coal-fired power plants. That's good news for the environment. But in the long run, cheap natural gas might delay the transition to even cleaner sources of energy, such as wind and solar power....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Clean-Tech Industry Facing Lean Times After Solyndra Updated: 2012-02-02 17:20:00 Description: The once-booming clean-tech industry is facing hard times, in part because of cheaper natural gas, the effects of the financial crisis, China's growing solar industry and the Solyndra bankruptcy. Reporter Juliet Eilperin, who covers the industry's st...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD New Silica Rules Languish In Regulatory Black Hole Updated: 2012-02-01 05:01:00 Description: Last year it looked like stricter controls would be put in place to limit workers' exposure to dangerous silica dust. But for almost a year, the proposed regulations have been stalled at the White House Office of Management and Budget. Worker safety ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Pythons Blamed For Everglade's Disappearing Animals Updated: 2012-01-31 07:37:00 Description: The Florida Everglades is infested with Burmese pythons. To keep them from spreading, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is making it illegal to import the pythons into the country, or transport them across state lines. Scientists have discovered the...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 'I Wanted To Live': New Depression Drugs Offer Hope For Toughest Cases Updated: 2012-01-31 05:01:00 Description: The anesthetic and club drug ketamine seems to lift depression symptoms in a matter of hours. But how does it work? Researchers are searching for the answer in an attempt to make a new class of depression medications. "We can take care of a migraine ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Invasive Pythons Put Squeeze On Everglades' Animals Updated: 2012-01-30 17:31:00 Description: Burmese pythons have been slithering around south Florida for decades, but scientists now say the invasive constrictors are so bad, they're eating their way through the swamps. The snakes have decimated populations of mammals like raccoons, possums a...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Could A Club Drug Offer 'Almost Immediate' Relief From Depression? Updated: 2012-01-30 05:01:00 Description: Currently, there's no quick fix for severe depression. Antidepressants usually take weeks to work, if they work at all. But patients who received experimental doses of ketamine — long used as an anesthetic, and an illegal club drug — report an as...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Stem Cell Eye Therapy Shows Promise Updated: 2012-01-27 18:00:00 Description: Reporting inThe Lancet, researchers write that a preliminary study shows embryonic stem cell therapy in two patients with macular degeneration was safe. Results suggest the patients' vision improved slightly. Dr. Robert Lanza, Chief Scientific Offic...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Can Science Be Done Without Secrecy? Updated: 2012-01-27 18:00:00 Description: In his book, Reinventing Discovery: The New Era of Networked Science, Physicist Michael Nielsen discusses why scientists jealously guard their data and are slow to adopt online tools for collaboration. Nielsen talks about why attempts to create scien...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Ancient Skull Holds Clues to Dog Domestication Updated: 2012-01-27 18:00:00 Description: A 33,000-year-old skull of a "wolf on the way to becoming a dog" was found in a Siberian cave. Evolutionary Biologist Susan Crockford, co-author of a study about the skull in PLoS ONE, discusses why the discovery challenges common beliefs about dog d...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Magnetic Soap May Help Clean Up Spilled Oil Updated: 2012-01-27 18:00:00 Description: BP released millions of gallons of dispersants to break up oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. But what if dispersants could be sucked up again after doing their job? Chemist Julian Eastoe talks about an iron-containing soap he's created that ca...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How 'Space Weather' Affects Planes And Power Grids Updated: 2012-01-27 18:00:00 Description: This week solar flares sent a huge blast of X-rays and charged particles screaming towards the Earth. Solar astronomer David Hathaway and physicist Doug Biesecker discuss the sun's explosive behavior, and how that 'space weather' affects satellites, ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Ode To Ice Updated: 2012-01-27 18:00:00 Description: Discover the secret life of ice--what makes it cloudy or clear, why cracks form on ponds. Science Friday visited Queens ice sculptor Shintaro Okamoto in his studio and spoke with ice researcher Erland Schulson, of Dartmouth University, to find out wh...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How To Find A New Nuclear Waste Site? Woo A Town Updated: 2012-01-26 22:33:00 Description: Community opposition helped sink plans for a nuclear waste repository in Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Meanwhile, thousands of tons of radioactive waste are piling up at temporary storage sites around the country. As the U.S. once again looks for a new p...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Obama Discusses Details From His Energy Agenda Updated: 2012-01-26 20:00:00 Description: The Obama administration released more details Thursday about the energy plan he previewed at the State of the Union this week. He announced an oil-and-gas-lease sale on nearly 38 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico — and proposals for new incentiv...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Vucetich Discusses Long-Running Predator-Prey Study Updated: 2012-01-26 20:00:00 Description: Melissa Block speaks with John Vucetich, a wildlife ecologist from Michigan Technological University who is leading the wolf-moose winter study at Isle Royale National Park. The park is located in the northwest corner of Lake Superior. The study is i...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Want To Make A Giant Telescope Mirror? Here's How Updated: 2012-01-26 05:01:00 Description: Astronomers want increasingly large telescopes to peer into the depths of space. To build a solid telescope mirror nearly 30 feet across, you need an oven that heats to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit and spins around like a top....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Next Frontier For Florida's 'Space Coast' Updated: 2012-01-25 18:00:00 Description: NASA ended the U.S. shuttle program in 2011, leaving roughly 9,000 workers at the Kennedy Space Center without jobs. Many in Cape Canaveral hope the private space industry will blossom, and lead the way back into space, and back to work....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Is The Booming Natural Gas Industry Overproducing? Updated: 2012-01-25 05:01:00 Description: Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was once a small part of the natural gas industry. Then the technology improved and the production rush started. Now, there's so much gas on the market that the prices are at a 10-year low and producers are scaling ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Foreign Oil Imports Drop As U.S. Drilling Ramps Up Updated: 2012-01-24 21:15:00 Description: President Obama's critics say he has blocked domestic oil production. But under his administration, a steady uptick in U.S. drilling operations, combined with falling overall consumption, has led to a steep drop in the percentage of oil the U.S. impo...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Common Chemicals Could Make Kids' Vaccines Less Effective Updated: 2012-01-24 21:05:00 Description: Researchers found that children whose blood contained high levels of chemicals used in nonstick coatings and stain-resistant fabrics were less responsive to vaccination. The finding suggests, but doesn't prove, that these chemicals may make some chil...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Op-Ed: The Verdict Is In On Climate Change Updated: 2012-01-24 18:00:00 Description: California became the only state to implement greenhouse gas emission controls in January 2012, but the debate there over climate change continues. University of California history and science professor Naomi Oreskes says the time for bickering over ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Op-Ed: Canada Must Change XL Pipeline Debate Updated: 2012-01-23 18:00:00 Description: President Obama rejected Wednesday a proposal to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast — generating intense debate in both countries. Murray Mandryk, political columnist for the Leader-Post of Sasketchewan, offers a ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Dog-Gone Genetics: A Few Genes Control Fido's Looks Updated: 2012-01-22 20:47:00 Description: Humans have complicated genetic structures — not so dogs. Almost every physical trait in canines is controlled by just a few genes, which means custom-breeding a dog is only a matter of flipping a few genetic switches....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Wait A Second, And What Else To Do With It Updated: 2012-01-21 14:57:00 Description: Every few years, official clocks around the world repeat a second. It's not much, but in an age of atomic clocks it's time enough to give the matter a second thought....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Science Diction: The Origin Of The Word 'Moon' Updated: 2012-01-20 18:00:00 Description: Science historian Howard Markel discusses the origins of the word moon and some of the lore surrounding it, including a 1638 book by the English bishop Francis Godwin entitled The Man in the Moone, which recounts a science fiction-style voyage to the...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Defending Climate Science's Place In The Classroom Updated: 2012-01-20 18:00:00 Description: The National Center for Science Education has long defended educators' right to teach evolution in public schools. Now climate science too is under attack. NCSE executive director Eugenie Scott talks about how teachers and parents can fight the push ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Be Here Now: Meditation For The Body And Brain Updated: 2012-01-20 18:00:00 Description: In his book Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World, Oxford University clinical psychologist Mark Williams talks about the brain and body benefits of mindfulness meditation, a cognitive behavioral therapy that can be as e...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Newly Fallen Meteorites Offer Fresh Look At Mars Updated: 2012-01-20 18:00:00 Description: Scientists have confirmed that rocks collected recently in the Moroccan desert came from the Red Planet. University of Alberta meteorite expert Chris Herd, who has acquired one of the chunks, talks about how scientists analyze space rocks, and whethe...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Synthetic Windpipe Transplant Boost For Tissue Engineering Updated: 2012-01-20 18:00:00 Description: Surgeons in Sweden replaced an American patient's cancerous windpipe with a scaffold built from nanofibers and seeded with the patient's stem cells. Lead surgeon Dr. Paolo Macchiarini discusses the procedure and the benefits of tissue-engineered synt...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Innovative Projects Tap Renewable Energy Sources Updated: 2012-01-20 18:00:00 Description: Two projects aim to harness renewable energy using cutting-edge technology and engineering. AltaRock's Susan Petty discusses plans to turn hot rocks at a dormant volcano into a source of power. University of Maine's Habib Dagher talks about the poten...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Rejected Pipeline Becomes Hot-Button Election Issue Updated: 2012-01-19 05:01:00 Description: The Obama administration has rejected a Canadian company's permit request to build the Keystone XL pipeline. The president said he turned down the proposal because congressional Republicans gave him a 60-day deadline that did not allow for a thorough...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Cheap Chinese Panels Spark Solar Power Trade War Updated: 2012-01-19 05:01:00 Description: U.S.-based solar panel manufacturers say inexpensive panels from China are hurting their business and want a tariff slapped on the imports. But other parts of the industry, such as installers, say the cheaper panels are driving a solar power boom in ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Man Who Studies The Fungus Among Us Updated: 2012-01-18 16:45:00 Description: Botanist Nicholas Money's book Mushroom takes readers inside the world of the fungal organisms that appear overnight on lawns, are occasionally poisonous and appear in everything from Alice in Wonderland to some lifesaving medications....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Man Who Studies The Fungus Among Us Updated: 2012-01-18 16:45:00 Description: Botanist Nicholas Money's book Mushroom takes readers inside the world of the fungal organisms that appear overnight on lawns, are occasionally poisonous and appear in everything from Alice in Wonderland to some lifesaving medications....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Blocking Keystone Won't Stop Oil Sands Production Updated: 2012-01-18 05:01:00 Description: Oil from the Canadian north is already making its way into the U.S. market through existing pipelines and tanker shipments. Energy experts say even if President Obama blocks the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, it may already be too late to stop Americ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Spanish Town Cheers New Nuclear Waste Plant Updated: 2012-01-16 20:00:00 Description: You know Spain's unemployment rate is bad when villagers cheer the arrival of a nuclear waste facility in their backyard — because of the jobs it will bring. That's the case in one tiny Spanish hamlet. The town has been chosen to host a nuclear was...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Deciphering Mixed Messages On Drinking And Health Updated: 2012-01-16 18:00:00 Description: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that binge drinking, usually associated with young people, is an issue among adults as well. And the University of Connecticut recently found Dr. Dipak Das, who studied an ingredient in red win...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Labs Size Up New Guidelines For Rodent Cages Updated: 2012-01-16 05:01:00 Description: Mice and rats are the most common lab animals. That's why some influential new guidelines on how to house mother rodents and their babies have created an uproar. Some experts at research centers say there's no evidence that making costly changes will...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Sleep Apnea Business Is Booming, And Insurers Aren't Happy Updated: 2012-01-16 05:01:00 Description: Sleep apnea is a condition that can raise the risk of several serious illnesses, including heart disease. Testing for the condition is a lucrative business, and sleep labs have sprung up across the country. But as spending skyrockets, insurers are re...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Ski Resorts Blow Fake Snow For A 'Brown' Winter Updated: 2012-01-15 22:00:00 Description: Normally at this time of year, about 50 percent of the U.S. is snow-covered.These days, the figure is now more like 20 percent. It's hurting ski resorts and the local economies that thrive on seasonal winter tourism....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Mega Mirror To Power Massive New Telescope Updated: 2012-01-14 20:00:00 Description: One upon a time, the largest glass telescope mirror was 100 inches in diameter. Today, scientists are casting a mirror 27 feet in diameter that will be part of one of the most powerful telescopes on Earth. NPR's Joe Palca speaks with weekends on All ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Get Inked For Science Updated: 2012-01-13 18:00:00 Description: Writer Carl Zimmer became an "unintentional curator" of science-themed tattoos after noticing a double helix on a friend's arm. Sensing a trend, he asked his blog readers to send photos of their science tattoos. Some of those images are gathered in h...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Doctor Tells All in 'Confessions Of A Surgeon' Updated: 2012-01-13 18:00:00 Description: In a new book, surgeon Paul Ruggieri reveals the "good, the bad, and the complicated" about being a surgeon, and operating on patients. From cutting into a man who just killed his wife, to the headaches of running a small business, Ruggieri candidly ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Talking Science With Arianna Huffington Updated: 2012-01-13 18:00:00 Description: The new year marks the creation of a science section at The Huffington Post. The Internet newspaper's editor-in-chief, Arianna Huffington discusses the story selection and vetting process. And why the launch coincides with what she calls the explosio...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Kepler Telescope Spots Tiniest Exoplanets Yet Updated: 2012-01-13 18:00:00 Description: At a meeting of the American Astronomical Society, scientists talked about mapping dark matter, measuring the 'graininess' of spacetime, and discovering the smallest exoplanets ever, using the Kepler space telescope. Ron Cowen, who reported on the me...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Lawrence Krauss On 'A Universe From Nothing' Updated: 2012-01-13 18:00:00 Description: Why is there something rather than nothing? That's the question cosmologist Lawrence Krauss tackles in his new book, A Universe from Nothing. In it, he surveys the discoveries that have led to scientists' current understanding of the universe, and ex...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD New Tuberculosis Strain Thwarts All Antibiotics Updated: 2012-01-13 18:00:00 Description: Physicians in India have discovered a strain of tuberculosis they call 'TDR' for 'Totally Drug-Resistant'--meaning there is no antibiotic available to fight it. Maryn McKenna, author of Superbug, discusses the possible origins of the strain, and what...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Making A Computer From Bubbles Updated: 2012-01-13 18:00:00 Description: Stanford professor Manu Prakash explains how bubbles can be used as bits to make a computer. By directing the bubbles through etched pathways, they act like electrons traveling through circuits. In this system, however, the computer is powered by gra...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD To Slow Climate Change, Cut Down On Soot, Ozone Updated: 2012-01-12 19:32:00 Description: While carbon dioxide is indisputably a significant factor in the planet's changing climate, scientists and policy experts have faced major troubles in limiting production of the greenhouse gas. Now, some are focusing on other things that warm the pla...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Exploring The Real 'Conflict': Science Vs. Naturalism Updated: 2012-01-12 17:46:00 Description: Whether it's creationism vs. evolution, miracles vs. magic tricks, or faith vs. fact, religion and science have long been pitted against one another. But in a new book, Where the Conflict Really Lies, philosopher Alvin Plantinga argues that religio...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Project's Promise Of Jobs Has Appalachia Seeing Stars Updated: 2012-01-12 05:01:00 Description: Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia are waiting to hear which state Shell Oil will pick to host a huge new chemical refinery. The project would turn ethane gas, produced through "fracking," into ethylene, which is used to make plastics. The venture ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD NPR's Science Desk Experiments With Twinkies Updated: 2012-01-11 22:49:00 Description: The NPR science desk was inspired to take part in the fine, and longstanding, tradition of experimenting with Twinkies....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Study Links Water Wall, Legionnaires' Disease Uptick Updated: 2012-01-11 21:17:00 Description: Audie Cornish talks with Thomas Haupt, respiratory disease epidemiologist for the Wisconsin Division of Public Health. He's the lead author of the study that helped uncover the source of a mysterious and large uptick in Legionnaires' disease cases. T...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Coast Guard Tries To Lead Fuel Tanker To Nome Updated: 2012-01-10 20:00:00 Description: Melissa Block speaks with Capt. Beverly Havlik, from the Coast Guard ice-breaker Cutter Healy, who talks about the challenges of helping a Russian tanker make its way through the Arctic ice to Nome, Alaska....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Interior Announces Grand Canyon Mining Moratorium Updated: 2012-01-09 20:00:00 Description: The U.S. Department of the Interior is placing a 20-year moratorium on new mining claims in and around the Grand Canyon. Environmentalists say the ban is crucial to protecting the region. However, the mining industry and some Republicans say the mora...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD FAA Rules May Interrupt Endangered Crane Migration Updated: 2012-01-09 18:00:00 Description: Operation Migration uses ultralight planes to guide whooping cranes in migration from Wisconsin to their winter home in Florida. But a Federal Aviation Administration investigation has grounded a flock of whooping cranes and an ultralight guiding pla...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Dog Trained As Ultimate Whale Pooper Snooper Updated: 2012-01-07 20:35:00 Description: Scientists aren't sure what's wrong with the orcas in Puget Sound, but they're hot on the trail. A team of researchers is relying on a secret weapon with a killer nose to sniff out the mystery....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Collapsing Honey Bee Colonies: Blame The Parasites? Updated: 2012-01-07 13:00:00 Description: The honey bee population of North America is declining and new research may help answer why. It shows the bees can become hosts of a fly parasite, which causes them to become disoriented and leave their nests. Scott Simon talks with San Francisco Sta...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Near Icy Waters, Marine Life Gets By Swimmingly Updated: 2012-01-06 20:00:00 Description: Hairy-chested yeti crabs, seven-armed sea stars, white octopuses — all these creatures were seen for the first time by researchers in the Antarctic. Robert Siegel talks to biologist Alex Rogers of the University of Oxford, who led the expedition....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Levitating Fruit Flies To Learn About Space Travel Updated: 2012-01-06 18:00:00 Description: Physicist Richard Hill and colleagues at the University of Nottingham have a powerful magnet that they have used to levitate fruits, beer and most recently, fruit flies. It's a low-cost way to study the effects of zero gravity on biological systems, ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD One Scholar's Take On The Power of The Placebo Updated: 2012-01-06 18:00:00 Description: A placebo can take the form of a sugar pill or even a fake surgery. It's often used to test the effectiveness of a trial drug. Ted Kaptchuk, director of Harvard University's Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter, discusses potentia...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Debate Persists Over Publishing Bird Flu Studies Updated: 2012-01-06 18:00:00 Description: A federal advisory board has urged scientific journals not to publish the research from two labs that have developed an airborne flu virus. Microbiologist Vincent Racaniello discusses why the move sets a bad precedent. Biosecurity expert D.A. Henders...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Parasitic Fly Threatens Honey Bee Populations Updated: 2012-01-06 18:00:00 Description: Honey bee colonies around the United States are in decline, threatened by several different diseases and parasites. John Hafernik, a professor of biology at San Francisco State University, describes how a parasitic fly that was thought to prey up...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD FDA Agrees To Limit Antibiotics In Livestock Updated: 2012-01-06 08:53:00 Description: The FDA is increasing regulations on a class of antibiotic drugs commonly used by livestock producers. The drugs are great for treating infections in animals and humans. Food safety advocates say the over-use of cephalosporin in animals has contribut...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Zoo Crafts Love Nest To Save Ozark's Salamanders Updated: 2012-01-05 22:11:00 Description: The large, flat, slimy, river-dwelling hellbenders are among the world's largest salamanders — and they're quickly disappearing. But thanks to a new conservation program and a high-tech ecosystem at the Saint Louis Zoo, scientists say 2012 could be...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Race To Dig Deeper Ports For Bigger Cargo Ships Updated: 2012-01-05 16:33:00 Description: Many environmental concerns are starting to surface as East Coast cities plan to dredge their ports — like in Miami, where engineers would drill for two years to deepen Biscayne Bay's limestone bottom. But like many cities, Miami wants business fr...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How Fracking Wastewater Is Tied To Quakes Updated: 2012-01-05 05:01:00 Description: Small earthquakes in Ohio and Arkansas associated with hydraulic fracturing for natural gas have taken many people by surprise. Gas industry executives say there's no hard evidence that their activities are causing these quakes. But some scientist...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Keystone Oil Pipeline Deadline Puts Obama In A Pinch Updated: 2012-01-04 19:22:00 Description: Congress gave the White House a tight, 60-day deadline for approving or rejecting the controversial pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. If the president rejects the project, he's likely to be assailed on his commitment...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Fracking Byproducts May Be Linked To Ohio Quakes Updated: 2012-01-03 20:00:00 Description: Melissa Block interviews John Armbruster, a seismologist with Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, part of Columbia University, about why he believes the waste from fracking in Ohio has led to the earthquakes there. He says the injection of waste water ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Exploring Stephen Hawking's 'Unfettered Mind' Updated: 2012-01-03 15:40:00 Description: The scientist is known as much for his contributions to theoretical cosmology and quantum gravity as for his willingness to make science accessible for the general public. His work is the topic of a new biography by science writer Kitty Ferguson....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Exploring Stephen Hawking's 'Unfettered Mind' Updated: 2012-01-03 15:40:00 Description: The scientist is known as much for his contributions to theoretical cosmology and quantum gravity as for his willingness to make science accessible for the general public. His work is the topic of a new biography by science writer Kitty Ferguson....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Double-Blind Violin Test: Can You Pick The Strad? Updated: 2012-01-02 20:01:00 Description: Researchers presented a group of professional violinists with a set of violins and asked them to play and then determine — based on sound alone — which were made by the famed Italian violin-maker Stradivari and Guarneri. The results surprised eve...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Op-Ed: 364-Day Calendar Intriguing But Unnecessary Updated: 2012-01-02 18:00:00 Description: It's 2012 — time to throw out the 2011 calendar. But professors Richard Conn Henry and Steven Hanke say it's time to trash the Gregorian calendar altogether. The Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar would make holidays fall on the same day of the week ea...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Twins Data Reshaping Nature Versus Nurture Debate Updated: 2012-01-02 18:00:00 Description: Scientists have long pointed to identical twins to show that genes reign supreme in the battle of nature versus nurture. But a growing body of research suggests another factor, called epigenetics, may change how those genes are expressed. National Ge...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD What Vietnam Taught Us About Breaking Bad Habits Updated: 2012-01-02 05:01:00 Description: In the 1970s, a sizable number of U.S. servicemen in Vietnam self-identified as heroin addicts. But when they returned stateside, the number of these soldiers who continued their addiction was surprisingly low. Why? Turns out a massive disruption in ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Biotech Firms Caught In Regulatory No Man's Land Updated: 2012-01-02 05:01:00 Description: Companies making genetically modified animals face a regulatory morass in this country. It's not always clear which federal agency has responsibility for regulating a particular animal, and even when one agency does take the lead, the approval proces...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD New Year? How About A New Calendar? Updated: 2012-01-01 14:31:00 Description: Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have devised a different way to count our days — with a leap week every few years to keep the calendar on track....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD For Lab Mice, The Medical Advances Keep Coming Updated: 2011-12-31 17:23:00 Description: Before therapies are tested in people, they are often tested in mice. This year, scientists reported progress in melting away all sorts of tumors in mice, as well as promising treatments for a variety of other ailments....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Year in Review: Science Stories of 2011 Updated: 2011-12-30 18:00:00 Description: From the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant to the end of NASA"s shuttle program, a great deal of science stories made headlines this year. Science writers Mariette DiChristina, Matt Crenson, Steven Levy, and Paul Raeburn join Ira Flatow t...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD NASA Probes Set To Orbit The Moon Over New Year's Updated: 2011-12-30 18:00:00 Description: Twin GRAIL spacecraft on a mission to study lunar gravity are nearing the end of their almost four month journey. The probes are expected to reach the moon on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. GRAIL's principal investigator, Maria Zuber of MIT talks...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Making Resolutions That Stick In 2012 Updated: 2011-12-30 18:00:00 Description: Many have fallen of the new year's resolution bandwagon soon after adopting a new diet or quiting smoking. So how can you achieve year-end goals and start the year on a positive note? Roy Baumeister, co-author of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Google Science Fair Winner Discusses Her Project Updated: 2011-12-29 20:00:00 Description: Robert Siegel speaks with Shree Bose, the winner of this year's Google Science Fair. Bose investigated why cancer cells become resistant to the chemotherapy drug Cisplatin. Through her research, she discovered a specific protein that makes cancer cel...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Debunked Science: Studies Take Heat In 2011 Updated: 2011-12-29 15:39:00 Description: In the world of science, 2011 may go down as the year of the retraction. Lots of highly publicized discoveries got debunked this year. And many of those discoveries involved findings that both scientists and the public really wanted to believe....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD New England Fishermen Brace For Cod Restrictions Updated: 2011-12-28 09:09:00 Description: Three years ago, scientists found plenty of cod in the region but data this season indicates just the opposite. Federal regulators say stocks are at such dangerously low levels, cod fishing might need to be shut down. Fishermen say they don't believe...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 60 Years After Leaving, Porpoises Again Play In SF Bay Updated: 2011-12-28 05:01:00 Description: Harbor porpoises are showing up in growing numbers under the Golden Gate Bridge. Six decades ago, they were driven away in part by wartime activities and poor water quality; now, researchers are trying to understand why they're returning....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Endangered Turtle Survives Trans-Atlantic Journey Updated: 2011-12-26 18:38:00 Description: The Kemp's ridley sea turtle, which hopped a ride aboard floating seaweed, made the 4,600 mile journey from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of Portugal in 2008. Nicknamed Johnny Vasco de Gama, after the Portugese explorer, the now-rehabilitated turt...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Wisdom Of Trees (Leonardo Da Vinci Knew It) Updated: 2011-12-26 05:01:00 Description: Some 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci noted that branches on trees split with mathematical precision. Recently, physicists studying this phenomenon have discovered it has important implications for the way wind flows around and through trees....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Trees In Trouble: Grim Future For Frankincense Updated: 2011-12-25 10:54:00 Description: The wise men would be one gift short at the manger — frankincense, one of the gifts given to the baby Jesus, is now in short supply. The trees from which the fragrant resin is produced are declining, and in 15 years, frankincense production could b...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Pigeon's Potential: Learning Abstract Numbers Updated: 2011-12-24 13:00:00 Description: Damian Scarf at New Zealand's University of Otago reports in the current issue of the journal Science that experiments he conducted with colleagues show that pigeons can learn abstract rules about numbers. ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD To Flirt In Cities, Birds Adjust Their Pitch Updated: 2011-12-24 11:11:00 Description: A big part of being a bird is singing, often to attract other birds. Sometimes it's hard to do that amid all the noise in a city, so urban birds are changing their tune....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD After Fukushima: A Changing Climate For Nuclear Updated: 2011-12-24 10:10:00 Description: Nuclear power had enjoyed 25 years of relative quiet, but the Fukushima accident reminded people that despite improvements in safety, things can still go horribly wrong. The accident is unlikely to affect U.S. nuclear policy, experts say, but countri...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Heroes Of The Taj Hotel: Why They Risked Their Lives Updated: 2011-12-23 20:50:00 Description: When a Mumbai hotel was besieged by terrorists in 2008, something extraordinary happened: Workers didn't flee. They stayed behind to help save guests at the risk of their own lives. What could possibly explain it? A new study attempts to answer that ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The War On Cancer Turns 40 Updated: 2011-12-23 18:00:00 Description: Forty years ago, President Nixon signed the National Cancer Act, beginning the War on Cancer. Harold Varmus, director of the National Cancer Institute, discusses four decades of scientific progress in preventing, detecting and treating cancer--and th...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Building Bridges From Plastic Shampoo Bottles Updated: 2011-12-23 18:00:00 Description: Discarded plastic shampoo and juice bottles are finding new life in unlikely places--as bridges, railroad ties and pilings. Jim Kerstein, CTO and founder of Axion International, talks about how his company transforms plastic waste into structures str...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Science Behind 'Breaking Bad' Updated: 2011-12-23 18:00:00 Description: Cooking crystal meth is just "basic chemistry" for Walter White, the fictional chemistry teacher and anti-hero of the TV drama "Breaking Bad." Organic chemist Donna Nelson serves as science adviser to the show; she explains how the series' writers wo...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Searching For A Ghost Bird Updated: 2011-12-23 18:00:00 Description: No one is sure whether the Imperial woodpecker is extinct--the two-foot-tall relative of the Ivory-billed woodpecker lives in a remote mountain range in Mexico, and was last credibly spotted in the 1990s. Tim Gallagher, editor of Cornell Lab of Ornit...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Birders Fan Out to Count Feathered Friends Updated: 2011-12-23 18:00:00 Description: The 112th Audubon Christmas Bird Count is underway. Citizen scientists armed with binoculars are recording data vital to monitoring bird health and conservation. But before you can count a Snowy Owl or a Rufous Hummingbird, you need to identify it. B...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Kepler Telescope Narrows Hunt For Earth's Twin Updated: 2011-12-23 18:00:00 Description: By tracking the blinking light of distant stars, NASA's Kepler space telescope has identified the first Earth-sized exoplanets, and another which orbits its star in the "Goldilocks zone," where liquid water--and possibly life--could exist. Principal ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Myth Busting: The Truth About Animals And Tools Updated: 2011-12-23 05:01:00 Description: Birds and wasps do it. So do octopuses, otters, polar bears and dolphins. A surprising number of animals use tools, and scientists say there are some widespread misconceptions. Among them: Using tools isn't a sign of intelligence, and animals don't n...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Turbulence As EU Court OKs Fee On Plane Emissions Updated: 2011-12-21 20:07:00 Description: A European court ruled Wednesday that airlines flying into and out of European airports will have to pay a price for the carbon dioxide they emit when they burn jet fuel. U.S. carriers had been fighting the plan in court, arguing they've already do...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD U.S. Says Details Of Flu Experiments Should Stay Secret Updated: 2011-12-20 19:36:00 Description: In a landmark decision, an expert panel that advises the government on research security says key details of work on the contagiousness of flu viruses should not be published openly. I...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 'The Onion' Of Medical Journals Pokes Fun At Studies Updated: 2011-12-18 13:00:00 Description: For the past 13 years, North America's medical community has had its own version of The Onion. The Canadian Medical Association Journal's "Holiday Reading" segment in its December issue brings satire and spoofing to its medical studies, with some uni...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Treating Stress, Speech Disorders With Music Updated: 2011-12-16 18:00:00 Description: More and more hospitals and clinics now offer music therapy as a supplementary treatment for everything from anxiety to Alzheimer's, but its efficacy varies for different conditions. Neurologist Oliver Sacks and several music therapists discuss the s...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Science Diction: The Origin Of The Petri Dish Updated: 2011-12-16 18:00:00 Description: In 1887, Julius Petri invented a simple pair of nesting glass dishes, ideal for keeping specimens of growing bacteria sterile--the 'Petri dish.' Science historian Howard Markel recounts the history of this ubiquitous lab supply, and the serendipitous...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Physicists Find 'Hints' of Elusive Higgs Boson Updated: 2011-12-16 18:00:00 Description: Two teams of scientists at CERN say they may have glimpsed the long-sought Higgs boson while studying particle collisions. Physicist Joe Incandela discusses how the teams are closing in on data that may prove the theoretical particle, considered a bu...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Exploring The Science Of Flying, From Your Window Seat Updated: 2011-12-16 18:00:00 Description: From identifying river deltas to understanding how an aircraft achieves lift, there's a lot of science to keep you busy on an airplane. In Inflight Science, science writer Brian Clegg explores the science and technology of airplanes, and the world as...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD What Makes Wings Work? Updated: 2011-12-16 18:00:00 Description: Researchers at New York University are studying flight with a speaker, a soup pot, straws and a box full of paper aircraft. Emeritus professor Stephen Childress describes the experiment and what he and his colleagues have learned about flight from th...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Ornithologist Discusses Causes Of Bird Downings Updated: 2011-12-15 20:00:00 Description: Melissa Block speaks with Kevin McGowen, ornithologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, about the phenomenon of bird downings. Approximately 1,500 migratory birds died on Monday night after crashing into a Wal-Mart parking lot in Utah....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Biomedical Research Using Chimps Curtailed Updated: 2011-12-15 16:05:00 Description: Following an expert panel's recommendations, The National Institutes of Health announced it will not issue new awards for experiments using chimps until a new set of strict criteria is in place. The panel also recommended setting up an independent ov...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD U.S. Nuclear Agency Suffers Leadership Meltdown Updated: 2011-12-14 22:42:00 Description: Four of the top commissioners of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission are locked in a feud with the fifth — the chairman, Gregory Jaczko. In a letter to the White House and in a congressional hearing on Wednesday, they called Jaczko a bully who i...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD No 'God Particle' Yet, But Scientists Say Stay Tuned Updated: 2011-12-13 19:58:00 Description: New data from the world's largest particle physics lab offer "intriguing hints" about the Higgs boson. The Higgs is a key part of some beautiful math that would explain why things have mass — if scientists can find concrete evidence that the partic...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD EPA To Unveil Stricter Rules For Power Plants Updated: 2011-12-13 08:28:00 Description: The rules, which come two decades after Congress ordered the agency to regulate toxic air pollution, would give power plants nationwide just three more years to slash mercury and other harmful emissions. But some big power plants are angling for more...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Who Are The Young Farmers Of 'Generation Organic'? Updated: 2011-12-12 21:37:00 Description: There's a surge of youthful vigor into American agriculture — at least in the corner devoted to organic, local food. Thousands of idealistic young people who've never farmed before are trying it out....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD In Pa., Drilling Comes Into Focus Updated: 2011-12-11 20:00:00 Description: The vast, untapped natural gas reserves in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale are the subject of much debate. Scientists who are trying to shed light on the safety of drilling are facing a host of obstacles, including lack of funding and data. Susan Phil...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Climate Talks Go Longer Than Expected Updated: 2011-12-10 13:00:00 Description: The United Nations climate conference in Durban, South Africa, was scheduled to wrap up Friday, but the negotiations have gone into overtime. Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Richard Harris about what is still under discussion....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Newly Discovered Black Holes Are Largest So Far Updated: 2011-12-10 13:00:00 Description: Astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, recently discovered two massive black holes more than 300 million light-years away and 10 billion times the size of the sun. Host Scott Simon talks with Professor Chung-Pei Ma, who led the team t...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Climate Strategists: To Cut Emissions, Focus On Forests Updated: 2011-12-10 10:00:00 Description: The basic idea is to have rich countries that emit lots of climate-warming gases pay poorer countries to keep their forests, or even expand them. That's because forests suck carbon from the atmosphere. But there's not yet a global system to make a pl...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Python Could Help Treat Heart Disease Updated: 2011-12-09 18:00:00 Description: Adult Burmese pythons can swallow prey as large as deer. Now, researchers from the University of Colorado, Boulder say the way the python's heart balloons after it eats could help treat human heart disease. Molecular biologist Leslie Leinwand discuss...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Rats Show Empathy, By Freeing Trapped Companions Updated: 2011-12-09 18:00:00 Description: Reporting in Science, researchers write of an experiment in which rats worked to open the cages of trapped rats, but not empty or dummy-filled cages. Author Peggy Mason discusses empathy in non-primates, and the value rats place on freeing a companio...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD US Military Keeps Wary Eye On Asia's Space Race Updated: 2011-12-09 18:00:00 Description: In Asia's Space Race: National Motivations, Regional Rivalries, and International Risks, Naval Postgraduate School professor James Clay Moltz discusses the potential militarization of fast-growing space programs in China, India, and Japan--and why US...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Inbreeding To Blame For Bedbug Renaissance Updated: 2011-12-09 18:00:00 Description: Presenting at a meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, researchers said bedbugs can survive many generations of inbreeding, allowing one pregnant female to cause a building-wide infestation. Biologist Rajeev Vaidyanathan di...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Engineers Give The Jump Rope A Spin Updated: 2011-12-09 18:00:00 Description: When they both worked at Princeton, Howard Stone and Jeff Aristoff used to play basketball at lunchtime. One day, when Dr. Stone was warming up with his jump rope, the two wondered if anyone had mathematically modeled the shape of the rope. The two r...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Debating Genetically Modified Salmon Updated: 2011-12-09 18:00:00 Description: Biotech company AquaBounty has not yet received FDA approval for its fast-growing, genetically-modified salmon. Biotechnologist Alison Van Eenennaam and environmental scientist Anne Kapuscinski discuss the food safety and environmental concerns assoc...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD At Climate Talks, Frustration And Interruptions Updated: 2011-12-08 20:23:00 Description: Frustrated by what some see as U.S. foot-dragging on climate policy, an American college student interrupted U.S. envoy Todd Stern Thursday during his remarks at the climate conference in South Africa. Later, Stern emphasized that the U.S. has been w...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD EPA Connects 'Fracking' To Water Contamination Updated: 2011-12-08 20:00:00 Description: For the first time, a government study has tied contamination in drinking water to an advanced drilling technique commonly known as "fracking." EPA scientists found high levels of chemicals commonly used in hydraulic fracturing in the ground water ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Cagebreak! Rats Will Work To Free A Trapped Pal Updated: 2011-12-08 19:48:00 Description: Calling someone a "rat" is no compliment, but a new study shows that rats actually are empathetic and will altruistically lend a helping paw to a cage mate who is stuck in a trap....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Grass Mattress Was A Stone Age Bed And Breakfast Updated: 2011-12-08 19:42:00 Description: Scientists have found what they say is the world's oldest bed: a 77,000-year-old grass and leaf mattress in a cave in South Africa. And the people who made it were crafty: Atop layers of sedge grass were leaves from a plant known to repel insects —...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Can 'Carbon Ranching' Offset Emissions In Calif.? Updated: 2011-12-07 10:01:00 Description: Climate experts are thinking about growing dense fields of weeds to help soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This would require flooding dense, carbon-rich wetland soils of the San Joaquin Valley, and farmers hope money they make from capturi...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Mine Settlement Is In, But Closure Is Tougher Updated: 2011-12-06 20:00:00 Description: The Justice Department announced a $210 million settlement Tuesday with the owner of the Upper Big Branch coal mine, where 29 miners died in an explosion last year. The federal mine safety agency, meanwhile, issued a final report on the blast. But...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Some Calif. Students Won't Use 'Hydration Stations' Updated: 2011-12-06 20:00:00 Description: New California rules are meant to get school kids to drink fewer sugary drinks and more water. But many students don't want to drink out of public water fountains....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Students Grossed Out By School Water Fountains Updated: 2011-12-06 20:00:00 Description: New California rules are meant to get school kids to drink fewer sugary drinks and more water. But many students don't want to drink out of public water fountains....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Calif. Takes Big Step Toward Greenhouse Gas Limits Updated: 2011-12-06 09:45:00 Description: California's radical new law will put a statewide cap on the amount of greenhouse gases coming out of smokestacks and tailpipes. Utility costs will no doubt rise, but advocates of the law say it will also create new businesses and spur development an...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Found: Earth-Like Planet That Might Be Right For Life Updated: 2011-12-05 22:39:00 Description: The planet, dubbed Kepler-22b, isn't much larger than Earth and is orbiting a star in a region that's not too hot and not too cold — just the kind of place that could be home to liquid water, and maybe even life. But don't pack your bags just yet: ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD For Creative People, Cheating Comes More Easily Updated: 2011-12-05 18:21:00 Description: "It's all about telling stories," says the author of a new psychological study, "so creative people are likely to be able to tell themselves better stories, which would allow them to cheat more on the one hand, but not feel worse about it on the othe...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Deep-Sea Find That Changed Biology Updated: 2011-12-05 09:54:00 Description: The depths of our oceans are dark, punishingly cold, and utterly devoid of life. Or so scientists thought, until a team of researchers in the late 1970s stumbled upon squishy, rubbery worms, up to 7 feet long, living 8,000 feet below the surface of t...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Milwaukee's 'Misery Index': Infant Mortality Updated: 2011-12-04 19:10:00 Description: As the city lost industrial jobs, its infant mortality rate skyrocketed. In one particular ZIP code, one baby dies for every 59 that make it. That's a rate that's worse than in parts of rural China....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Name That Tune: Identifying Whale Songs For Science Updated: 2011-12-04 13:45:00 Description: Researchers need your help to unlock the secrets of whale songs. A new online experiment is recruiting citizen scientists to study killer and pilot whale calls from around the world....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Tough Work Lies Ahead In Climate Talks Updated: 2011-12-04 13:00:00 Description: In Durban, South Africa, thousands of men and women poured into the streets in front of the International Conference Center, where United Nations talks about climate change are taking place. Host Audie Cornish speaks with NPR's Richard Harris, who is...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD After 10 Years, Segway Falls Short Of High Hopes Updated: 2011-12-02 20:00:00 Description: Melissa Block and Guy Raz mark the 10th anniversary of the public unveiling of the balancing scooter called the Segway — a device that was predicted to change our world. It only did 10 percent of the volume expected and became something of a joke....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Hitting The 'Off' Switch On Antibiotic Resistance Updated: 2011-12-02 18:00:00 Description: Doctors are running out of effective antibiotics, as bacteria evolve ways to evade one drug after another. Now DARPA has called for alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Nanotechnologist Chad Mirkin discusses one such weapon--tiny globs of DNA an...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Combating Depression With Meditation, Diet Updated: 2011-12-02 18:00:00 Description: In his book Spontaneous Happiness, Dr. Andrew Weil writes of an 'integrative' approach to mental health, warding off mild and moderate depression with an anti-inflammatory diet, exercise and activities such as yoga and meditation, rather than antidep...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Flight Of The Wild Pigeon Updated: 2011-12-02 18:00:00 Description: Pigeons may not be known for their flying prowess, but they are actually pretty good at maneuvering right angles. Andrew Biewener and colleagues at Harvard's Concord Field Station caught pigeons in a parking garage, made a flying course in the lab an...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Deconstructing A Skyscraper Updated: 2011-12-02 18:00:00 Description: In her new book, The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper, author Kate Ascher sheds light on the infrastructure and services that make life and work possible in a modern skyscraper. She examines everything that goes into designing, building and maintaini...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Beauty and Brains Behind 'Hedy's Folly' Updated: 2011-12-02 18:00:00 Description: In a new book, Pulitzer Prize winning writer Richard Rhodes tells the behind-the-scenes story of movie star--and inventor-- Hedy Lamarr, "the most beautiful woman in the world." Lamarr invented "frequency hopping," a concept that's still used in toda...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD U.S. Weighs Sanctions Targeting Iran's Central Bank Updated: 2011-11-30 22:24:00 Description: Iran may soon face economic measures tougher than anything it has encountered before: The U.S. Congress is considering sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran, with the likely effect of limiting Iran's oil exports. But some analysts say the move c...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Big Solar Project Moves Forward Without Uncle Sam Updated: 2011-11-30 22:17:00 Description: SolarCity says it will install solar systems on the roofs of up to 120,000 military homes, with financing coming from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It's the first time a project of this scale has been launched without the federal government basicall...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Debate Over Who Regulates Gas 'Fracking' In Pa. Updated: 2011-11-30 22:17:00 Description: As the natural gas industry booms in Pennsylvania, drillers are encountering a hodgepodge of local rules on hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." State lawmakers are considering changes that would limit the way a local community regulates what happens...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Search For Analysts To Make Sense Of 'Big Data' Updated: 2011-11-30 05:01:00 Description: Businesses' desire to make sense of vast troves of data means mathematicians are in high demand, creating a recruiting war for talented analysts. DJ Patil, a "big data" expert who now recruits for a venture capital firm, compares raw data to clay: sh...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Complaint Tests Rule Protecting Science From Politics Updated: 2011-11-30 05:01:00 Description: A 2009 White House memorandum protects federal scientists from political interference. But a watchdog group alleges that federal officials allowed politics to affect the design of a scientific study — exactly the sort of abuse the directive was des...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD As Kyoto Protocol Ends, An Uncertain Climate Future Updated: 2011-11-29 19:51:00 Description: The 1997 treaty was supposed to be a first step toward more ambitious actions on climate change. But it's now on the brink of fading into irrelevance as unified, global actions on climate policy have been almost nonexistent....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 'Physics Of The Future': How We'll Live In 2100? Updated: 2011-11-29 16:30:00 Description: Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku describes some of the inventions he thinks will appear in the coming century — including Internet-ready contact lenses, space elevators and driverless cars — in his book Physics of the Future....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 'Physics Of The Future': How We'll Live In 2100? Updated: 2011-11-29 16:30:00 Description: Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku describes some of the inventions he thinks will appear in the coming century — including Internet-ready contact lenses, space elevators and driverless cars — in his book Physics of the Future....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Baker Discusses New Smart Meters Updated: 2011-11-28 20:00:00 Description: Smart electric meters are being installed in homes across the country. The wireless devices replace old meters and transmit electricity usage data wirelessly to utilities. But there are concerns about accuracy and safety. Guy Raz talks to David Baker...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Ahead Of Climate Talks, U.S. Leadership In Question Updated: 2011-11-28 05:01:00 Description: A presidential pledge to reduce emissions two years ago went nowhere in Congress. Today, the U.S. is spewing more carbon dioxide than ever into the atmosphere. Without meaningful U.S. action on emissions, a global pact seems unlikely to emerge from U...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD An Amnesia Patient's Strange Power Of Recall Updated: 2011-11-27 13:00:00 Description: A 71-year-old amnesiac in Germany has become well known in medical circles there. Even though the patient has lost nearly all memory of his past and has difficulty planning anything in the present or for the future, new research shows the former conc...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD New Roving Science Lab Charts A Course For Mars Updated: 2011-11-26 11:00:00 Description: Launched Saturday morning, the six-wheeled Mars Science Laboratory boasts a suite of high-tech instruments to study the planet's geology. It will land on the planet in August 2012, lowered gently to the surface on a cable by a rocket-powered helicopt...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Why Do We Give? Not Why Or How You Think Updated: 2011-11-25 20:00:00 Description: New findings in the science of charity reveals some counter-intuitive results. For instance, people will give more money to a single suffering person than to a population of suffering people, and also give more when some type of physical discomfort �...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Building 'The Big Roads' Updated: 2011-11-25 18:00:00 Description: In his new book The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways writer Earl Swift looks at the history and people behind the world's largest public works project — the U.S. int...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Giant Pumpkin, But Forget About Pie Updated: 2011-11-25 18:00:00 Description: Some pumpkins just aren't meant for the pie pan. Robert Sabin has been growing "Atlantic giant" pumpkins for ten years and says they are more like children than fruit to him. He raises his pumpkins for competition--the heavier, the better....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Tale Of Two Addicts: Freud, Halsted And Cocaine Updated: 2011-11-25 18:00:00 Description: In his book An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine, medical historian Howard Markel tells the story of how Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, and Halsted, the acclaimed surgeon, fell under the addictiv...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Science Diction: The Origin Of 'Stethoscope' Updated: 2011-11-25 18:00:00 Description: The first stethoscope, invented by the French physician René Laennec, was simply a hollow wooden or ebony tube. Laennec named the device using the Greek roots stethos, or chest, and skopein, to look at or to observe. Medical historian Howard Markel ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD IgNobel Prizes Salute The Silly In Science Updated: 2011-11-25 18:00:00 Description: This year's 21st First Annual IgNobel Prize Ceremony featured the science of sighs, inquiries into the yawning habits of the red-footed tortoise, and songs about the chemistry of coffee. Ira Flatow and Ig master of ceremonies Marc Abrahams present ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Beer Or Sugar Water? For Flies, The Choice Is Pale Ale Updated: 2011-11-25 05:01:00 Description: If a fly walked into a bar, he'd chose beer, and scientists think they've figured out why. The secret? A molecule that tastes sweet but isn't sugar. The research could help create more powerful insect repellents....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Push To Make Gasoline Engines More Efficient Updated: 2011-11-23 05:01:00 Description: Technology exists for gas cars to get 55 miles per gallon — the fuel economy goal set by the Obama administration for the year 2025. But all the extra comforts consumers are used to — including automatic transmissions and power windows — can dr...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Automakers Set To Steer Customers To Hybrids Updated: 2011-11-22 05:01:00 Description: Some auto executives say customers may not be ready for hybrids yet, but now it's time for the car companies to lead them there. For companies to meet new rules that will nearly double average fuel economy by 2025, hybrids will have to play a much b...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Test Driving The Nissan Leaf Updated: 2011-11-21 20:00:00 Description: Robert Siegel test drives the Leaf, Nissan's electric plug-in vehicle, with Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of Nissan and Renault....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Seaway Pipeline Tweak Could Change Oil Market Updated: 2011-11-21 09:00:00 Description: Oil prices briefly rose above $100 a barrel last week on news of a pipeline deal that would cut a glut of U.S. inventories. There are plans to reverse the flow of the Seaway pipeline. Prices have dipped since then, but not enough to soften historic h...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD In India, Spreading A Green Gospel Among Pilgrims Updated: 2011-11-21 05:01:00 Description: Every year, millions of Sikhs flock to the holy city of Amritsar in northern India, adding heavily to the city's carbon footprint. Now, officials and activists are encouraging environmentally friendly practices such as using solar energy and reducing...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Boston's Leaky Gas Lines May Be Tough On The Trees Updated: 2011-11-21 05:01:00 Description: Using a mobile gas sensor, researchers have found more than 4,000 significant natural gas leaks while driving through Boston-area roads. The city's gas infrastructure is currently being fixed up, but methane in the leaked natural gas has the potentia...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD In India, Spreading A Green Gospel Among Pilgrims Updated: 2011-11-21 05:01:00 Description: Every year, millions of Sikhs flock to the holy city of Amritsar in northern India, adding heavily to the city's carbon footprint. Now, officials and activists are encouraging environmentally friendly practices such as using solar energy and reducing...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD In Baltimore, Mapping The World Of Addiction Updated: 2011-11-20 19:29:00 Description: Researchers in Baltimore are tracking the way the character of a neighborhood — its violence, its vacant houses, its appearance of obvious drug use — can affect an addict's decision to use drugs....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Arson Forensics Sets Old Fire Myths Ablaze Updated: 2011-11-19 22:15:00 Description: At the ATF fire lab in Maryland, setting houses on fire is all in a day's work. As researchers learn more about how fires start, they're shattering assumptions and shedding new light on old cases....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Perhaps Scientists Like Lab Mice TOO Much Updated: 2011-11-19 18:57:00 Description: The lab mouse is the most ubiquitous animal in biomedical research, but that doesn't mean it's always the best subject for researching disease....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Scientists Claim Neutrinos Are Faster Than Light Updated: 2011-11-18 20:00:00 Description: Scientists at the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics are now touting a successful second experiment that may challenge Albert Einstein's long-held theory of relativity. The results show that neutrinos could travel faster than the speed of light. G...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Balloonatics Prepare For Thanksgiving Day Parade Updated: 2011-11-18 18:00:00 Description: With the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade less than a week away, it's crunch time for the balloon technicians. Science Friday goes behind the scenes at Macy's design studio to find out about the final preparations for the parade....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Building A Better Toilet Updated: 2011-11-18 18:00:00 Description: Toilets, as most of us know them, haven't changed much since the 1800s--they use a lot of water, and require an infrastructure that many communities can't afford. Ira Flatow and guests look at the problem of access to sanitation, and how engineers ar...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Geron To End Embryonic Stem Cell Research Updated: 2011-11-18 18:00:00 Description: Citing "capital scarcity" the Geron Corporation said it will abandon its research into using human embryonic stem cells to treat spinal cord injuries. Stem cell expert Leonard Zon discusses the announcement and what it means for the future of embryon...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Is A Moon Necessary For A Planet To Support Life? Updated: 2011-11-18 18:00:00 Description: For years, a theory has held that Earth's large moon played a critical role in stabilizing the planet's tilt, damping down differences between the seasons. Now, astronomer Jason Barnes says that life on our planet would endure even without a moon, a ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Solar Sector At War Over Cheap Chinese Panels Updated: 2011-11-18 18:00:00 Description: Seven solar companies have filed a trade complaint with the federal government, accusing China of dumping artificially cheap solar panels on the US market. But solar installers welcome the low prices. Ira Flatow and guests discuss what's best for the...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Strangers Can Spot Genetic Disposition For Empathy Updated: 2011-11-18 18:00:00 Description: Reporting in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers write that complete strangers are capable of spotting individuals with a genetic predisposition to empathy and sociable behavior. Author Sarina Saturn discusses the study, and ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Scientists Worry About Impact Of Bird Flu Experimen Updated: 2011-11-17 08:34:00 Description: Scientists are worried about the deadly bird flu called H5N1 which sometimes infects people. It's never acquired the ability to transmit easily between humans, but researchers would like to know if that could happen. Recently, they've essentially bee...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Why Brain Injuries Are More Common In Preemies Updated: 2011-11-17 05:01:00 Description: Each year more than 60,000 babies are born weighing less than 3.3 pounds. As scientists learn more about how brain injuries occur among these very premature infants, it could point the way to possible prevention and repair strategies....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Solyndra Highlights Long History Of Energy Subsidies Updated: 2011-11-16 05:01:00 Description: Energy Secretary Steven Chu will face scrutiny on Capitol Hill Thursday over loans to the failed solar firm. But the government has a long history of subsidizing many kinds of energy, from coal to oil to wind. Still, different sectors disagree on whe...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Fluoride In Drinking Water? No Thanks, Says Florida County Updated: 2011-11-15 21:38:00 Description: Public health officials say the evidence is solid that fluoridated drinking water helps protect teeth. But that hasn't stopped opponents from lobbying local governments against the practice....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Exploring Supernovae Leads To Physics Nobel Prize Updated: 2011-11-14 14:56:00 Description: Astrophysicist Saul Perlmutter is part of the team that was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery that the expansion of the universe is not slowing down but is accelerating. The results of that research suggest the universe is fil...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Veterans To Create World's Largest Medical Database Updated: 2011-11-14 05:01:00 Description: The Department of Veterans Affairs is way ahead of the curve when it comes to electronic medical records, which it's been collecting for 25 years. The Million Veteran Project launched this year is an effort to pair the records with blood samples �...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Polka-Dotted Horses? Cave Art May Not Be Fantasy Updated: 2011-11-12 13:00:00 Description: There is art beyond price in the caves of southwestern France. The paintings date back to the Paleolithic period and depict spotted horses, which, according to new research, may actually be how horses looked at the time. Guest host Linda Wertheimer s...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Air Pollution: Bad For Health, But Good For Planet? Updated: 2011-11-11 23:17:00 Description: In addition to carbon dioxide, power plants also spew chemicals like nitrogen and sulfur into the air. This complicated soup actually offsets some global warming by reflecting sunlight into space and pulling carbon dioxide from the air. But the long-...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Cure Winter Blues With Light Therapy Updated: 2011-11-11 18:00:00 Description: Or The Beach — Seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder, affects some five percent of Americans in the winter as daily sunlight hours dwindle. Psychiatrist Richard A. Friedman discusses the evolutionary origins of the winter blues, and t...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 'Steve Jobs': Profiling An Ingenious Perfectionist Updated: 2011-11-11 18:00:00 Description: For years, Steve Jobs courted biographer Walter Isaacson to write the definitive story of his life. When Isaacson learned how sick Jobs really was, he accepted. Here he discusses profiling the tech visionary, a task that often involved reconciling Jo...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Hunt For A Vanishing Woodpecker Updated: 2011-11-11 18:00:00 Description: In 1956, dentist and amateur ornithologist William Rhein captured the rare Imperial woodpecker on 16 mm color film. Although this 85 second clip is the only known photographic record of the bird, Rhein kept the film to himself until after he died. Wr...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Rethinking How Kids Learn Science Updated: 2011-11-11 18:00:00 Description: How important are museums, TV shows and after school clubs to teaching kids science? Ira Flatow and guests look at "informal science education" and what researchers are learning about learning science. Plus, what's the best way to keep undergraduate ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Meet The MythBusters Updated: 2011-11-11 18:00:00 Description: Discovery Channel's MythBusters have taken on more than 700 myths, from how hard it is to find a needle in a haystack (it's hard) to whether toothbrushes have fecal matter on them (they do). Series hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage talk about the s...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Receding Sea Ice Helps Storm Hammer Alaska's Coast Updated: 2011-11-10 20:43:00 Description: The villages on Norton Sound are right at the water's edge, and with the ice developing progressively later each season, Carven Scott says meteorologists worry storms like this one will become a more regular occurrence....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Credit Controversy: Who Made Key Cosmos Discovery? Updated: 2011-11-10 05:01:00 Description: A letter found deep in archives in London has helped settle the debate over who deserves credit for what many say is the most important astronomical discovery of the 20th century: the realization that the universe is expanding....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 'Power For The Planet': Company Bets Big On Fusion Updated: 2011-11-09 20:10:00 Description: Inventor Michael Laberge is building a machine that aims to generate electricity through nuclear fusion — the same process that powers the sun. His goal is "insanely ambitious": He thinks he can do it using a much cheaper approach than that used by...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Why Nails On A Chalkboard Drives Us Crazy Updated: 2011-11-09 20:00:00 Description: Robert Siegel talks to Michael Oehler, a music management professor at University of Cologne in Germany, about his study on why people get so irritated by the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard. Oehler led a team of researchers from the University ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Biofuels Start To Take Off In The Airline Industry Updated: 2011-11-09 05:01:00 Description: This week, a Continental flight from Houston to Chicago used a biofuel blend made in part from algae, and Alaska Airlines will fly passengers using a fuel made in part from cooking oil. The fledgling environmental effort has many hurdles, as biofue...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD IAEA Suggests Iran May Be Developing Nuclear Arms Updated: 2011-11-08 20:00:00 Description: The International Atomic Energy Agency has issued a new report on Iran's suspect nuclear program. It says Iran has conducted experiments that could only be useful in the development of a nuclear weapon. Guy Raz talks to NPR's Mike Shuster for more....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How Dogs Evolved Into 'Our Best Friends' Updated: 2011-11-08 17:01:00 Description: Naturalist Mark Derr says our friendship with dogs and wolves goes back thousands of years more than previously believed. His new book explores how the relationship between humans and wolves developed....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How Dogs Evolved Into 'Our Best Friends' Updated: 2011-11-08 17:01:00 Description: Naturalist Mark Derr says our friendship with dogs and wolves goes back thousands of years more than previously believed. His new book explores how the relationship between humans and wolves developed....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Plutonium Problem: Who Pays For Space Fuel? Updated: 2011-11-08 08:01:00 Description: NASA has relied on a special kind of fuel, called plutonium-238, to power robotic space missions for five decades. that it sometimes seems easier to chart a course across the solar system than to navigate the budget process inside Washington, D.C....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD For Copernicus, A 'Perfect Heaven' Put Sun At Center Updated: 2011-11-08 05:01:00 Description: In 1543, when Nicolaus Copernicus made the astounding claim that Earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around, his ideas were met with scorn. "It went against everything that your senses tell you. It went against common sense," says author...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Norman Ramsey Dies Updated: 2011-11-07 20:00:00 Description: If you want to know what time it is, a smart way to find out is call the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. We owe this accurate timekeeping to a man named Norman Ramsey. Ramsey died Friday at 96. It was his scientific research in the years ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How The World's Tallest Skyscrapers Work Updated: 2011-11-07 16:56:00 Description: How do skyscrapers withstand 100-mph winds? How does air circulate inside tall buildings? And what happens when you flush a toilet on the 100th floor? Those questions and more are answered by Kate Ascher in her new book exploring the inner workings o...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How The World's Tallest Skyscrapers Work Updated: 2011-11-07 16:56:00 Description: How do skyscrapers withstand 100-mph winds? How does air circulate inside tall buildings? And what happens when you flush a toilet on the 100th floor? Those questions and more are answered by Kate Ascher in her new book exploring the inner workings o...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Nebraska May Play Key Role In Canada Pipeline Battle Updated: 2011-11-07 05:01:00 Description: TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline would cut through the Ogallala aquifer, a major water source that supplies about 80 percent of Nebraska's water for drinking and irrigation. Legislators have introduced bills preventing pipelines in env...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Fake Mission Accomplished For Mars500 Updated: 2011-11-05 12:00:00 Description: This week marked the end of the Mars500 experiment, a 520-day simulation of a trip to the red planet that sealed six men inside windowless modules in a Russian laboratory. The crew dealt with fake emergencies and communications blackouts, and finally...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Peering Into The Brain, But At What? Updated: 2011-11-04 17:00:00 Description: Modern brain-imaging techniques have given researchers an unprecedented level of detail about the structure of the brain, but are they any closer to puzzling out how the brain really works? Harvard neuroscientist Jeff Lichtman talks about the limitat...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Researcher Asks: Are Dolphins Self-Aware? Updated: 2011-11-04 17:00:00 Description: Like chimpanzees, dolphins are large-brained and highly social animals, but can they recognize themselves in a mirror? Psychologist and dolphin researcher Diana Reiss discusses her work with dolphin communication and cognition....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Pondering the Possibility of Non-constant 'Constants' Updated: 2011-11-04 17:00:00 Description: What if the laws of physics aren't the same all over the universe, but vary from place to place? Michael Murphy of the Swinburne University of Technology discusses research published in the journal Physical Review Letters indicating that the value o...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How An Elegant Moth Stays Aloft Updated: 2011-11-04 17:00:00 Description: To feed, the hawk moth unrolls a long proboscis, sticks it in a flower like a straw, and slurps up nectar. It looks like a hummingbird feeding. Like the hummingbird, the moth has to be stable in the air to get a drink. Biologist Ty Hedrick filmed the...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Mosquitoes Engineered To Kill Their Own Kind Updated: 2011-11-04 17:00:00 Description: Reporting in Nature Biotechnology, researchers write of genetically engineering mosquitoes to pass lethal genes to their offspring, in hopes of crashing populations of one dengue-transmitting species. Science writer Bijal Trivedi talks about recent t...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD In Scott's Race To The Pole, Science Beat Speed Updated: 2011-11-04 17:00:00 Description: A hundred years ago, two teams were racing to the South Pole. The Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen made it first, beating British explorer Robert Scott. But only Scott did pioneering science--and photography--along the way. Ira Flatow and guests ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Climate Change Has Calif. Vintners Rethinking Grapes Updated: 2011-11-02 20:30:00 Description: Familiar French varieties aren't well-suited to high temperatures, so some researchers suggest cross-breeding to make the grapes more heat tolerant or drought-resistant. But once you breed pinot noir with something else, you can't call it pinot noir ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How Fear Drove World Rice Markets Insane Updated: 2011-11-02 15:30:00 Description: No one can guarantee that the rice crisis of 2008 won't happen again. A lot of damage remains from the disaster that sent rice prices soaring even while there was plenty of rice. And there's still some of the fear that produced the crisis in the firs...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Exploring 'The Hidden Reality' Of Parallel Worlds Updated: 2011-11-02 14:54:00 Description: It is possible that there are many other universes that exist parallel to our universe. Theoretical physicist Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe, explains how that's possible in the new book, The Hidden Reality....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Stuxnet Raises 'Blowback' Risk In Cyberwar Updated: 2011-11-02 08:59:00 Description: The Stuxnet computer worm successfully damaged centrifuges at a nuclear facility in Iran. Now, officials responsible for defending U.S. infrastructure fear that Stuxnet may have provided a blueprint for adversaries who may want to sabotage industrial...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Miss. Set To Vote On Measure Making Fetus A Person Updated: 2011-11-02 08:50:00 Description: A personhood amendment on the state ballot would declare that life begins at conception. There is support for the measure in the conservative state but opposition from groups that say its broad language could limit contraception and threaten fertilit...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD As Population, Consumption Rise, Builder Goes Small Updated: 2011-11-01 08:46:00 Description: As the world's population tops 7 billion people, population experts are worried about inevitable increases in cars, computers, bigger homes and a drain on resources. In an effort to combat this, one California company is producing small, energy-effic...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Entrepreneurship Lessons For The Academic-Minded Updated: 2011-10-31 19:00:00 Description: A new program is teaching university researchers how to make their promising new technologies a reality. They're mentored by entrepreneurs who help them rethink their strategy, and are told to treat everything they think they know about business as n...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Automakers Want To Cut The Cord On Electric Cars Updated: 2011-10-31 19:00:00 Description: Plugging in an electric car — or parking it on a charging mat — may soon be a thing of the past. Robert Siegel talks to Rachel Kaufman of Scientific American about the new developments to boost car batteries on the go....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Paranormal Technology: Gadgets For Ghost-Tracking Updated: 2011-10-31 18:00:00 Description: Electromagnetic field detectors measure signals from faulty wiring and radio waves — but some paranormal investigators say they can also sense spirits. Temperature guns to track cold air in haunted sites are another key component in a ghost-hunter'...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Invasion Of The Mind-Controlling Zombie Parasites Updated: 2011-10-30 18:15:00 Description: A few months back, something terrible happened to millions of flies around Washington, D.C. They were attacked by a fungus that basically made them zombies, unable to control their behavior. and flies are far from the only vulnerable creatures out t...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Spy Satellite Engineer's Top Secret Is Revealed Updated: 2011-10-29 20:13:00 Description: Phil Pressel designed film cameras for a U.S. spy satellite program that was declassified last month after 46 years. His cameras captured Soviet missile sites and enabled President Nixon to sign an arms reduction treaty with the Soviet Union....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Eating Your Way To A Healthy Heart (If You're A Python) Updated: 2011-10-29 10:00:00 Description: Pythons can eat up to quarter of their body weight, or 40 pounds, in one meal. It turns out those huge meals are good for their hearts and may offer insight into how to treat heart disease in humans....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD After Scandal, Solar Industry Looks On Bright Side Updated: 2011-10-29 08:09:00 Description: At an international solar convention, companies were optimistic about their future and new products. There are certainly causes for concern in the industry — like a looming controversy over China's subsidization practices — but industry executive...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Romney Seemingly Shifts On Climate Change Updated: 2011-10-28 19:00:00 Description: Thursday in Pittsburgh, Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appeared to shift his position on climate change. Speaking at the Consol Energy Center, he said, "My view is that we don't know what's causing climate...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Scientific Case Still Open On 2001 Anthrax Attacks Updated: 2011-10-28 17:00:00 Description: Army microbiologist Bruce Ivins, the FBI's prime suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks, died before his trial in an apparent suicide, and the case is now closed. John Dankosky and guests discuss new investigations that question whether scientific evide...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Does Probiotic Yogurt Really Affect Digestion? Updated: 2011-10-28 17:00:00 Description: Reporting in Science Translational Medicine, researchers write that the bacteria in yogurt affect people's digestion--but not by repopulating gut flora. Microbiologist Jeffrey Gordon talks about these findings and the future of using bacteria as ther...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Analysis Questions Flu Shot Effectiveness Updated: 2011-10-28 17:00:00 Description: A new report in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases says evidence that the flu shot offers protection in adults aged 65 years or older is lacking. Host John Dankosky and guests discuss the report, the upcoming flu season, and whether seniors shou...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Brian Greene Explains 'The Fabric Of The Cosmos' Updated: 2011-10-28 17:00:00 Description: In a new four-part television special based on his best-selling book, physicist Brian Greene takes on the nature of time and space, multiverses, and other hard-to-wrap-your-mind-around concepts in cosmology. Greene talks with guest host John Dankosky...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Global Coal Trade's Complex Calculation Updated: 2011-10-27 08:15:00 Description: Increasing U.S. coal exports to China doesn't necessarily mean global emissions will rise. As demand abroad drives up coal prices at home, it could prompt U.S. utilities to switch to cheaper and more environmentally friendly natural gas. And that mig...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Scientists Say Texas Agency Edits Out Climate Change Updated: 2011-10-27 08:00:00 Description: Scientists and conservationists accuse the state environmental agency of editing references to climate change and sea level rise out of a public report — because the agency, like Gov. Rick Perry, is skeptical of global warming. ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Used Lab Equipment Finds A Second Home Overseas Updated: 2011-10-26 20:27:00 Description: A nonprofit called Seeding Labs ships surplus scientific lab equipment to universities and research facilities in developing countries. "There are talented people everywhere in the world, but they don't have equal access to the resources to do great ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Boeing's 787 Makes Its Inaugural Flight Updated: 2011-10-26 19:00:00 Description: Earlier Wednesday, Boeing's 787 made its inaugural flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong. The plane boasts greater fuel efficiency and a smoother ride, but also has a number of creature comforts — like larger windows, better lighting and more overhead spa...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD In Northwest Town, A Local Fight Against Global Coal Updated: 2011-10-26 07:52:00 Description: Plans are afoot to build new coal terminals on the West Coast to ship the lucrative commodity to China. But the mayor and activists in Bellingham, Wash., want to keep the city's green image and move beyond its industrial past....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Cold War Bomb To Be Dismantled Updated: 2011-10-25 19:00:00 Description: The last B53 bomb is supposed to be dismantled Tuesday. Michele Norris speaks with Hans Kristensen from the Federation of American Scientists about the historical climate surrounding the B53 bomb....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Northern Lights Glow In Southern States Updated: 2011-10-25 19:00:00 Description: Melissa Block talks to Robert Moore of the University of West Georgia's physics department about a surprising display of the northern lights Monday night that went as far south as Mississippi, Arkansas and Georgia itself....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Expedition Looks For Crude In Sunken Oil Tanker Updated: 2011-10-24 19:00:00 Description: The oil tanker S.S. Montebello was sunk by a Japanese submarine during World War II off the coast of California. A recent expedition to the wreck found that oil believed to still be in the ship is not there. It's full of seawater. It's the Al Capone'...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 142 Square Miles Swept For Every Living Thing Updated: 2011-10-23 12:00:00 Description: In a single 24-hour period, the National Park Service and National Geographic led a "treasure hunt" to catalog all the species in Arizona's Saguaro National Park. NPR's Ted Robbins takes us to the "BioBlitz."...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 1,000-Year-Old Viking Found Buried In His Boat Updated: 2011-10-22 12:00:00 Description: Archaeologists announced this week that they have found a 1,000-year-old Viking burial site in the Scottish Highlands of Ardnamurchan. Host Scott Simon takes note of the find, which has been called "one of the most important Norse graves ever excavat...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Scientists Find Youngest Planet Ever Observed Updated: 2011-10-21 19:00:00 Description: Astronomers have come across the youngest planet ever observed, at just 2 million years old. It's called LkCa 15 b, and it's still in the early stages of forming. Melissa Block talks to Adam Kraus of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Did Giant Stars Feed Blue Stragglers? Updated: 2011-10-21 17:00:00 Description: In a letter to the journal Nature published this week, astronomers Aaron Geller and Robert Mathieu offer an explanation for the origin of blue straggler stars in a star cluster called NGC 188. Geller suggests the stars fed on neighbor stars, leaving ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Exploring Multiple Personalities In 'Sybil Exposed' Updated: 2011-10-21 17:00:00 Description: In a new book writer Debbie Nathan digs into archived material documenting the experiences of a patient known as "Sybil," who reportedly suffered from multiple personality disorder. Ira Flatow and guests discuss MPD, and its modern equivalent--dissoc...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Predicting When Space Junk Will Come Home To Earth Updated: 2011-10-21 17:00:00 Description: This weekend, a defunct German satellite is scheduled to crash to Earth, just a month after a NASA satellite did the same. NASA orbital debris scientist Mark Matney and Phil Plait, author of the Bad Astronomy blog, discuss whether engineers on Earth ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Reinventing Fire: Getting Beyond Fossil Fuels Updated: 2011-10-21 17:00:00 Description: In his bookReinventing Fire, Amory Lovins lays out his blueprint for freeing society of its addiction to fossil fuels, by saving energy with more efficient vehicles, buildings and manufacturing plants, and producing it with renewable options like win...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Science Diction: The Origin Of 'Bunsen Burner' Updated: 2011-10-21 17:00:00 Description: Every high school chemist has no doubt fiddled with a Bunsen burner--but where did the apparatus get its name? Science historian Howard Markel talks about the German chemist Robert Bunsen, and why his experiments necessitated the invention of the gas...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 'Living Fossils' Just A Branch On Cycad Family Tree Updated: 2011-10-21 04:01:00 Description: Though dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, there are still thought to be a few species left over from those days. Plants called cycads, the so-called "living fossils," have remained mostly unchanged for 300 million years. But a new study suggest...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD What Slew An Ancient Mastodon? DNA Tells Tale Updated: 2011-10-20 19:51:00 Description: CT scans and new DNA technology indicate that a bone sharpened into a spear was used to kill a mastodon in the northwestern U.S. 13,800 years ago. The research revisits an old debate about the evidence for an early hunt in North America....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Some Question Ohio Animal Abuse Laws Updated: 2011-10-20 19:00:00 Description: Ohio authorities spent much of Wednesday tracking down a pack of wild animals, including lions, tigers, bears and wolves. They'd been let go by their owner, who then committed suicide. Many questions are surfacing about why Ohio has such lax laws tha...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Medal Recipient Champions Diversity In Mathematics Updated: 2011-10-19 21:49:00 Description: Rice University mathematician and researcher Richard Tapia is among seven recipients of the nation's highest honor in science, the National Medal of Science. Tapia, the son of Mexican immigrants, has been a longtime champion of diversity in education...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD IQ Isn't Set In Stone, Suggests Study That Finds Big Jumps, Dips In Teens Updated: 2011-10-19 18:29:00 Description: A new study documents significant fluctuations in the IQs of a group of British teenagers. The findings bolster the theory that the IQ test isn't a measure of a person's "fixed" intellectual capacity but rather, a gauge of acquired knowledge that ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD FDA Probe Points To Cantaloupe Packing Plant As Source Of Listeria Updated: 2011-10-19 18:11:00 Description: The outbreak of listeria in fresh cantaloupe has been blamed for at least 25 deaths and 123 illnesses in 26 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Casualties have slowed since September, but the outbreak is far from over, o...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Six Miles Offshore: The Wreck Of Montebello Updated: 2011-10-19 01:01:00 Description: More than 3 million gallons of crude oil from a sunken tanker may be threatening California's Central Coast. The SS Montebello sank in 1941 after it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. A group is now trying to determine just how much of an envir...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Voters Pass Initiative Aimed At Stopping Alaska Mine Updated: 2011-10-18 19:00:00 Description: Voters in southwest Alaska have narrowly passed an initiative aimed at stopping an open pit copper and gold mine. The proposed Pebble Mine is near one of the largest sockeye salmon spawning areas. But whether digging continues will likely be decided ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Kinder Morgan Announces Plans To Buy El Paso Updated: 2011-10-17 19:00:00 Description: A huge deal in the energy business is just the latest signal that natural gas is a hot commodity. One of the largest natural gas pipeline operators, Kinder Morgan, is buying its rival El Paso for $21 billion....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD What Is The Future Of Natural Gas Use In The U.S.? Updated: 2011-10-17 19:00:00 Description: The Kinder Morgan deal will likely make the company the largest natural gas pipeline operator in North America. This comes at a time when more people in the U.S. are becoming reliant on the fuel. For more, Robert Siegel speaks with Daniel Yergin, cha...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Chance To Spot Rare Supernova Fading Fast Updated: 2011-10-16 11:31:00 Description: One of the brightest supernovas in the last century is now visible. Discovered shortly after its light reached Earth in August, the supernova will last for more than a decade, but it won't stay in view for amateur astronomers for much longer....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Bones Of Aussie Outlaw Legend Rise Again Updated: 2011-10-15 18:28:00 Description: Ned Kelly was tall, manly, often on horseback, chivalrous to ladies, a sucker for babies, a revolutionary, a bank robber and even an Irish nationalist. And now, 130 years later, Australia's legendary outlaw hero has been found....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Perry Unveils Energy Policy Updated: 2011-10-14 19:00:00 Description: GOP presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry unveiled his energy policy Friday morning in a speech in West Mifflin, Pa....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD When Politics Meets Science Updated: 2011-10-14 17:00:00 Description: In his new book, Fool Me Twice, writer Shawn Otto tells why he thinks science is under assault in America. Otto, CEO and co-founder of Science Debate 2008, also explains why his "American Science Pledge" for candidates might bring more science into p...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD More Reasons To Eat Your Fruits And Veggies Updated: 2011-10-14 17:00:00 Description: In a new study, researchers from McMaster University found that in people with a certain gene that elevates heart attack risk, a diet high in fruits and vegetables can help lower the risk. Dr. Sonia Anand explains the study, and what still needs to b...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Using DNA To Shape Nanostructures Updated: 2011-10-14 17:00:00 Description: Chemists and materials scientists are trying to learn to build ultra-small, precisely ordered structures for use in optics, electronics, and other applications. Writing in the journal Science, Chad Mirkin and colleagues describe a way to use snippet...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Searching For Meaning In A Cheap Toaster Updated: 2011-10-14 17:00:00 Description: Carl Sagan once said that if you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. In his book The Toaster Project, author and artist Thomas Thwaites describes his effort to build a cheap plastic toaster from scratch, and wh...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Contest Seeks To Launch Student Space Projects Updated: 2011-10-14 17:00:00 Description: The YouTube Space Lab competition is asking high school students to submit video proposals for space-based science experiments. Zahaan Bharmal, a Google executive who envisioned the competition, says that the winning entry will be performed on the In...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Video Pick: Space Eggs Updated: 2011-10-14 17:00:00 Description: If you try to spin a raw egg on a table, you will notice that it doesn't twirl very well--at least compared to a hard boiled egg. Astronaut Don Pettit wondered what would happen if you repeated the experiment in space. Any guesses?...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Seeing A Cephalopod In Ancient Bones Updated: 2011-10-14 17:00:00 Description: The origins of a stash of 220-million-year-old, 40-plus-foot-long ichthyosaur bones at a Nevada site have long puzzled paleontologists. Paleontologist Mark McMenamin explains his controversial theory that the bones were put there by a giant, ancient ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD In African Cave, An Early Human Paint Shop Updated: 2011-10-14 04:01:00 Description: Scientists have unearthed a tool kit for making paint in a South African cave. At 100,000 years old, it looks to be the oldest evidence of paint-making to date, and indicates higher-order thinking. "I think we're going to find that these early people...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Naked Mole Rat's Genetic Code Laid Bare Updated: 2011-10-13 14:03:00 Description: The piggy-nosed, coldblooded animals are neither rats nor moles. But scientists hope the naked mole rat's newly sequenced genome may offer insights not only into aging but also cancer and other diseases....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Facing Planetary Enemy No. 1: Agriculture Updated: 2011-10-12 20:56:00 Description: A new study looks at whether we can feed the world without destroying the Earth. The answer is yes, but how to make it happen is complicated, and will require big changes in the way we practice agriculture....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Decoded DNA Reveals Details Of Black Death Germ Updated: 2011-10-12 18:43:00 Description: While the results are a technical tour de force, the researchers did not find any genetic feature that could explain why the Black Death was so virulent. In fact, the germ behind the medieval plague isn't much different from the one that causes bubon...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How Crossword Puzzles Unlocked An Artist's Memory Updated: 2011-10-12 15:31:00 Description: In 2007, artist Lonni Sue Johnson contracted viral encephalitis, leading to severe brain damage and amnesia. But language and crossword puzzles have unlocked Johnson's ability to remember how to play the viola and create simpler, childlike art — an...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Pain At The Plate: Heat Increases Pitcher Retaliation Updated: 2011-10-12 04:01:00 Description: It's been known for years that when temperatures are hotter, pitchers are more likely to hit batters with pitches. A new study finds that heat also increases a pitcher's likelihood of retaliating by hitting an opposing batter when players from his te...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Inside Namibia's Rural Communal Conservancies Updated: 2011-10-11 10:50:00 Description: The southwest African country of Namibia is trying a controversial approach to preserving its wildlife. Rural people control the animals and profit from them. But they have also found they must shoot some of the animals to cull the herds....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Climate Activist Visits Wilderness Before Prison Term Updated: 2011-10-10 19:00:00 Description: Tim DeChristopher was to go to prison, convicted of disrupting a government sale of oil and gas leases. He called his actions an act off civil disobedience against climate change. Prosecutors called them felonies. Ahead of his confinement, DeChristop...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Brain Maturity Extends Well Beyond Teen Years Updated: 2011-10-10 16:00:00 Description: Under most laws, young people are recognized as adults at age 18. But emerging science about brain development suggests that most people don't reach full maturity until the age 25. Guest host Tony Cox discusses the research and its implications with ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD To Save Wildlife, Namibia's Farmers Take Control Updated: 2011-10-10 04:01:00 Description: Imagine the U.S. government saying to the people living around Yellowstone, "You know what? All those wild animals in the park — the grizzlies, the bison, the wolves — they belong to you." This is exactly what the government of Namibia has done i...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Caterpillar Fungus: The Viagra Of The Himalayas Updated: 2011-10-09 18:42:00 Description: It's known as the Viagra of the Himalayas, and it can cost as much as $50,000 a pound. The world's most expensive fungus is known in Tibetan as yartsa gunbu and has become a status symbol in China....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Bird Flies Into A Hurricane. Does It Fly Out? Updated: 2011-10-08 12:00:00 Description: Many migratory birds travel thousands of miles every year, over land and sea and, sometimes, through hurricanes. Host Scott Simon talks to Dr. Bryan Watts from the College of William and Mary, who used satellite transmitters to track shorebirds as th...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Mars Rover Peers Into The Endeavour Crater Updated: 2011-10-07 17:00:00 Description: Opportunity, one of two rovers launched in 2003, has traversed thirteen miles in the three years it's been on Mars. It's now at the lip of a 14-mile-wide crater named Endeavour. Project leader Steve Squyres discusses the rover's findings and what NAS...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Physics Nobelists Observed An Accelerating Universe Updated: 2011-10-07 17:00:00 Description: In 1998, two teams of physicists looking at distant supernovae noticed something surprising--the supernovae were not only moving outwards but also accelerating. These observations have won three Americans the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics. Nobelist Ada...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Remembering Steve Jobs Updated: 2011-10-07 17:00:00 Description: Steve Jobs, co-founder and longtime CEO of Apple Inc., passed away this week at the age of 56. Technology writer Steven Levy, author of the book Insanely Great remembers the life and contributions of the technology titan, from pioneering personal com...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Video Pick: Mapping Flames Updated: 2011-10-07 17:00:00 Description: Tadd Truscott and Dale Tree, engineers at Brigham Young University, are videoing fire with high speed cameras to try to make a 3D reconstruction of a flame. Poetic and practical, they say: quantifying flames could help us burn fuel more cleanly and e...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Is Human Violence On The Wane? Updated: 2011-10-07 17:00:00 Description: Considering the Norway shootings, drug wars in Mexico and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, this era may seem as violent as any. But as Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker argues in his book The Better Angels of Our Nature, this may actually be th...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Virtual Arm That Talks With The Brain Updated: 2011-10-07 17:00:00 Description: Scientists have created a virtual arm that monkeys can move with their thoughts--and the arm can send information back to the brain about the textures of what it touches. Neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis talks about how this may lead to a full-body su...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Assessing The National Cathedral's Quake Damage Updated: 2011-10-06 19:00:00 Description: Guy Raz talks to Joseph Alonso, head stonemason at the Washington National Cathedral, about the damage the building suffered from the Aug. 23 earthquake....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Nobel-Winning Chemist Fought Hard For Acceptance Updated: 2011-10-05 19:13:00 Description: Daniel Shechtman's 1982 discovery of quasicrystals fundamentally changed how scientists thought about solid matter. His finding cost him his job at one lab and the eternal ire of chemistry great Linus Pauling. But it also won him the 2011 Nobel Prize...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Researchers Advance Cloning Of Human Embryos Updated: 2011-10-05 19:06:00 Description: The embryos would not be used for reproduction, but rather for the creation of embryonic stem cells. Many scientists believe that human embryonic stem cells made this way could revolutionize medicine....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Cloning Research Gives Way To Bioethics Questions Updated: 2011-10-05 19:00:00 Description: Researchers in New York are reporting that, for the first time, they've used cloning techniques to successfully create human embryos in the lab. Guy Raz talks about the ethical implications of this research with Insoo Hyun, associate professor of bio...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Israeli Wins Nobel Chemistry Prize For Quasicrystals Updated: 2011-10-05 08:00:00 Description: Israeli chemist Daniel Schectman's discovery of how atoms fit together inside of crystals changed the way chemists look at solid matter....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Three Scientists Win Nobel Prize In Physics Updated: 2011-10-04 19:00:00 Description: T.S. Eliot wrote in a poem that the world will end not with a bang but a whimper. He was spot on. The Nobel Prize for physics will go to three scientists who discovered that, after the Big Bang, the universe has been expanding at an accelerating rate...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Massive Observatory Provides A Look Back Updated: 2011-10-04 19:00:00 Description: Guy Raz interviews Alison Peck, deputy project scientist for ALMA — the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array project in Chile. ALMA is expected to be the world's biggest and most powerful observatory in the world....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Fossils Help Rev Hard-Hit Newfoundland Fishing Area Updated: 2011-10-04 15:50:00 Description: On the craggy bluffs of Mistaken Point in Newfoundland, the wind and waves are licking away the rocks to reveal the oldest animal fossils on Earth. Locals are promoting the fossils, and the creatures are drawing a crowd. And now they are an economic ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 3 Astronomers Win Nobel Physics Prize Updated: 2011-10-04 08:00:00 Description: Three U.S.-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for their studies of exploding stars that revealed that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. The three will share $1.5 million....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Eating Meals With Men May Mean Eating Less Updated: 2011-10-04 04:01:00 Description: Both women and men eat less when their dining companions are men, according to new research in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD After Solyndra, Other Energy Loans Draw Scrutiny Updated: 2011-10-03 19:00:00 Description: The now-bankrupt solar company Solyndra was just one of the clean energy businesses that got loan guarantees from a federal program that ended Friday. In all, the Department of Energy program financed 28 projects with $16 billion. A Republican lead...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Steinman Dies Days Before Receiving Nobel Prize Updated: 2011-10-03 19:00:00 Description: Ralph Steinman won the Nobel Prize for medicine days after he died of cancer. However, the Nobel committee, which typically only awards the prize to living scientists, didn't know Steinman had passed away....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Son Of Nobel Winner Remembers His Father Updated: 2011-10-03 19:00:00 Description: Guy Raz speaks with Adam Steinman, the son of the Ralph Steinman, who won the Nobel Prize for medicine days after he died of cancer....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD When Scientists Fail, It's Time To Call In The Gamers Updated: 2011-10-02 17:15:00 Description: For more than a decade, Researchers were stumped by the structure of a tiny protein that causes AIDS in rhesus monkeys. Eventually they turned to computer gamers, who figured out the protein's structure in just 10 days....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Flying Telescope Makes An Out-Of-This-World Find Updated: 2011-10-01 04:38:00 Description: A NASA telescope mounted inside a 747 is giving astronomers and physicists eagle-eyed glimpses of outer space. On a recent trip, scientists found a special molecule that gives new clues to the temperature of interstellar gas....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Tevatron Machine Will Smash Particles No More Updated: 2011-09-30 19:00:00 Description: On Friday, officials shut down the giant machine designed to smash tiny bits of atoms together to reveal fundamentals of the universe. For a quarter century, the Tevatron, located in a lab near Chicago, was the most powerful and productive machine of...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Physicist Lisa Randall On Cosmology And The LHC Updated: 2011-09-30 17:00:00 Description: Harvard physicist Lisa Randall talks about her new book, Knocking On Heaven's Door, an examination of the latest findings in cosmology and the history of scientific thought, and discusses a report that suggests neutrinos can travel faster than the sp...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Living In A Geodesic Dome Home Updated: 2011-09-30 17:00:00 Description: Kevin Shea is a retired New York City firefighter with an unorthodox home. He lives in a 93,000 cubic-foot-geodesic dome, equipped with solar panels, a wind turbine, and a geothermal system. The home is on the grid, but outside the box....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD China Launches A Space Laboratory Updated: 2011-09-30 17:00:00 Description: China launched an experimental spacecraft from the Gobi desert this week. The unmanned Tiangong-1 (which means "Heavenly Palace-1") is expected to orbit Earth for two years. Journalist Miles O'Brien discusses planned docking missions for the craft an...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Could A Lack Of Empathy Explain Cruelty? Updated: 2011-09-30 17:00:00 Description: Can neuroscience and psychology explain cruelty? In his new book, The Science of Evil, Cambridge University professor Simon Baron-Cohen explains the empathy spectrum we all lie on and that an erosion of empathy can explain why some commit cruel acts....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Science Diction: The Origin Of The Word 'Epilepsy' Updated: 2011-09-30 17:00:00 Description: Humans have long suffered from epilepsy, the neurological disorder hallmarked by sudden seizures. Medical historian Howard Markel discusses the condition's names through the millenia, from the "sacred disease" of ancient texts to its description as "...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Real Virologist Behind "Contagion" Updated: 2011-09-30 17:00:00 Description: In the new movie "Contagion" virologist W. Ian Lipkin served as both a technical advisor for the film, and as the inspiration for one of its main characters (a virus hunter named "Ian"). Lipkin discusses his role in the film and his own work identify...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD David Attenborough Takes Wing With Pterosaurs Updated: 2011-09-30 17:00:00 Description: David Attenborough has produced dozens of shows and books about how plants and animals live. But his latest, Flying Monsters 3D, takes a look at creatures that have been extinct for around 65 million years--pterosaurs, or flying reptiles--and examine...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Asteroids Pose Less Risk To Earth Than Thought Updated: 2011-09-30 08:03:00 Description: NASA's most accurate census yet of near-Earth asteroids suggests that astronomers already know the location of more than 90 percent of the very largest asteroids that could cause mass extinctions. The survey also suggests there are far fewer midsize ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Solar Titan Faces Funding Worries After Solyndra Updated: 2011-09-30 08:02:00 Description: Analysts say manufacturer First Solar needs federal support to keep its competitive edge and to drive down the cost to produce solar panels, a key factor to industry success. But the kind of federal loan guarantees given to failed energy company Soly...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Using Twitter To Tap Into The Mood Of The Planet Updated: 2011-09-29 21:17:00 Description: Analyzing the tweets of millions of users suggested cross-cultural, Earth-wide trends in peoples' moods across days and weeks: We're more positive in the morning and late evening. The results point to new ways that academic research might tap into so...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Chicago-Area Skunk Population Raises A Stink Updated: 2011-09-29 21:05:00 Description: Though the Illinois Department of Natural Resources can only guess at the number of skunks in the state by counting roadkill, officials and residents of Chicago say they see — and smell — a dramatic increase in the number of skunks....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Proposed Alaska Mine Faces Fierce Opposition Updated: 2011-09-29 19:00:00 Description: In Alaska's picturesque Bristol Bay region, developers are looking to build an enormous copper and gold mine. They promise the effort will be carried out in an environmentally responsible way — and provide area jobs. But fisherman, conservationists...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD More Realize They Face Pricey Long-Term Care Updated: 2011-09-29 19:00:00 Description: A new poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health finds that more people than ever are becoming aware of the likelihood that they will need potentially expensive long-term care health services as they age. ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Trouble With Health Problems Near Gas Fracking Updated: 2011-09-29 15:52:00 Description: Many people who live close to gas drilling sites complain of serious illnesses. But there are few concrete data to help explain why they're getting sick. Investigative reporter Abrahm Lustgarten says weak industry regulations also make it hard to est...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Texas Authorities Find Massive Shark Kill Updated: 2011-09-28 19:00:00 Description: This past weekend, wildlife officials in Texas came across a huge illegal fishing operation. They found about 3,000 dead sharks, tangled in miles of nets off the coast. Michele Norris talks with Sgt. James Dunks with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Depa...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Wanna Live Forever? Become A Noun Updated: 2011-09-28 04:01:00 Description: Joseph Guillotin, Henry Shrapnel and Jules Leotard became immortal — by entering the English language. But when your entire life is reduced to a single definition, the results are sometimes upsetting....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Engineers Survey Damage Of Washington Monument Updated: 2011-09-27 19:00:00 Description: The Park Service is undertaking a painstaking inspection of the Washington Monument to assess damage from the Aug. 23 earthquake that hit the area. The temblor opened up cracks in the 555-foot obelisk, and the Park Service says it will remain closed ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How Psychology Solved A WWII Shipwreck Mystery Updated: 2011-09-27 08:37:00 Description: In November 1941, two warships from Australia and Germany clashed off the coast of Western Australia. Both sank. Despite extensive search efforts during and after World War II, the ships weren't found until 2008, after a team of psychologists analyze...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD New York's New Shipping Plan Sparks Feud Updated: 2011-09-26 19:00:00 Description: New York state is poised to implement new rules that could have a major impact on the global shipping industry. Invasive species sometimes move from place to place in "ballast water" — that's the water ships suck in and discharge to level their lo...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Ark. Archivist Finds Missing Moon Rock Updated: 2011-09-26 19:00:00 Description: Last week, an archivist in Arkansas was sifting though boxes of papers from President Bill Clinton's gubernatorial years when he came across a surprise — a piece of the moon. The moon rock had been missing for about 30 years, and it was just one of...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Kids' Sugar Cravings Might Be Biological Updated: 2011-09-26 08:30:00 Description: Research shows children are hardwired from birth to prefer sweets, which may have once been an evolutionary advantage. But it appears they begin to scale back on their sugary preferences once they stop growing....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD New Boom Reshapes Oil World, Rocks North Dakota Updated: 2011-09-25 20:00:00 Description: Breakthrough technology is allowing previously untapped oil to be drilled in the U.S., Canada and South America. And experts say that's moving the global energy supply's center of gravity away from the Middle East and toward the Americas. In a decade...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Launch Logistics: Speedy Rocket, Slow Electronics Updated: 2011-09-25 19:56:00 Description: The Delta II rocket that launched earlier this month carrying satellites to study the moon sent NPR science correspondent Joe Palca on a mission of his own: to find out why the rocket had two extremely precise lift-off windows, each just one second l...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Italian Scientists On Trial Over Deadly Earthquake Updated: 2011-09-24 12:00:00 Description: The trial of seven Italian scientists began this week. They are charged with manslaughter for failing to adequately warn the residents of L'Aquila, Italy, about the risk of an earthquake in 2009. Host Scott Simon speaks with Rick Aster, president of ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Bones From The Badlands Belong To New Dinosaur Updated: 2011-09-24 08:55:00 Description: Paleontologists made quite a find this week in Utah: a new species of raptor dinosaur. The ancient creature, a meat-eater, was small and fast, with talon-like toes....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Solyndra's Execs Take The Fifth Updated: 2011-09-23 19:00:00 Description: Top executives of Solyndra, a bankrupt solar-energy company, have declined to testify in a congressional hearing Friday, invoking their Fifth Amendment rights. The company is under investigation for a half-billion dollar government loan guarantee it ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD NASA: Satellite's Rate Of Descent Has Slowed Updated: 2011-09-23 19:00:00 Description: We reported on the variables that make it hard to, even at this late date, predict exactly when and where a dead 6-ton NASA satellite will fall to Earth. The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, will be the biggest NASA spacecraft to crash b...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD New Data Put Cosmic Speed Limit To The Test Updated: 2011-09-23 17:39:00 Description: A fundamental rule of nature is that nothing travels faster than the speed of light. Now, physicists working in Europe say they may have discovered a subatomic particle that breaks that speed limit. But that extraordinary claim is being greeted with ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Flagstaff Throws A Science Party Updated: 2011-09-23 17:00:00 Description: The Flagstaff Festival of Science gets underway this week. Ira Flatow talks with two festival participants about some of the highlights: Astronaut John Grunsfeld previews a talk on the Hubble Telescope and archeoastronomer Bryan Bates tells what the ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Solving The Riddle Of The Grand Canyon's Formation Updated: 2011-09-23 17:00:00 Description: The Grand Canyon may seem to be a simple case of "river carves rock," but to geologists, its formation is still puzzling. Ira Flatow and guests discuss the canyon's mysteries, and the scientific sleuthing being done to solve them--millions of years a...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Still Cataloging The Skies, Long After 'Planet X' Updated: 2011-09-23 17:00:00 Description: Perched on a mesa just above Flagstaff is the historic Lowell Observatory, founded back in the days of the Wild West. Observatory director Jeffrey Hall talks about landmark discoveries made there, like 'Planet X'--later renamed Pluto--and the exoplan...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Managing Forests To Manage Wildfires Updated: 2011-09-23 17:00:00 Description: Record breaking fires in the Southwest have burned thousands of acres, disrupting people and animals, and leaving muddy, flood-prone landscapes in their wake. Ira Flatow and guests discuss fire ecology, and how new forest management strategies may he...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Zebra And Cattle Make Good Lunch Partners, Researchers Say Updated: 2011-09-22 18:34:00 Description: In Africa, some ranchers shoot wildlife to keep them from eating the grass out from under their cattle. But it turns out some wildlife, like zebra, actually help cattle graze — by clearing fibrous grass stalks away and promoting the new shoot growt...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Christians Divided Over Science Of Human Origins Updated: 2011-09-22 17:00:00 Description: The story of Adam and Eve is a primary belief for many Christians. Some Christian scholars argue that research on the human genome shows that modern humans did not descend from the Biblical couple, and that Christianity must find a way to reconcile m...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Air Force And Navy Turn To Biofuels Updated: 2011-09-22 14:01:00 Description: The military is trying to make big changes in what fuel it uses. The Air Force and Navy have been testing their aircraft — everything from fighters to unmanned spy planes — on fuel made from vegetable oil or even animal fat. One catch: It cost...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Where Falling Satellite Lands Is Anyone's Guess Updated: 2011-09-21 04:01:00 Description: Sometime this week, a school bus-sized satellite will fall to Earth after two decades in orbit. Most of it will burn up in the atmosphere, but some pieces — and one possibly as large as 300 pounds — are expected to hit the ground. But there's lit...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Study: Women's Memory More Receptive To Low Voice Updated: 2011-09-20 19:00:00 Description: Melissa Block and Lynn Neary learn from researcher Kevin Allan of the University of Aberdeen King's College in Scotland that women remember better when spoken to in a low-pitch voice. This helps women to pick a suitable partner....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Quays Focus 'Weeping Glass' On The Mutter Museum Updated: 2011-09-20 17:19:00 Description: Philadelphia's Mutter Museum invited Stephen and Timothy Quay to capture the collection of medical oddities in the filmmakers' signature moody, avant-garde style. "We never walk through the front door," the Quays say of their approach to film. "We in...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Explorers Push The Limits, Despite The Risks Updated: 2011-09-20 17:00:00 Description: Archaeologist Constanza Ceruti braves blistering winds and altitude sickness to research ancient Andean civilizations. Environmental anthropologist Kenny Broad dives deep into ocean caves to study fresh water reserves. The two explorers explain the l...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Daniel Yergin Examines America's 'Quest' For Energy Updated: 2011-09-20 04:01:00 Description: In his new book, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and energy expert looks at how the need for energy is shaping the world. He joins NPR's David Greene to discuss the global implications of natural gas production in the U.S....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD NASA Satellite Expected To Collide With Earth Updated: 2011-09-19 19:00:00 Description: According to NASA, a retired U.S. research satellite the size of a school bus has been sucked into the Earth's gravitational pull. The space agency expects the satellite to break into pieces on entry to the atmosphere, and for some of those pieces �...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Lucretius, Man Of Modern Mystery Updated: 2011-09-19 04:01:00 Description: In his new book, author and Harvard literature professor Stephen Greenblatt explores the 2,000 year-old writings of Lucretius and his "spookily modern" creation tale....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Lucretius, Man Of Modern Mystery Updated: 2011-09-19 04:01:00 Description: In his new book, author and Harvard literature professor Stephen Greenblatt explores the 2,000 year-old writings of Lucretius and his "spookily modern" creation tale....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Documenting The Sound Of Fallen Trees (And Planes) Updated: 2011-09-18 09:32:00 Description: Researchers at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon have been documenting the park's soundscape. But human-caused noises, like airplanes, are making it harder to hear....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Glowing Kittens Help In Fight Against AIDS Updated: 2011-09-17 00:35:00 Description: Millions of cats suffer and die from feline AIDS every year. Scientists have found a way to prevent infection by injecting cat eggs with monkey genes that block HIV infection. And to help identify cats with the special genes, they added jellyfish gen...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Obama Signs Patent Overhaul Bill Updated: 2011-09-16 19:00:00 Description: Hoping it will spur innovation, President Obama signed a bill Friday overhauling the nation's patent laws. The law switches to a "first to file" rule for granting patents. It also allows new challenges to existing patents. But critics say it will not...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Science Looks At The Sibling Effect Updated: 2011-09-16 17:00:00 Description: Are you a first-born? A middle child? A twin? An only child? In his new book The Sibling Effect: What the Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us, author Jeffrey Kluger describes current scientific research into the effects of siblings on hu...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Exploring the Tech DIY of 'Hackerspaces' Updated: 2011-09-16 17:00:00 Description: When the humble garage workshop just isn't enough, or basement tinkerers tire of trying to go it alone, some turn to 'hackerspaces,' organizations that provide space, tools, and like-minded colleagues for unusual do it yourself projects. Kelly Maguir...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How Google Grew Into An Online Goliath Updated: 2011-09-16 17:00:00 Description: Google's founders built a giant company based on certain principles: Make decisions based on data. Search should be fast and automatic. Keep as much company information private as possible. In his book In the Plex, Steven Levy discusses how these val...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Probing Poop For Cellulose-Chomping Microbes Updated: 2011-09-16 17:00:00 Description: In the search for ways to break down tough plant material like cellulose into biofuel, researchers are looking in odd places--like the feces of pandas, zebras and giraffes. Biochemist Ashli Brown and microbiologist David Mullin discuss the microbes t...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Cultivating A Wastewater Treatment System Updated: 2011-09-16 17:00:00 Description: The New York Department of Environmental Protection installed a prototype "algal turf scrubber" at one of its wastewater treatment plants in Queens. The scrubber--two 350-foot metal ramps coated with algae that grows naturally--is designed to use alg...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Balancing Budgets And R&D Updated: 2011-09-16 17:00:00 Description: With all forms of federal spending under the microscope, spending on scientific research, technology development, and science education is facing deep cuts. In an editorial in the journal Science Congressman Rush Holt argues for keeping research and ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD EPA Postpones Power Plant Emissions Rules Updated: 2011-09-16 08:00:00 Description: The Environmental Protection Agency has decided to delay new rules that would limit emissions of climate-warming gases from power plants. It's the second time this month the EPA has either withdrawn or postponed new pollution rules that industry didn...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Arctic Ice Hits Near-Record Low, Threatening Wildlife Updated: 2011-09-16 04:01:00 Description: Ice on the Arctic Ocean has melted to its second-lowest level on record. The summertime melt coincides with a dramatic warming over the past decade, and it's already affecting wildlife in the area....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD This Machine Can Suck Carbon Out Of The Air Updated: 2011-09-15 19:47:00 Description: While carbon dioxide streams into the atmosphere from tailpipes and smokestacks around the world, one man is building a machine to suck it back out. And some heavy-hitting investors are betting that it's going to work....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Here Come The Suns: New Planet Orbits Two Stars Updated: 2011-09-15 19:14:00 Description: NASA's Kepler mission has found a new solar system where a Saturn-like planet spins around twin stars 200 light-years away from us. It's the first direct observation of such an arrangement, and astronomers say they're not sure why the planet is there...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Workers Start Dismantling Dams In Wash. Updated: 2011-09-15 19:00:00 Description: Work crews Thursday begin dismantling the two dams on the Elwha River, on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. By some measures, this is the largest dam-removal project ever — and, at 210 feet, one of the dams is certainly the tallest dam ever taken dow...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD 'Deer Capital' Of Texas Struggles With Drought Updated: 2011-09-15 19:00:00 Description: Melissa Block talks with Llano, Texas, Mayor Mike Reagor about the ongoing drought in his city. The river that runs through town is extremely low. Llano has been dubbed the "deer capital of Texas" — and Reagor says the deer, with little to drink, a...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Checking In On Gulf On Heels Of BP Spill Report Updated: 2011-09-15 17:00:00 Description: A government report has found BP responsible for the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In the months since the accident, drilling has returned to near-normal levels and many local residents say life has largely returned to normal. Environmental s...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Md. Teachers Must Promote Environmental Literacy Updated: 2011-09-15 08:38:00 Description: The start of a new school year in Maryland brings a new requirement: All schools in the state must develop plans to promote environmental literacy. The new requirement is creating some challenges for teachers. The goal is to integrate environmental c...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Post-Irene Cleanup May Damage Environment Updated: 2011-09-14 19:26:00 Description: Towns and villages in Vermont and upstate New York are beginning to recover from Tropical Storm Irene. But scientists say the widespread chemical and sewage spills, and the cleanup's effect on trout streams, could cause lasting environmental damage...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Al Gore's '24 Hours' On Climate Change Updated: 2011-09-14 17:00:00 Description: Former Vice President Al Gore's 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth helped raise awareness around the issue of climate change. Gore returns in the lead up to the 2012 election with 24 Hours of Reality, a new project designed to "broadcast the real...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD How To Help Your Child's Brain Grow Up Strong Updated: 2011-09-14 15:00:00 Description: In a new book, neuroscientists Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt detail how parents can help their children learn the ABCs and self-control. The book, Welcome to Your Child's Brain, explores how the human brain develops from infancy to adolescence....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Bone To Pick: First T. Rex Skeleton, Complete At Last Updated: 2011-09-14 04:01:00 Description: Discovered in 1902 by the "Indiana Jones" of fossil hunters, the first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton fascinated the public. It was sold off during World War II, but a lone rib bone remained forgotten in the archives of the American Museum of Natural His...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Maximizing Your Workout With The Right Tunes Updated: 2011-09-13 17:00:00 Description: Gym junkies can tell you the right routine and equipment is important — and so is the right music. Sports psychologist Costas Karageorghis says the tempo and pacing of the music you listen to while working out can have a big effect on athletic perf...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Blast At French Nuclear Waste Plant Leaves One Dead Updated: 2011-09-12 19:00:00 Description: An explosion at a nuclear waste processing plant in France has left one person dead and four others injured — one seriously. The French nuclear authority says the blast was contained within a furnace, and there is no leak of radioactive material. T...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Agency Takes New Approach To Save Everglades Land Updated: 2011-09-12 17:02:00 Description: In Florida, federal officials have released plans for a new wildlife preserve just south of Orlando. The Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge will include at least 150,000 acres, but there's a twist — most of it will remain under private ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Tornado Technology Updated: 2011-06-17 21:20:56 Description: Spotted owls in the Western U.S. face a new threat — not from loggers, but from another owl. Many scientists say more advanced detection and forecasting technology for tornadoes could help save lives; workers at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Natural Lab In The Amazon Updated: 2011-06-10 23:17:55 Description: A city in Peru is serving as a natural laboratory to study dengue fever; the Hubble Space Telescope's replacement is running into budget trouble, but researchers are still optimistic; a new study reveals why nicotine reduces appetite; nuclear enginee...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD When Robots Attack, Kids Learn Updated: 2011-06-03 21:46:57 Description: Robot wars, searching for autism in brain waves, obituary for a spunky Mars rover, and the largest land-based self-propelled vehicle in the world....more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Honeybee Democracy Updated: 2011-05-27 20:49:54 Description: Robert Krulwich explains how honeybees lobby for the best locations for new hives. We delve into reasons behind why tornadoes are so hard to predict, and researchers are studying the shape of electrons. Are they really spherical? Finally, scientists ...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Nose Knows Updated: 2011-05-20 20:12:55 Description: On this week's show, changing life - from the depths of evolutionary history to the depths of space. We'll hear about an ancient shrew-like creature that made the first step towards large mammalian brains and a modern rat, deemed extinct, who made a...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Species on the Brain Updated: 2011-05-13 22:53:01 Description: In the first half of this week's show, we've got stories about the brain. Traumatic brain injuries are common for modern soldiers and some spend months in brain fitness centers, rehabilitating their mental muscles. Others head to mock battlefields, t...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD A Very Emotional Podcast Updated: 2011-05-07 00:04:40 Description: What Makes Something Funny? Why Do We Cry? What Makes Us Afraid? So ANNOYING! Cicadas Poised To Swarm The South...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD Straight As A Whale? Updated: 2011-04-29 23:01:49 Description: During their seasonal migrations, humpback whales swim thousands of miles across the oceans. Tracking devices show that they do so in remarkably straight lines, but researchers aren't sure how the whales keep such a steady course. Also: rising seas a...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill, One Year Later Updated: 2011-04-22 22:55:15 Description: It's been a year since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig caught fire and sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, causing more than 4 million barrels of oil to spill into the waters. This week, we'll see how research into marshland is progressing, and w...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD And The Shuttles Go To... Updated: 2011-04-15 21:30:18 Description: This week, NASA announced which four museums will be the final homes for the retiring fleet of space shuttles. We retrace the steps of a biologist from the 1930s who was trying to breed hamsters. Also: we explore why our fears about radiation are big...more... LISTEN NOW \| VIEW CACHE \| DOWNLOAD