Science

The fossil remains of Dickinsonia, an Ediacaran organism that's long been extinct. Scientists have long assumed these early life forms lived in the sea, but a new study argues they emerged on land.

Science

Land Creatures Might Not Have Come From The Sea

6:29pm December 12, 2012

by Richard Harris

Conventional wisdom holds that complex life evolved in the sea, then crawled up onto land. But a provocative new study argues that the procession might be drawn in the wrong direction. The earliest large life forms may have appeared on land long before the oceans filled with creatures.

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Is California Up Next For An Oil And Gas Boom?

6:05am December 12, 2012

by Lauren Sommer

The Bureau of Land Management is auctioning off 18,000 acres of oil leases in California Wednesday. The state has one of the largest deposits of shale oil in the country. And it's attracting new attention because of the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing – or fracking.

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This photograph from 1934 shows the Carnegie Museum's Apatosaurus skeleton on the right — wearing the wrong skull.

Science

Forget Extinct: The Brontosaurus Never Even Existed

7:09pm December 09, 2012

by NPR Staff

Even if you knew that, you may not know how the fictional dinosaur came to star in the prehistoric landscape of popular imagination for so long. The story starts 130 years ago, in a time known as the "Bone Wars."

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Delegates attend the last day of the U.N. climate talks in Doha, Qatar, on Friday. U.N. climate negotiators locked horns on the final day of talks in Doha to halt the march of global warming, deeply divided on extending the greenhouse gas-curbing Kyoto Pr

At Doha Climate Talks, Modest Results At Best

11:50pm December 07, 2012

by Richard Harris

Diplomats in Doha, Qatar, are working late into the night to hammer out a deal in the 18th round of U.N. climate talks. Expectations are low as the talks are part of a multiyear process to make a transition from the fading Kyoto climate treaty to something that engages all nations of the world.

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'Escape Fire' Exposes Flaws Of American Healthcare

1:03pm December 07, 2012

In Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare", director Matthew Heineman exposes what he sees as flaws in the U.S. healthcare system, such as a doctor who can spend just minutes with her patients to a soldier addicted to painkillers. Colonel Chester 'Trip' Buckenmaier III, of the U.S. Army Medical Corps, describes the military's efforts to swap pain pills for alternative therapies, like acupuncture and yoga.

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Science

Curiosity 2.0? NASA Announces New Mars Rover Plans

1:03pm December 07, 2012

It has been an exciting week for planetary scientists, ranging from the discovery of water ice on Mercury to the announcement of a new Mars rover mission in 2020. Jim Green, director of NASA's planetary science division, and scientist Matthew Siegler discuss the latest news.

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Science

Ask an Astronaut: NASA Spaceflyers Open Up

1:03pm December 07, 2012

For the latest in our "Ask an Expert" series, current NASA astronaut Donald Pettit and former astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman chat about their spaceflight experiences. From brushing your teeth to weightless dreams, the astronauts discuss the many curiosities of living in space.

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Blue Whale Barrel Roll Caught On Camera

12:00pm December 07, 2012

Reporting in the journal Biology Letters, Jeremy Goldbogen and colleagues say blue whales perform underwater acrobatics when they're eating: they rotate 360 degrees while they gulp krill. Reaching 90 feet in length, blue whales are the largest animals on the planet. Goldbogen is studying their dining habits to understand what fuels their growth.

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When researchers looked at the genetic sequences of 179 individuals, they found far more defects in the patterns of As, Ts, Gs, and Cs than they expected.

Perfection Is Skin Deep: Everyone Has Flawed Genes

10:19pm December 06, 2012

by Rob Stein

Researchers found a surprising number of mutations, including several associated with disease, in the genes of normal healthy people. Their study raises questions about whether widespread genetic sequencing could end up scaring people for no good reason.

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Why It's Easier To Scam The Elderly

4:23pm December 06, 2012

by Patti Neighmond

New research suggests older adults may have less activity in the area of the brain that processes risk and subtle danger. Another possible reason older adults don't pick up on warning signs is an increasing bias against negativity.

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