Science : NPR

Texas Study Points To A Longer Natural Gas Boom

A natural gas drilling rig just east of downtown Fort Worth, Texas. A new decade-long study finds the region's Barnett Shale formation has sufficient gas reserves to last another 25 years. David Kent/MCT/Landov/Fort Worth Star Telegram hide caption

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David Kent/MCT/Landov/Fort Worth Star Telegram

Business

Texas Study Points To A Longer Natural Gas Boom

February 28, 2013 • A new study of the Barnett Shale formation in Texas shows that the natural gas reservoir there will last for at least another two decades. "Turns out, what we learned is that there's a lot of good rock left to drill," says geology professor Scott Tinker, the study's author.

Energy

Outgoing Energy Secretary Could Be Remembered For More Than Solyndra

February 28, 2013 • Outgoing Energy Secretary Steven Chu spoke this week at a government-funded expo for energy innovation. The failure of the Solyndra solar company has cast a shadow over Chu's tenure. But supporters say only with that kind of risk-taking can the government plant the seeds for future energy success stories.

String Theory: Fascinating, Not Science Fiction

February 28, 2013 • Tell Me More has been honoring Black History Month by speaking with African-Americans who've excelled in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math. Sylvester James Gates Jr. spent his career researching string theory. He explains to host Michel Martin that, while it seems like science fiction, it's really anything but.

MIT Invents A Machine That Can Look At Batman's Face And See His Heart Beating

The New York Times/YouTube

Krulwich Wonders...

MIT Invents A Machine That Can Look At Batman's Face And See His Heart Beating

February 28, 2013 • A new video technology that amplifies small color changes and slight movements can, when pointed at people, tell what's going on inside.

Go Away! I Want You As Far Away From Me As Possible (How Big Is The Universe?)

Minute Physics/YouTube

Krulwich Wonders...

Go Away! I Want You As Far Away From Me As Possible (How Big Is The Universe?)

February 28, 2013 • Banishments are much more complicated than they used to be. And this "Minute Physics" video suggests, paradoxically, that both you and the person you banish are somehow simultaneously at the center of the universe.

Energy Start-Up Banks On Compressed Air Over Batteries To Store Energy

New Hampshire Public Radio

February 28, 2013 • A draw back to renewable energy is that it is not reliable. You can't create energy when the wind doesn't blow or when the sun isn't shining. So renewables need a way to bank energy. A new company in New Hampshire is creating a storage system for just that problem using compressed air.

Highest Bidder Will Get DNA Pioneer's Nobel Medal

Francis Crick in 2003, the year before his death, at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego. Denis Poroy/AP hide caption

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Denis Poroy/AP

The Two-Way

Highest Bidder Will Get DNA Pioneer's Nobel Medal

February 27, 2013 • The medal, along with other items that belonged to the late Francis Crick, will be auctioned on April 10-11 in New York.

First Space Tourist Sets Sights On A Mars Mission

Space tourist Dennis Tito celebrates after his landing near the Kazakh town of Arkalyk on May 6, 2001. Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images