Science

Science

Watching Cat Videos Serves Useful Purpose, Research Finds

8:05am June 18, 2015

A survey published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior finds that cat videos can boost a person's mood. Nearly 7,000 people were surveyed about Internet cat videos.

Queue Listen Now

Cambrian Genomics says that what it calls a DNA printer is essentially a DNA sorter — it quickly spots and collects the desired, tailored stretch of DNA.

DNA 'Printing' A Big Boon To Research, But Some Raise Concerns

9:40pm June 17, 2015

by Rob Stein

Companies are assembling and churning out tailored stretches of DNA faster and more cheaply than ever before. The tool speeds research into diseases of plants and people. But what about eugenics?

Queue Listen Now

Hawaii ranks 49th in the nation for use of home health care services during the last six months of someone's life. Videos from ACP Decisions show patients what their options are at the end of life.

Videos On End-Of-Life Choices Ease Tough Conversation

9:39pm June 17, 2015

by Ina Jaffe

A program in Hawaii aims to reduce the number of older people who spend their final days of life in a hospital. Hawaii has one of the highest rates of hospital deaths for those over age 65 in the U.S.

Queue Listen Now

M.C. Davis, former gambler and businessman, stands in his 54,000-acre preserve, Nokuse Plantation, in the Florida Panhandle. It's the largest privately owned conservation area in the southeastern United States.

Gambler-Turned-Conservationist Devotes Fortune To Florida Nature Preserve

7:22pm June 17, 2015

by Melissa Block

M.C. Davis made millions gambling and buying up land and mineral rights. Now, he's restoring ecosystems destroyed by agriculture and timbering in his private preserve, one of the largest in the U.S.

Queue Listen Now

Red Crabs Invade Southern California Beaches In Search Of Warm Water

6:48pm June 17, 2015

by Kirk Siegler

Due to warm ocean temperatures, tens of thousands of red crabs are invading beaches in Southern California.

Queue Listen Now

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, used a pair of satellites to measure water use in the world's aquifers.

NASA Satellites Show World's Thirst For Groundwater

6:25pm June 17, 2015

by Geoff Brumfiel

New data suggest that many regions in the world are overusing their underground water supplies. And researchers aren't sure how much remains.

Researchers say that inside the head of the worm C. elegans, an antenna-like structure at the tip of the AFD neuron (highlighted in green) is the first identified sensor for Earth's magnetic field.

Science

Worms Know What's Up — And Now Scientists Know Why

6:03pm June 17, 2015

by Bill Chappell

In what researchers say is a first, they've discovered the neuron in worms that detects Earth's magnetic field. They say the worms have microscopic antenna-shaped sensors to help orient themselves.

Ryo Ishikawa, one of Japan's biggest golf stars, demonstrates his swing on the pro tour in February.

Take A Swing At This: Golf Is Exercise, Cart Or No Cart

1:29pm June 17, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

American adults play more golf than any other sport. So how much exercise do you get from an afternoon on the links? Players clipped on pedometers and Fitbits to help us find out.

Queue Listen Now

When health care providers have the latest information on various birth control methods, research suggests, more of their patients who use birth control choose a long-acting reversible method, like the IUD.

Updated Training Of Birth Control Counselors Boosts Use Of IUDs

9:35pm June 16, 2015

by Lisa Aliferis

And when the use of intrauterine devices and hormonal implants by young women goes up, the number of unplanned pregnancies sharply drops, researchers find.

Primal posture: Ubong tribesmen in Borneo (right) display the perfect J-shaped spines. A woman in Burkina Faso (left) holds her baby so that his spine stays straight. The center image shows the S-shaped spine drawn in a modern anatomy book (Fig. I) and th

Lost Posture: Why Some Indigenous Cultures May Not Have Back Pain

6:08pm June 16, 2015

by Michaeleen Doucleff

There are a few populations in the world where back pain hardly exists. One woman thinks she has figured out why, and she's sharing their secrets. Have Americans forgotten how to stand properly?

Queue Listen Now