Podcasts

Powering homes with electricity collected from the air may be possible after scientists report solving a centuries old riddle about how moisture in the atmosphere becomes electrically charged.

University of Wisconsin scientists found that fetus nutrition in the last trimester and its exposure to infectious disease are associated with heart disease decades later, when they become senior citizens.

The way that humanity reacts to climate change may do more damage to many areas of the planet than climate change itself.

Engineering graduate student Zhixia Li from the University of Cincinnati headed a real-world project that every driver can relate to: the "yellow light dilemma." Are you, as a driver, more likely to stop or speed through a yellow light?

A new generation of intranasal drugs may replace the needle used to give local anesthetic in the dentist's chair for many procedures. The discovery, that could lead to noninvasive treatments for dental pain, migraine, and other conditions, was reported in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.

The discovery of nine new planets challenges the reigning theory of the formation of planets, according to new observations by astronomers. Two of the astronomers involved in the discoveries are based at the UC Santa Barbara-affiliated Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT), based in Goleta, Calif., near UCSB.

When people in your neighborhood get together to solve local problems using the scientific method, you are practicing "community science". This way of understanding the world has important individual and group benefits.

In a first-of-its-kind experiment, the unique conditions of spaceflight will be used to examine how cells remain healthy or succumb to disease, particularly in the face of stress or damage. 

A new technique developed by Princeton University engineers for producing electricity-conducting plastics could dramatically lower the cost of manufacturing solar panels. By overcoming technical hurdles to producing plastics that are translucent, malleable and able to conduct electricity, the researchers have opened the door to broader use of the materials in a wide range of electrical devices.

Echolocating bats use rapid-fire broadcast-echo pairs to navigate through forests of obstacles. Bats make subtle changes in the frequency of each broadcast to keep them from overlapping, confusing the bat and increasing the chance of collisions.

Showering and bathing wash medicated creams, ointments, and chemical in our sweat off the skin, down the drain, and into the environment.

Rolf Halden, associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University and assistant director of Environmental Biotechnology at the Biodesign Institute has undertaken a survey of existing scientific literature concerning the hazards of plastics to human health and to the ecosystems we depend on. His findings, which appear in latest issue of the Annual Review of Public Health, are sobering.

Using NASA satellite data, scientists have found that groundwater levels in northern India have been declining by as much as one foot per year over the past decade. Researchers concluded the loss is almost entirely due to human activity.

A Canadian scientist found a chemical process to extract gallotannins from mangó seeds. These polyphenolic compounds have demostrated antibacterial properties that can have commercial applications.

Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix now appears to have a reason to be – as a “safe house” for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut.

The complete asexuality of a widespread fungus-gardening ant, the only ant species in the world known to have dispensed with males entirely, has been confirmed by a team of Texas and Brazilian researchers.

Aquaculture accounts for 50 percent of the fish consumed globally. While the industry is more efficient than ever, it is also putting a significant strain on marine resources by consuming large amounts of feed made from wild fish harvested from the sea.

Study indicates need for further research to determine environmental, health impacts.

UV exposure has increased over the last 30 years, but stabilized since the mid-1990s
 The largest increases in UV have occurred in the southern hemisphere during summers. In the tropics, increases in UV have been minimal.

Could lead to even stronger synthetic materials.

A new study has found that increasing dissolved oxygen concentrations in alcohol may help to reduce alcohol-related side effects and accidents.

University of Liverpool scientists that viruses and bacteria evolved quicker when they interact and compete for survival.

Walking heels-first is less work than walking on your toes or balls of the feet.

Boston University bioengineers detail process

A new report from the National Academy of Science describes the benefits and challenges of integrating engineering fundamentals in the K-12 curriculum.

24 of world's 33 major deltas sinking, 85 percent have experienced severe flooding recently.

New vaccine delivery may be as effective against measles as traditional immunizations.

The increasing acidity of the world's oceans are definitive proof that the atmospheric carbon dioxide that is causing climate change is also negatively affecting the marine environment.

NASA will launch small research satellites for several universities as part of the agency's Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNA, mission. The picosatellites, called CubeSats because of their shape, come from Montana State University, the University of Colorado and Kentucky Space, which includes Morehead State University.

A new report from the National Research Council lays out options NASA could follow to detect more near-Earth objects (NEOs) – asteroids and comets that could pose a hazard if they cross Earth's orbit.

Scientists are reporting the first evidence from human research that blueberries improve memory in older adults.

Many earthquakes and tsunamis have occurred in the northeastern Caribbean, where the movements of the Earth’s surface plates are rapid and complicated. Future such events pose serious hazards to the 3.7 million people who live in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Funding state-of-the-art buildings and equipment, including one in San Juan Puerto Rico, will enable advances in biomedical research and create new science jobs.

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have identified the dominant odor naturally produced in humans and birds that attracts the blood-feeding Culex mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile virus and other life-threatening diseases.

Israeli and Asian scientists found a relationship between gambling behaviors and the activity of gen MAOA.

A UC Riverside-led study reports on the effects of biological oxygen production nearly 100 million years before oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere.

Pilot Study May Lead to Larger Effort to Reduce Turtle Bycatch.

A road trial of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which could one day end up in every Australian driveway, is underway.

Solar wind generated by the sun is probably driven by a process involving powerful magnetic fields, according to a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers based on the latest observations from the Hinode satellite.

A scientist from the Florida Institute of Technology discovers that local weather conditions determine coral reproduction.

Ecological markets offer a healthy, local, and fresh alternative when buying fruits, vegetables and more!

Platinum-catalyzed photosynthetic process creates high-yield sustainable source of hydrogen

Statewide analysis shows bystanders can save more lives when doing chest compressions only instead of mouth-to-mouth CPR.

Plants don't mind sharing space with their kin but when they're potted with strangers of the same species they start invigorating their leaves, a study by McMaster University reveals.

Deep sea teeming with species that have never known sunlight.

Eating giant snails could address malnutrition.

Homo floresiensis not diseased sub-population of healthy humans.

A genetic tool uncovers the species of tuna plated in sushi restaurants.

Research suggests that everyday germs may prevent diseases in adulthood.

A new study corroborates the link between olor and memory in humans.

The objective of this study was to assess the burden of endometriosis by obtaining Patient Reported Outcome (PRO) data describing the experience of living with this disease. Survey data
from one hundred and seven women with self-reported, surgically diagnosed endometriosis showed that living with endometriosis may be characterized by physical limitations that disrupt health, work and daily life.