National In Texas, A Living Lab For Studying The Dead June 30, 2009 • Only a few universities in the world have facilities devoted to studying human bodies as they decompose. Texas State University's Forensic Anthropology Research Facility is the newest. Students there learn to recover and study human bones.
National Transportation Safety Board 'Calls It Like It Sees It' June 30, 2009 • The National Transportation Safety Board isn't able to enforce its own recommendations, but the agency's acting chairman says it's better that way. He says it helps the NTSB focus solely on safety when investigating hundreds of airplane crashes, train wrecks and other accidents each year.
Environment Paul Krugman Gives Take On Climate Legislation June 27, 2009 • The U.S. House of Representatives passed landmark climate legislation Friday night, but the details in the bill are vast and complex. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tells NPR's Guy Raz about his understanding of the bill.
Politics House Narrowly Passes Climate Change Measure June 27, 2009 • The U.S. House voted 219-212 for a sweeping bill to combat global warming. It would put gradually stricter caps on the total national output of heat-trapping gases, based on a system of permits that can be bought and sold.
Research News Wind Has Soaring Potential, Study Finds June 26, 2009 • Wind alone could provide more than 16 times the electricity needs of the U.S., according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Harvard professor Michael McElroy and Revis James, of Electric Power Research Institute, discuss the challenges of harnessing wind power.
Research News Could Algae Be Milked Like A Cow? June 26, 2009 • Algae-based biofuel is made by grinding up algae cells and extracting the oil. Reporting in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Richard Gordon, of the University of Manitoba, and colleagues suggest that engineering algae to secrete oil might be a more efficient approach.
Culture Reviewing Science On The Big Screen June 26, 2009 • From sci-fi to documentaries, good science films tell the human story behind scientific ideas. Which films get the science right, and which don't? Physicist and movie critic Sidney Perkowitz runs through some of this summer's top science flicks.
Must-See Science: Videos From Science Friday Video Pick: An Airplane That Flies Itself June 26, 2009 • Meet the V-Bat: it's about 70 pounds, eight feet tall, equipped with computers and flies without a pilot. Engineer Stephen Morris, the president and CEO of MLB Co., describes how the plane works and what it might be good for.
Technology Of Fuel Cells And Chicken Feathers June 26, 2009 • Each year, the agricultural industry must dispose of billions of pounds of chicken feathers. Richard Wool, a chemical engineer at the University of Delaware, says when feathers are heated, they develop nano-sized caverns in which hydrogen can be stored.
Space Salty Sea May Lurk Under Saturn Moon June 25, 2009 • Salty ice grains inside in Saturn's outer ring point to a possible underground ocean on the moon Enceladus.
Business Is Apple Obliged To Say More About CEO's Health? June 25, 2009 • A hospital disclosed this week that the computer maker's CEO had a liver transplant because he had "end-stage liver disease" and was the sickest patient on the list, raising questions about whether the company should have disclosed more about his condition to investors.
Environment Putting A Financial Spin On Global Warming June 24, 2009 • A California think tank says global warming will gain more buy-in if it is viewed as an economic opportunity rather than a problem to be solved.
A Little Flute Music To Warm The Cave June 24, 2009 • Archaeologists have unearthed the world's oldest musical instruments: flutes. These vulture-bone flutes no doubt helped warm our ancestors' spirits as they pushed north into Europe's hostile Ice Age conditions.
The Impact of War Slain Soldiers Offer Clues To Protect The Living Fresh Air June 23, 2009 • In 2001, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology began conducting autopsies on all slain service men and women. Captain Craig T. Mallak describes how the physical (and sometimes virtual) autopsies of soldiers have assisted in the design of body armor, helmets and vehicle shields.
Politics Obama Signs Sweeping Tobacco Legislation June 22, 2009 • President Obama signed Monday legislation enabling the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco with broad new powers over marketing. But his closet smoking has raised some eyebrows among health advocates and led to some uncomfortable moments for the president.