Science

An artist's rendering of ripples in space-time.

Science

Strange Parallels: Alternative Histories In Physics And Culture

1:14pm December 07, 2017

by Paul Halpern

Ideas of parallel universes and alternative histories, once confined to mere rumination about lost opportunities and fictional scenarios, are now a part of science, says guest writer Paul Halpern.

Even Low-Dose Contraceptives Slightly Increase Breast Cancer Risk

10:22am December 07, 2017

by Patti Neighmond

The absolute risk is very low. But low-dose formulations of birth control pills and other hormone-releasing contraceptives pose about the same risk to breasts as older formulations, a big study finds.

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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, (center) with other mayors from the U.S., Mexico and Canada at the summit, says, "There is an absence of leadership out of Washington" on climate change.

Dozens Of Mayors Sign Pact To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

6:34pm December 06, 2017

by David Schaper

Mayors from across the country also agreed to meet goals similar to those in the Paris climate accord, which President Trump announced earlier this year the U.S. would withdraw from.

Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt was sentenced to 7 years in prison for conspiring to evade U.S. clean air laws.

Senior Volkswagen Executive Sentenced In Diesel-Emissions Scandal

6:01pm December 06, 2017

by Richard Gonzales

Oliver Schmidt admitted to conspiring to defraud the United States by misleading federal regulators about the emissions of diesel cars and violating clean air laws.

An artist's conception of the most-distant supermassive black hole ever discovered, which is part of a quasar from just 690 million years after the Big Bang.

Science

Massive Black Hole Reveals When The First Stars Blinked On

1:42pm December 06, 2017

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Scientists have detected a black hole thought to be about 800 million times as massive as our sun that is helping to reveal when the universe filled with starlight.

The science process can teach us about life, too, says Marcelo Gleiser.

Science

Can Science Teach Us Something About How To Live?

1:37pm December 06, 2017

by Marcelo Gleiser

In science, and in life, there is an artful balance between being cautious and adventurous; to find the balance takes experimentation, tolerance for mistakes, and humility, says Marcelo Gleiser.

Evaluating Smoking Bans

5:06am December 06, 2017

by Shankar Vedantam

A new study indicates that smoking bans, which were designed to affect adults' behavior, in fact improve children's health.

The first baby born as a result of a womb transplant in the United States in the neonatal unit at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

First Baby Born To U.S. Uterus Transplant Patient Raises Ethics Questions

5:34pm December 05, 2017

by Greta Jochem

A woman who received a uterus transplant recently delivered a healthy baby boy. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with the doctors working on the experiment about its ethics, risk, and cost implications.

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Ask The FCC

3:44pm December 05, 2017

What do you want to ask an FCC commissioner?

Dr. Enrico Fermi was the leader of the group of scientists who succeeded in initiating the first man-made nuclear chain reaction.

Science

What Would Enrico Fermi Think Of Science Today?

12:15pm December 05, 2017

by David N. Schwartz

More than 60 years after the physicist won the Nobel Prize, author David N. Schwartz considers how Fermi would react to today's science of black holes, genetic engineering and climate change.