Science

Coca-Cola cans on a production line at a bottling plant near New Delhi in 2013. The company decided in April 2015 not to build an $81 million bottling plant in southern India because local farmers said it might exhaust groundwater supplies.

Why Food Companies Should Be More Afraid Of Water Scarcity

9:50am May 12, 2015

by Abby Wendle

An environmental sustainability group assessed how 37 U.S. food companies are responding to escalating water risks. It found most have a long way to go to improve water efficiency and other practices.

Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods has created an Internet interface so customers can zoom in and view information about specific koa trees from their computers.

Using Investments And Technology To Rebuild Hawaii's Koa Forests

9:00pm May 11, 2015

by Jeff Tyler

One company is attempting reforestation with an innovative business model. Investors can track the coveted trees using digital IDs. Their money goes to plant new trees that won't be harvested.

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In Midst Of Drought, Why Not Harvest Water From The Air?

9:00pm May 11, 2015

All Tech Considered explores some experimental and lesser-used technologies for harvesting and disinfecting water.

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Welcome to America! Before it was spotted in Los Angeles, the fruit fly species Drosophila gentica had been seen only in El Salvador back in 1954.

Exotic Vinegar Flies Invade California After World Tour

8:33pm May 11, 2015

by Michaeleen Doucleff

One critter traveled around the globe from Australia on a eucalyptus tree. The other hitched a ride on a Central American flower. These flies are the tip of the invasive insect iceberg in California.

U.S. Gives Conditional OK To Shell Oil For Drilling Off Alaska's Arctic Shore

6:59pm May 11, 2015

by Bill Chappell

The company wants to resume drilling in the Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska; it broke off that effort in 2012 because of safety problems.

Astronomer Chris Impey examines the possibilities of the universe in his new book Beyond. "I like the idea that the universe — the boundless possibility of 20 billion habitable worlds — has led to things that we can barely imagine," he says. In the 19

The Great 'Beyond': Contemplating Life, Sex And Elevators In Space

4:53pm May 11, 2015

Astronomer Chris Impey discusses the future of space travel, sex in space and the connection between science and Buddhism. Impey is the author of Beyond: Our Future in Space.

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Sir David Attenborough at the Beijing Museum of Natural History with fossil of Juramaia, as featured in the Smithsonian Channel series Rise of Animals: Triumph of the Vertebrates.

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In 'Rise Of Animals,' Sir David Attenborough Tells Story Of Vertebrates

1:23pm May 11, 2015

by NPR Staff

The 89-year-old British naturalist's two-part special explores fossil evidence on how evolution moved past bugs and worms and trilobites, and how the Chinese are helping fill gaps in that knowledge.

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A woolly mammoth skeleton gets auctioned off in Billingshurst, England.

If Science Could 'Clone A Mammoth,' Could It Save An Elephant?

8:21pm May 09, 2015

by NPR Staff

De-extinction technology could soon bring back lost species — or preserve endangered ones. In her new book, evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro explores the scientific and ethical challenges.

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Global Carbon Dioxide Levels Reach Milestone

10:38pm May 08, 2015

NPR's Melissa Block speaks with Pieter Tans of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Laboratory about greenhouse gas emissions surpassing 400 parts per million.

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An image of the galaxy EGS-zs8-1, which set a new distance record after researchers determined it was more than 13 billion light-years away.

Science

At 13 Billion Light-Years Away, Galaxy Is Farthest To Be Measured From Earth

5:57pm May 08, 2015

by Bill Chappell

A new glimpse of what the universe looked like in its youth has been captured. Researchers say light from galaxy EGS-zs8-1 has spent the past 13 billion years traveling to Earth.