Science

Tom Selleck Accused Of Stealing Water For California Ranch

3:03pm July 10, 2015

TV star Tom Selleck has been accused of stealing water amid California's drought from a neighboring water district. Los Angeles Times reporter Matt Hamilton has been reporting on the the mystery of Magnum PI's water supply.

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Science

How Small Can They Go? IBM Announces 7 Nanometer Computer Chip

3:00pm July 10, 2015

by Rachel M. Ward and Adam Cole

IBM has overcome a hurdle by producing a prototype chip with transistors that are 7 nanometers wide, or about 1/10,000th the width of a human hair. The smallest transistors in use are twice as big.

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Genetic Tweaks Are Restoring Hearing In Animals, Raising Hopes For People

8:02am July 10, 2015

by Jon Hamilton

The latest accomplishment for gene therapy involves mice with inherited deafness. Meanwhile, the drugmaker Novartis is conducting the first trial of gene therapy for people with hearing loss.

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Study Finds Most Ants In A Colony Are Slackers

6:26pm July 09, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Anna Dornhaus, associate professor with the University of Arizona's ecology and evolutionary biology department, about its study on slacker ants.

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After Sketchy Science, Shark Week Promises To Turn Over A New Fin

1:56pm July 09, 2015

by Neda Ulaby

Shark Week is here, and scientists are afraid. Not of the toothy swimmers — but of inaccuracies, bad science and the demonization of animals that aren't as ferocious as Discovery Channel has made out.

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Life reconstruction of Wendiceratops pinhorn.

Science

Scientists Discover One Of The Oldest Horned Dinosaurs

6:34pm July 08, 2015

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

The "new" dinosaur — named Wendiceratops pinhornensis — lived about 79 million years ago and helps scientists understand the early evolution of the family that includes Triceratops.

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Budget Cuts Force Colorado National Forest To Rely On Volunteer Labor

6:32pm July 07, 2015

by Marci Krivonen

Uniformed volunteers are working visitors centers and monitoring trails in the busiest national forest in the country. The White River National Forest in Colorado is increasingly relying on free labor as federal budget cuts continue. The volunteers are doing what forest service staff used to do, including maintaining trails and educating visitors about bear safety.

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The new spacecraft, called LightSail, is orbiting Earth. Future versions could travel to the moon and beyond.

Science

Solar Sail Unfurls In Space

3:47pm July 07, 2015

by Geoff Brumfiel

A nonprofit has successfully tested technology that could one day be used to explore the solar system on a budget.

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NASA's New Horizons mission will be the first ever to visit Pluto and its moons. This artist's conception shows the probe as it passes the dwarf planet.

Pluto-Bound Spacecraft Nears Its Quarry

3:27pm July 07, 2015

by Geoff Brumfiel

After nearly a decade of traveling through space, NASA's New Horizons probe is about to arrive at Pluto. On Tuesday it will begin an intensive, weeklong study of the distant world.

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Eating at a full-service restaurant doesn't necessarily mean a more healthful meal than dining at the drive-through joint.

Why Sit-Down Meals May Be Just As Unhealthful As Fast Food

2:10pm July 07, 2015

by Ina Yang

Fast-food restaurants are often demonized as the epitome of unhealthfulness. But a study suggests sit-down joints may be no better when it comes to sodium, saturated fat and the risk of overeating.