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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The White House has ordered a review of the government's system for regulating products of biotechnology, including genetically modified crops. That system has been controversial from the start.