Science

A Yale University study analyzed the experience of 60 million Americans covered by traditional Medicare between 1999 and 2013, and found "jaw-dropping improvements in almost every area," the lead author says.

Happy 50th Birthday, Medicare. Your Patients Are Getting Healthier

8:49am July 30, 2015

by Richard Harris

The past 15 years have seen a drop in deaths and hospitalizations among Medicare patients — people 65 and older. Teasing out why is tricky, but it seems a good trend for the 50-year-old program.

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Anil Ananthaswamy is a consultant for New Scientist Magazine.

A Sense Of Self: What Happens When Your Brain Says You Don't Exist

8:49am July 30, 2015

In his new book, The Man Who Wasn't There, Anil Ananthaswamy examines the ways people think of themselves — and how those perceptions can be distorted by certain brain conditions.

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Lake herring roe at the Dockside Fish Market in Grand Marais, Minn. Some workers at the market call it "Lake Superior Gold."

Europe's Taste For Caviar Is Putting Pressure On A Great Lakes Fish

7:56pm July 29, 2015

by Peter Payette

Scientists say lake herring, a key fish in Lake Superior's food web, is suffering because of mild winters and Europe's appetite for roe. Some say the species may be at risk of "collapse."

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The teeth and mandibles of four male skeletons unearthed in Jamestown, Virginia, now reside in Washington, D.C., at the Smithsonian's museum of natural history. Researchers believe they've now puzzled out the identities of the men: high-status leaders fro

Bones In Church Ruins Likely The Remains Of Early Jamestown's Elite

7:22pm July 29, 2015

by Christopher Joyce

Scientists say remains of four men exhumed from what was once an Anglican church suggest they were well-nourished, "high-status" leaders in the early 17th century colony. And one was likely Catholic.

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"It now pays to get a lot of pleasure out of a little bit of sugar," says Danielle Reed, a scientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center.

The Gene For Sweet: Why We Don't All Taste Sugar The Same Way

7:00pm July 29, 2015

by Eliza Barclay

We know that a gene can determine how strongly we experience bitter flavors. Scientists wanted to know if this was also true for sweet. Their study shows genetics may affect our taste for sugar, too.

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Science

University Of Lisbon Scientists Solve Pendulum Clock Mystery

7:00pm July 29, 2015

Two professors at the University of Lisbon say they have discovered why the pendulums of clocks set on the same surface will eventually swing together in opposing directions.

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Star Trek's Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk never even lose pocket change when they use a transporter to get from TV's Starship Enterprise to distant worlds. What gives?

Beam Me Up? Teleporting Is Real, Even If Trekkie Transport Isn't

7:00pm July 29, 2015

by Geoff Brumfiel

Teleporting from one place to the next looks so fun on the big and little screen. But physicists who actually can do something like that with single atoms say teleporting people would be much messier.

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A photo released by Virgin Galactic shows a badly injured SpaceShipTwo pilot Peter Siebold drifting under his parachute after last October's accident that destroyed the spacecraft during a test flight.

SpaceShipTwo 'Pilot Was Thrown From The Vehicle' High In Atmosphere

5:50pm July 29, 2015

by Bill Chappell

SpaceShipTwo broke apart soon after it reached supersonic speeds and an altitude of around 50,000 feet. Its pilot says his parachute opened in a "gentlemanly" fashion, after he had fallen for a while.

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Tourists on safari watch three young lions in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve.

One Point Of View On How Lions Can Earn Money For Africa

4:53pm July 29, 2015

by Ina Yang

Cecil the lion died in an apparently illegal hunt in Zimbabwe. But legal trophy hunting can bring in big bucks for Africa nations. Our interviewee thinks tourism is a far more profitable venture.

A nanosecond pulsed laser beam starts the photoacoustic imaging process.

A Scientist Deploys Light And Sound To Reveal The Brain

3:51pm July 29, 2015

by Jon Hamilton

Try to look inside the brain, and you're not going to get very far. But photoacoustic imaging may be a solution for the shortcomings of conventional imaging. It uses lasers to make the brain sing.

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