Science

When The Earth Swallows

3:04pm March 21, 2013

Last week a Florida man was swallowed by the Earth as he slept, the victim of a sinkhole. In 1981, another Florida sinkhole ate a swimming pool and a Porsche repair shop. Randall Orndorff, a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, discusses this mysterious phenomenon, and whether technology exists to predict when--and where--the surface might crumble.

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Can the Anti-Aging Secret Be Found In ... Red Wine?

3:04pm March 21, 2013

Can red wine slow down the aging process? According to a new study published in Science, a compound found in the skin of grapes activates an anti-aging gene in mice that promotes longevity. Harvard Medical School's David Sinclair discusses the research findings.

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'Nightmare Bacteria' Defy Even Last-Ditch Drugs

3:04pm March 21, 2013

'Nightmare bacteria,' strains of superbugs resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics, have quadrupled in number in the last decade--and have been found lurking in hospitals in 42 states. NIH epidemiologist Tara Palmore and infectious disease specialist Brad Spellberg discuss how to find and contain these bugs, and a few ways we might outsmart them.

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The Star Jet roller coaster sits in the water on Feb. 19 after the Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, N.J., collapsed from the forces of Superstorm Sandy.

'Temperature Rising': Will Climate Change Bring More Extreme Weather?

2:10pm March 21, 2013

In a series for The New York Times, environmental reporter Justin Gillis has been exploring whether harsh weather events are connected to global warming or if they are simply the random violence nature visits upon us.

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Social worker Nuria Casulleres shows a portrait of Audrey Hepburn to elderly men during a memory activity at the Cuidem La Memoria elderly home in Barcelona, Spain, last August. The home specializes in Alzheimer's patients.

Alzheimer's 'Epidemic' Now A Deadlier Threat To Elderly

7:44am March 20, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

Deaths from the disease have increased by 68 percent between 2000 and 2010. One reason: We're living longer, and deaths from other causes, like heart disease and prostate cancer, are going down.

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Science

What Is The Effect Of Asking Americans To Think About The Greater Good?

10:42am March 19, 2013

Often times politicians pitch "the common good" when proposing changes to social policy. Psychologists now think this kind of appeal may backfire and actually unmotivate Americans. What is the effectiveness of different kinds of public appeals?

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Saber-toothed cats went extinct after the ice age; paleontologists are not sure what caused their extinction. This cat was brought to life by a puppeteer: It's a creation of Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Body puppet, George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar

Science
Arts

It's Called 'De-Extinction' — It's Like 'Jurassic Park,' Except It's Real

9:30am March 19, 2013

by Claire O'Neill

Science writer Carl Zimmer says we're not going to bring back dinosaurs. But we might be able to resurrect other extinct species.

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'Bones' Inspires A New Generation Of Crime Fighters

1:03pm March 15, 2013

Kathy Reichs, the writer and scientist behind the TV show Bones, is back with a new novel for young adults. Code: A Virals Novel stars Tory Brennan, great-niece of Reich's famed crime-solving heroine Tempe Brennan. Reichs discusses the book, co-written with Brendan Reichs.

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Improving Healthcare, One Search At A Time

1:03pm March 15, 2013

By combing through 100 million search queries on Bing, Yahoo and Google, Microsoft Research Lab co-director Eric Horvitz and his colleagues were able to discover a previously unknown interaction between two commonly prescribed drugs. Horvitz says the method might detect dangerous drug interactions earlier than the FDA's warning system.

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Science

Curiosity Hits Paydirt: New Clues To Life On Mars

1:03pm March 15, 2013

Microbes may once have happily existed on the surface of Mars, according to chemical analysis of a sedimentary rock in the Red Planet's Gale crater. NASA geologist and exobiologist David Blake discusses evidence for an ancient freshwater lake in the crater, and describes the mineral-chomping microbes that may have thrived there.

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