Science

Could the images common in accounts of near-death experiences be explained by a rush of electrical activity in the brain?

Brains Of Dying Rats Yield Clues About Near-Death Experiences

7:57am August 13, 2013

by Rob Stein

Researchers discovered what appears to be a momentary increase in electrical activity in the brain associated with consciousness. As the brain struggles to survive, it also struggles to make sense of many neurons firing in the survival attempt.

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This simulated image shows what information about a Higgs particle would look like in the proposed International Linear Collider.

Science

Particle Physicists Want A New Collider To Study The Higgs

6:03pm August 12, 2013

by Geoff Brumfiel

High-energy physicists are still riding high from last year's discovery of the Higgs particle, a major finding decades in the making. Now they want a big new machine to study the Higgs, but budget cuts and the high costs of building a new particle accelerator mean the world can afford only one.

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Chinese beachgoers walk by an algae-covered public beach in Qingdao, China, in July. The seas off China have been hit by their largest-ever growth of algae, ocean officials say, with waves of green growth washing onto the shores.

The Algae Is Coming, But Its Impact Is Felt Far From Water

5:49pm August 11, 2013

by NPR Staff

From China's Yellow Sea to the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, agricultural waste in the water system is fueling spectacular algae blooms. The masses of slime cause dead zones in the water and major losses in tourism revenue in affected towns. But the algae fight doesn't begin at the water's edge; it starts in the fields and pastures.

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Science

TED Radio Hour: The Hackers

7:43am August 11, 2013

What if there were a way to hack into your brain and make your life better? Neurosurgeon Andres Lozano is doing just that. He told TED Radio Hour host Guy Raz how.

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A red blood cell infected with malaria parasites (blue) sits next to normal cells (red).

Experimental Malaria Vaccine Shows Promise In Human Test

11:02am August 09, 2013

by Jason Beaubien

In a preliminary study, a new type of vaccine offers strong protection against malaria when given at high doses. The study was extremely small and short-term. But health leaders say they are cautiously optimistic about the approach.

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Jayda Neor and Kephra Shaw Meredith, seventh-graders from KIPP Bridge middle school in Oakland, Calif., perform a rap song about the discovery of DNA's structure in front of a green screen.

Science Rap B.A.T.T.L.E.S. Bring Hip-Hop Into The Classroom

12:48pm August 08, 2013

by Adam Cole

The program is part of a national push for science education among minorities. A U.S. Department of Commerce study found that blacks and Latinos are half as likely as whites to have a job in science or engineering.

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More than 40 years ago, the EPA banned oil companies from releasing wastewater into the environment, but made an exception for the arid West. If livestock and wildlife can use the water, companies can release it. Cows like these grazing near a stream of w

EPA Wants To Allow Continued Wastewater Dumping In Wyoming

10:16am August 08, 2013

by Elizabeth Shogren

The environmental agency has proposed permits that would allow oil companies to continue releasing contaminated wastewater onto the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming. NPR found last year that the EPA has been allowing oil companies to send so much wastewater onto dry land that it was creating raging streams.

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A gene known as DRD2 affects the brain's dopamine system and is known to be associated with aggressive behavior.

Harsh In Hard Times? A Gene May Influence Mom's Behavior

7:51am August 08, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

Mothers with the "sensitive" version of a gene became more likely to strike or scream at their children during the Great Recession, researchers say. But as a complete economic collapse became less likely, the moms relaxed. Those with the "insensitive" version didn't change their behavior.

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Science

Black Holes One Of Space's Great Paradoxes

5:48pm August 07, 2013

by Joe Palca

Late summer tends to be a slow month for news. But at All Things Considered, we put on a two hour program, no matter what. So — without a trace of irony — one of our science correspondents offered to help fill some holes in the show with a series of stories about holes. In this edition: Black holes.

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Earth Scientists Pin Climate Change Squarely On 'Humanity'

8:12pm August 06, 2013

by Christopher Joyce

The federal government's top climate scientists announced Tuesday that 2012 was really hot — among the top 10 hottest years on record and the hottest ever in the U.S., with rising sea levels, less Arctic sea ice and warmer oceans. And the American Geophysical Union called humanity "the major influence" on global climate change.

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