Science

NASA's Comic Background Explorer (COBE) was launched in 1989. It showed the background wasn't entirely even.

Science

Big Bang's Ripples: Two Scientists Recall Their Big Discovery

10:20am May 21, 2014

by Geoff Brumfiel

Fifty years ago today, two astronomers in New Jersey accidentally discovered the Big Bang's afterglow. The roaring space static their hilltop antenna detected came from the birth of the universe.

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Science

Mating Rituals: Why Certain Risky Behaviors Can Make You Look Hot

9:29am May 21, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

Social science research suggests risky behavior such as braving heights or swimming in deep waters increases your sex appeal. Driving without a seat belt? Not so much.

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Science

Why Reporting On Scientific Research May Warp Findings

7:46am May 20, 2014

by Shankar Vedantam

The pressure to publish original research can mean scientists are neglecting to verify the work of others. In its current issue, the journal Social Psychology is trying a different approach.

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Science

The First American Teenager, Millennia-Old And Underwater

6:28pm May 18, 2014

by Joe Palca

DNA from the skeleton of a 12,000-year-old teenage girl found on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula shows that today's Native Americans are descended from Siberians who spread southward across North America.

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Contaminated water can spread diseases like cholera and typhoid. A new project aims to provide water filters in the form of an educational book.

Filtering A New Idea: A Book That's Educational And 'Drinkable'

10:32pm May 17, 2014

by NPR Staff

Improving access to clean water can reduce the spread of diarrheal diseases in developing countries. The "Drinkable Book" should help: It has water safety tips and each page works as a filter.

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Out There On The Ice: An Intimate View Of The Melting Antarctic Sheet

1:00pm May 16, 2014

Two groups of scientists have reported that the melting of the giant West Antarctica Ice Sheet appears to be unstoppable. Oceans could rise several feet in the coming centuries because of its melting.

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Lance Armstrong (left) and Tyler Hamilton compete in the 90th Tour de France in 2003. Hamilton later testified in the doping case brought against Armstrong and the U.S. Postal cycling team.

Athletes Chased By Technology In The Sport Of Anti-Doping

7:59pm May 10, 2014

by NPR Staff

As testing for doping in sports becomes more sophisticated, so do the drugs. Looking at the recent history of cycling can make you wonder how many cheaters continue to slip by undetected.

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U.S. Marine Sgt. Robert Scoggin gets a vaccination against smallpox in 2003 at Camp Pendleton in California — one of the final steps before deployment overseas.

Keep Or Kill Last Lab Stocks Of Smallpox? Time To Decide, Says WHO

8:45pm May 09, 2014

by Rob Stein

"If smallpox is outlawed, only outlaws will have smallpox," says one NIH virologist. Others say keeping vials of deadly virus just invites a horrific accident or theft. WHO is about to vote — again.

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Science

Eyewire: A Computer Game to Map the Eye

2:22pm May 09, 2014

by Joe Palca

MIT neuroscientist Sebastian Seung (now at Princeton) invented the game to help him make a map of the cells in the mammalian retina. A year later, he says the game is producing valuable science.

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Klotho (right) is one of the three Greek Fates depicted in this Flemish tapestry at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Anti-Aging Hormone Could Make You Smarter

7:49pm May 08, 2014

by Jon Hamilton

Scientists have found that a hormone associated with long life also seems to make people smarter. The gene strengthens the connections between brain cells, a process that's essential for learning.

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