Science

News Brief: Federal Deficit, New Immigration Policy, DNA Experiment

6:43am August 22, 2019

The Congressional Budget Office revises its federal deficit estimate. New policy would allow the government to indefinitely detain children with their families. And, the results of a DNA experiment.

Queue Listen Now

Naked mole rats are eusocial, which means they live all crowded together, in a colony underground.

Naked And Unafraid: 6 Wild Facts About Naked Mole Rats

5:33pm August 21, 2019

by Pien Huang

Picture a hairless, wrinkly rodent about the size of a small sweet potato — kinda cool, kinda weird. They also are extraordinarily long-lived. Researchers are lining up to study their secrets.

Kevin Carducci is part owner and plant manager of Omni Recycling. He says it costs the business $1 million a year to get rid of the plastics that can't be recycled.

More U.S. Towns Are Feeling The Pinch As Recycling Becomes Costlier

5:06pm August 21, 2019

by Rebecca Davis

The U.S. recycling industry is facing a quandary: Too much of the plastic we use can't be recycled, and taxpayers increasingly are on the hook for paying for all that trash to hit the landfills.

Queue Listen Now

Trash sent for recycling moves along a conveyor belt to be sorted at Waste Management's material recovery facility in Elkridge, Md. In 2018, China announced it would no longer buy most plastic waste from places like the United States.

U.S. Recycling Industry Is Struggling To Figure Out A Future Without China

8:10pm August 20, 2019

by Christopher Joyce

China is no longer taking the world's waste. The U.S. recycling industry is overwhelmed — it can't keep up with the plastic being churned out. This doesn't bode well for our plastic waste problem.

Queue Listen Now

A 15-year-old in Cambridge, Mass., shows off her vaping device in 2018. Schools and health officials across the U.S. are struggling to curb what they say is an epidemic of underage vaping.

Cigarettes Can't Be Advertised On TV. Should Juul Ads Be Permitted?

12:16pm August 20, 2019

by Michelle Andrews

Though tobacco ads have been banned from TV for about 50 years, the marketing of electronic cigarettes isn't constrained by the law. Public health advocates consider that a loophole that hurts kids.

Perfect Storm Hits U.S. Recycling Industry

11:43am August 20, 2019

by Rebecca Davis

Since Woodbury, N.J., began the nation's first mandatory curbside recycling program, the industry is in trouble. China has stopped taking all the plastic so facilities are overwhelmed.

Queue Listen Now

Jill Heinerth says Dan's Cave on Abaco Island, Bahamas, is her "favorite cave on Earth."

Cave Diver Risks All To Explore Places 'Where Nobody Has Ever Been'

8:52pm August 19, 2019

by Dave Davies

"The big picture of survival is sometimes so hard to see, but we always know what we can do to make the next best step toward survival," says cave diver, photographer and memoirist Jill Heinerth.

Queue Listen Now

A study conducted in six Canadian cities found a link between maternal consumption of fluoride during pregnancy and intelligence of their offspring.

Can Maternal Fluoride Consumption During Pregnancy Lower Children's Intelligence?

5:15pm August 19, 2019

by Richard Harris

A Canadian study suggests that fluoride consumed by pregnant women can affect the IQ of their children. No single study provides definitive answers, but the findings will no doubt stir debate.

Queue Listen Now

Scientists are using statistics, history and computer modeling to understand exactly how much hotter the oceans are today than they were before industrialization. Harvard researchers just found a clue in shipping records digitized after World War II.

How Much Hotter Are The Oceans? The Answer Begins With A Bucket

1:18pm August 19, 2019

by Rebecca Hersher

Scientists need to track the history of sea temperatures precisely to model climate change. A newly discovered clue in measurements taken by sailors in the 1930s could have far-reaching implications.

Queue Listen Now

Though not the same as actually jumping into the waves, a virtual reality program like this one that let a headset-wearing patient "swim with dolphins" was enough of an immersive distraction to significantly reduce pain, a study found.

Got Pain? A Virtual Swim With Dolphins May Help Melt It Away

8:05am August 19, 2019

by Allison Aubrey

A recent study found virtual reality experiences were better at easing pain than watching televised nature scenes. Immersive distraction seems key to the success, scientists say.

Queue Listen Now