NASA Spacecraft Crashes Into Mercury, Concluding 4-Year Study Of Planet
A NASA spacecraft plunged into the planet Mercury on Thursday. It's demise comes after four years of studying our solar system's innermost planet.
Science
Kill The Messenger: NASA Orbiter Crashes Into Mercury
Messenger was launched from Earth in 2004. After 4,104 orbits of Mercury and billions of miles of space travel, the orbiter ended its mission with a quiet bang Thursday.
Expanding Medicaid Trims Hospitals' Costs Of Caring For Uninsured
One aim of Obamacare was to ease the financial strain on nonprofit hospitals that provide medical care to people who lack insurance and can't pay their bills. That plan is working, hospitals say.
No Rest For Your Sleeping Brain
No wonder the brain needs so much energy. The same coordinated activity that allows you to retrieve a specific memory, like what you had for breakfast, continues at rest and even during sleep.
How British Farmers Are Making Rapeseed (Canola) Posh And Flavorful
In the U.K., rapeseed is getting a royal treatment. It's called cold-pressing, and it's a method of processing the oilseed to bring out the best of its mustardy flavor.
Drought In Calif. Creates Water Wars Between Farmers, Developers, Residents
Fresno native Mark Arax has written about the war over water in his state for decades. "It used to be the farmers against the delta smelt fish, and now it's the urbanite against the almond," he says.
Safe Surgery Is A Dream In The Developing World
One-third of global deaths occur because people don't have access to safe surgery, a study finds. Dirty operating rooms and unskilled attendants make going under the knife extremely risky.
Welcome To The Neighborhood: 2 Super-Earths Discovered
Astronomers using telescopes in Hawaii and California have found two exoplanets orbiting a star a mere 54 light-years away. The discovery is important for two big reasons.
Florida's House Quits Early, At Impasse Over Medicaid Expansion
Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Scott sued the federal government Tuesday, accusing it of coercing Florida to accept the expansion, or lose funding for other health programs for the poor.
Why The Urologist Is Usually A Man, But Maybe Not For Long
Just 8 percent of doctors practicing urology are female. But urologists treat kidneys and urinary tracts, not just prostates and penises. That male-focused image may be scaring patients away.