Science

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Forensics Lab Director Ken Goddard holds a wood sample used in the lab's forensic work in Ashland, Ore.

Wildlife Forensics Lab Uses Tech To Sniff, Identify Illegal Wood

11:04am July 04, 2015

by Jes Burns

International timber trafficking is an estimated $100 billion business. A lab that usually focuses on endangered animal cases is using a sophisticated machine to identify contraband wood shipments.

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Science

A Rock Band And A Moon, United In Name

11:04am July 04, 2015

Members of the classic rock band Styx visited NASA mission control for New Horizon, the space probe that discovered Pluto's smallest moon, Styx.

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Strontium Nitrate And Barium Nitrate, The Fuel In Fireworks

11:04am July 04, 2015

How do they get the brilliant sparks of red, white and blue in fireworks displays? NPR's Eric Westervelt talks with Harry Gilliam, founder of Skylighter, a supplier for pyrotechnics in Round Hill, Va.

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Pilot In Solar-Powered Plane Sets Aviation Record

3:58pm July 03, 2015

by Scott Neuman

André Borschberg, flying Solar Impulse 2, set a new record of 120 hours in the cockpit on a journey from Japan to Hawaii.

A Russian Progress spacecraft blasts off from the launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on Friday.

Russia Finally Launches Supplies To ISS After Earlier Failures

10:08am July 03, 2015

by Scott Neuman

The liftoff of the Soyuz Progress 60P was a relief to astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station after two previous resupply missions — one Russian and one American — failed.

Mammoths had a distinctive version of a gene known to play a role in sensing outside temperature, moderating the biology of fat and regulating hair growth. That bit of DNA likely helped mammoths thrive in cold weather, scientists say.

Checking DNA Against Elephants Hints At How Mammoths Got Woolly

7:55am July 03, 2015

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

A clump of a mammoth's fur bought on eBay led scientists to a long list of ways the extinct species was special. One specific gene likely played a role in helping mammoths thrive in icy weather.

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Raymond Smith of Charleston, S.C., kneels in prayer in front of the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston before a worship service on June 21.

Coping While Black: A Season Of Traumatic News Takes A Psychological Toll

8:12pm July 02, 2015

by Cheryl Corley

Research on the psychological effects of racism, especially on people of color, is still in the early stages. But psychologists warn that events like the Charleston shooting can cause serious stress.

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A woman in Yatta, Kenya, explains how to make clean water using a car battery and just the right mixture of salt and water.

How Salt + Car Battery = Clean Water

7:27pm July 02, 2015

by Jessie Rack

A clever device uses technology developed by the military to make chlorine quickly and cheaply. The goal is to give schools and hospitals around the world an easy way to purify water.

BP To Pay $18.7 Billion In Landmark Settlement Over 2010 Gulf Oil Spill

6:35pm July 02, 2015

by Jeff Brady

Oil giant BP agreed to pay $18.7 billion in a settlement announced on Friday by Gulf Coast states and the federal government. The deal pays for the harm from BP's 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which was the worst in U.S. history. The accident killed 11 rig workers.

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BP Settlement To Address Ecosystem Damage Caused By Oil Spill

6:35pm July 02, 2015

NPR's Rachel Martin talks with Bethany Kraft, director of the Gulf Restoration Program at Ocean Conservancy, about the BP spill's impact on the environment to date.

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