Science

How The Brain Tells Real From Fake: From Fine Art To Fine Wine

12:04am December 01, 2015

by NPR Staff

Shankar speaks with Noah Charney, author of The Art of Forgery, about what motivates art forgers. Also this week on Hidden Brain: why we love studies that prove wine connoisseurs wrong.

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A building called Sustainability Base, at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., has an energy-efficient design that allows in sunlight. So for most of the year, the interior is illuminated by natural light.

NASA Uses Lessons From Space To Design An Efficient Building

7:24pm November 30, 2015

by Joe Palca

Named Sustainability Base, a NASA facility in California is a model for energy-efficient federal buildings. It's powered by a fuel cell like those used on spacecraft and recycles water for flushing.

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Delegates from about 170 countries gathered in Kyoto in December 1997 during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This year in Paris, the stakes are even higher, negotiators say.

Kyoto Treaty Fizzled, But Climate Talkers Insist Paris Is Different

7:10pm November 30, 2015

by Christopher Joyce

The 1997 Kyoto treaty set targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions that many nations didn't meet. This time, stakes are higher and all countries will be asked to set and meet their own limits.

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Paris Continues To Recover As Global Leaders Attend Climate Summit

7:05pm November 30, 2015

by Eleanor Beardsley

The United Nations climate summit opened Monday with more than 130 world leaders expected to attend. Its a huge security challenge for a city still recovering from the November 13th terror attacks.

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Big Data Predicts Centuries Of Harm If Climate Warming Goes Unchecked

6:26pm November 30, 2015

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

It took about 30 teams of scientists worldwide, using supercomputers to churn through mountains of data, to see patterns aligning of what will happen decades and centuries from now.

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Record Breaking Smog In China, India Underlines Climate Summit In Paris

6:11pm November 30, 2015

India and China's capitals suffer from record breaking smog as the summit to limit greenhouse gas emissions kicks off in Paris Monday.

A piece of ice floats in Los Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz province, Argentina.

10 Things To Know About The U.N. Climate Talks In Paris

5:49pm November 30, 2015

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Here's a bit about what you should know going into the 2015 U.N. Climate Change Conference beginning Nov. 30.

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President Obama (from left), French President Francois Hollande and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates applaud a speech during the Mission Innovation event at the UN conference on climate change Monday in Paris.

Bill Gates And Other Billionaires Pledge To Take On Climate Change

5:29pm November 30, 2015

by Marilyn Geewax

Twenty countries and 28 investors promised on Monday to jointly fund the development of energy alternatives. Backers of the initiative say private money is key to the next big push in energy.

As Paris Summit Begins, What Would A Successful Climate Deal Look Like?

5:20pm November 30, 2015

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Jennifer Morgan, global director of the Climate Program at the World Resources Institute. They discuss what success in Paris would be and what has to happen afterward.

Obama Calls For Decisive Action Against Climate Change At Paris Summit

5:01pm November 30, 2015

by Scott Horsley

At a summit in Paris, President Obama urged his fellow leaders to take decisive action against climate change. But some countries — like India — face competing interests.