Science

Craig Richard: Whispers and haircuts — the science of ASMR

3:42pm February 18, 2022

Why do so many people experience brain tingles when watching ASMR videos? Physiologist Craig Richard shares the science behind the "Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response," and how it calms the mind.

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Dylan Selterman: What are our dreams — and nightmares — trying to tell us?

3:42pm February 18, 2022

We might forget our dreams mere minutes after waking. But psychologist Dylan Selterman says that if we pay attention to them, we could gain new information about our emotions, relationships and more.

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Matteo Cerri: Will humans one day hibernate?

3:42pm February 18, 2022

Bears and squirrels hibernate to survive harsh conditions; why not humans? If we want to travel deep into space or combat deadly diseases, physiologist Matteo Cerri says hibernation might be the key.

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Kamila Valieva of Team ROC reacts after skating during the women's individual figure skating final on Thursday in Beijing.

After Valieva: 5 questions for a doping expert about fixing a messy system

11:52am February 18, 2022

by Bill Chappell

"That was an incredibly troubling outcome," doping expert April Henning says of Russian skating star Kamila Valieva's collapse. She says Valieva "was failed at all levels" by the adults around her.

Perseverance takes a selfie with its helicopter companion Ingenuity in the background.

Science

NASA's Perseverance rover marks its first year hunting for past life on Mars

5:11am February 18, 2022

by Brendan Byrne

Since touching down in Jezero Crater, NASA's Perseverance rover has already cached 6 samples that could one day be brought back to Earth. Astrobiologists hope they hold signs of past microbial life.

A Kenya Wildlife Services officer stands near a burning pile of 15 tonnes of elephant ivory seized in Kenya in 2015.

Science

Elephant tusk DNA can expose poaching networks, new analysis finds

5:00am February 18, 2022

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a way of using DNA from elephant tusks to solve poaching mysteries and bring animal traffickers to justice.

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U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says he wishes vaccines for kids under 5 were available, but that more data is needed first.

The surgeon general's young daughter got COVID. This is what he wants you to know

2:42pm February 17, 2022

by Mary Louise Kelly

This past weekend, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wasn't a leading scientific voice on the pandemic — he was another worried parent whose young daughter had just tested positive for COVID.

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Science

Scientists say elephant tusk DNA can expose poaching networks

4:04pm February 16, 2022

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a way of using DNA from elephant tusks to solve poaching mysteries and bring animal traffickers to justice.

An aerial image shows storage tanks at the Chevron Products Company El Segundo Refinery adjacent to a neighborhood of homes at sunset in Manhattan Beach, Calif., on Jan. 24.

Accusations of 'greenwashing' by big oil companies are well-founded, a new study finds

3:57pm February 16, 2022

by Joe Hernandez

Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP and Shell used terms like "climate" and "low-carbon" more frequently in recent annual reports, but their actions on clean energy didn't match their words, researchers conclude.

The Rye Riptides pictured on board the Corwith Cramer before launching in October 2020. Nearly 18 months later, the mini boat was retrieved from an uninhabited Norwegian island with its messages and gifts intact.

A Norwegian student found a boat launched by New Hampshire middle schoolers in 2020

2:53pm February 16, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

The Rye Riptides began as a science class project in New Hampshire. Some 462 days and 8,300 miles later, a sixth-grader retrieved it from an uninhabited Norwegian island, with its notes still intact.