Science

Living 63 Feet Underwater Helps Cousteau Team Conduct Experiments

2:03pm July 02, 2014

Fabien Cousteau and a crew of scientists and explorers have spent the past 31 days underwater in the Aquarius Reef Base off the coast of Florida. David Greene talks to Cousteau about the experience.

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Safety Feature For Pedestrians Has Undesired Consequence

2:24pm July 01, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

New analysis finds that the countdown clocks telling pedestrians how much time they have to cross the intersection actually increase traffic crashes.

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Carbon Observatory To Monitor Greenhouse Gas From Space

6:32am July 01, 2014

by Geoff Brumfiel

NASA is preparing to launch a new satellite to observe carbon dioxide from space. The satellite could revolutionize our understanding of where this greenhouse gas comes from and where it goes.

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Scientists Come Close To Finding True Magnetic Monopole

10:55am June 30, 2014

by Joe Palca

Ectromagnetic theory says there should be a bit of matter that is unipolar: neither north or south. So far no one has found a magnetic monopole, but physicists at Amherst college have come close.

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One of 30 copies of the first protoype meter made by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in Sevres, France. 1875-1889

Science

How Did The Meter Get Its Length?

10:45am June 30, 2014

by Joe Palca

The U.S. doesn't routinely use the metric system. The U.S. government definition of a foot is 0.3048 meters. But if the length of a foot is based on the meter, what's the length of the meter based on?

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How To Sell Green Products To The Self-Regarding Consumer

9:40am June 30, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

Research shows narcissists can be induced to make environmentally positive purchases when those purchases are linked to the things narcissists value — prestige, status and image.

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Over the past century and a half, visitors have traveled through Yosemite on foot, by carriage, by tram and by car. Now some regions will be once again be accessible only by foot, to protect delicate regions of the park.

As Yosemite Park Turns 150, Charms And Challenges Endure

12:04am June 29, 2014

by Sasha Khokha

In 1864, Abraham Lincoln set aside the nation's first federally-protected wilderness areas. Visitors have enjoyed Yosemite's wonders ever since — sometimes to the point of endangering them.

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The Cassini spacecraft has been taking radar images of Titan for years now. This modified image of the Ligeia Mare, a sea on Titan's north pole, is a composite of some of those.

Science

Scientists Observe Springtime Changes On One Of Saturn's Moons

2:15pm June 23, 2014

by Rae Ellen Bichell

On Titan, summer is almost three years away. But in a dark, placid ocean of natural gas, scientists have spotted something that could be the first inkling of springtime.

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6 Decades Of Research Examines Prisoners Of War

7:29am June 20, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

The release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl prompted a firestorm of debate. We step away from that debate to look at what's been learned about the psychological effects of being captured in wartime

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Science

Seeking the Solstice: Kick Off Your Summer of Cosmic Sunsets

7:12pm June 19, 2014

by Adam Frank

Just in time for the official start of summer, NPR's Adam Frank heads outside to better understand the summer solstice. The secret, he says, is in the sunsets.

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