Youth Radio
Students Grossed Out By School Water Fountains
[4 min 36 sec]
Science
Tall grasses in the San Joaquin valley in California suck carbon dioxide out of the air and store it in the soil. It's one option that environmentalists are pursuing for greenhouse gas "offsets" that can be bought and sold in the state.
Can 'Carbon Ranching' Offset Emissions In Calif.?
()Climate experts are thinking about growing dense fields of weeds to help soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This would require flooding dense, carbon-rich wetland soils of the San Joaquin Valley, and farmers hope money they make from capturing greenhouse gases would make up for the lost acreage.
Space
Scientists Find Monster Black Holes, Biggest Yet()
December 5, 2011 A team led by astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, discovered the two gigantic black holes in clusters of elliptical galaxies more than 300 million light years away. The previous black hole record-holder is as large as 6 billion suns.
Environment
Back-Room Deals Begin At Climate Talks()
December 5, 2011 Negotiations began in earnest on a deal to rescue the only treaty governing greenhouse gas reductions at the U.N. climate talks in South Africa. Despite public declarations it would participate in a legally binding agreement in the future, China unequivocally told the EU it would not accept binding targets for itself.
Space
Found: Earth-Like Planet That Might Be Right For Life()
December 5, 2011 The planet, dubbed Kepler-22b, isn't much larger than Earth and is orbiting a star in a region that's not too hot and not too cold — just the kind of place that could be home to liquid water, and maybe even life. But don't pack your bags just yet: It's 600 light-years away.
The Salt
Insects Find Crack In Biotech Corn's Armor()
December 5, 2011 Scientists report that a genetically engineered corn crop has failed to kill the corn rootworm — the pest it was designed to stop. This may be the most serious threat to a genetically modified crops in the U.S. since farmers first started growing them fifteen years ago.
Humans
For Creative People, Cheating Comes More Easily()
December 5, 2011 "It's all about telling stories," says the author of a new psychological study, "so creative people are likely to be able to tell themselves better stories, which would allow them to cheat more on the one hand, but not feel worse about it on the other."
Krulwich Wonders...
The Best Hike On Mars You'll Ever Take()
December 5, 2011 We're going back to Mars: Next summer, a Jeep-sized robot will land on the red planet, and the search for Little Green Men will continue. Except nobody's looking for those anymore. Instead, the hunt is on for very teeny martians, shaped like itsy bitsy rods.
Animals
The Deep-Sea Find That Changed Biology()
December 5, 2011 The depths of our oceans are dark, punishingly cold and utterly devoid of life. Or so scientists thought, until a team of researchers in the late 1970s stumbled upon squishy, rubbery worms, up to 7 feet long, living 8,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific.
Health
Milwaukee's 'Misery Index': Infant Mortality()
December 4, 2011 As the city lost industrial jobs, its infant mortality rate skyrocketed. In one particular ZIP code, one baby dies for every 59 that make it. That's a rate that's worse than in parts of rural China.
Animals
Feds: Tuna Probably OK After BP Oil Spill()
December 4, 2011 Of all the potential damage from the 172-million-gallon spill in April 2010, scientists had been most concerned about how the oil spill would harm an already overfished species of large tuna.
Animals
Name That Tune: Identifying Whale Songs For Science()
December 4, 2011 Researchers need your help to unlock the secrets of whale songs. A new online experiment is recruiting citizen scientists to study killer and pilot whale calls from around the world.
