Research News

UC Santa Barbara's Jay Lunden and Andrew Brinkman, a summer intern for NOAA, prepare to deploy an instrument that measures temperature and salinity throughout the water column, and collects water samples.

Underwater Meadows Might Serve As Antacid For Acid Seas

8:14am August 11, 2014

by Christopher Joyce

Marine biologists worry that certain species won't survive the shifts in sea acidity that climate change brings. But research on sea grasses along California's coast suggest marine preserves can help.

Queue Listen Now

Science

Are Terminal Illness Decisions Affected By Negative Stereotypes?

8:09am August 07, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

Millions of people around the world face difficult choices at the end of their lives. Researchers delved into whether stereotypes affect medical decisions when it comes to terminal illness.

Queue Listen Now

Science

Employers Forced To Judge Job Candidates' Career Trajectory

7:45am August 06, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

Analysis of freelance jobs suggests employers are conservative when it comes to hiring, and dislike candidates who have done a lot of different things.

Queue Listen Now

Science

When It Comes To Thinking, 2 Fish Heads Are Better Than 1

11:52am July 18, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

Maybe we can learn from fish — they don't call a group of them a school for nothing. Researchers found that when 2 fish swim together, they make better decisions than when 2 fish are swimming alone.

Queue Listen Now

Science

Some Parole Requirements Could Be Increasing The Crime Rate

9:57am July 08, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

Prisoners who are released invariably make it back to the areas where they came from. Does this have a positive or negative effect on crime? Research triggered by Hurricane Katrina offers insight.

Queue Listen Now

Living 63 Feet Underwater Helps Cousteau Team Conduct Experiments

2:03pm July 02, 2014

Fabien Cousteau and a crew of scientists and explorers have spent the past 31 days underwater in the Aquarius Reef Base off the coast of Florida. David Greene talks to Cousteau about the experience.

Queue Listen Now

Science

Safety Feature For Pedestrians Has Undesired Consequence

2:24pm July 01, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

New analysis finds that the countdown clocks telling pedestrians how much time they have to cross the intersection actually increase traffic crashes.

Queue Listen Now

Science

Scientists Come Close To Finding True Magnetic Monopole

10:55am June 30, 2014

by Joe Palca

Ectromagnetic theory says there should be a bit of matter that is unipolar: neither north or south. So far no one has found a magnetic monopole, but physicists at Amherst college have come close.

Queue Listen Now

One of 30 copies of the first protoype meter made by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in Sevres, France. 1875-1889

Science

How Did The Meter Get Its Length?

10:45am June 30, 2014

by Joe Palca

The U.S. doesn't routinely use the metric system. The U.S. government definition of a foot is 0.3048 meters. But if the length of a foot is based on the meter, what's the length of the meter based on?

Queue Listen Now

How To Sell Green Products To The Self-Regarding Consumer

9:40am June 30, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

Research shows narcissists can be induced to make environmentally positive purchases when those purchases are linked to the things narcissists value — prestige, status and image.

Queue Listen Now