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State Dept. Delivers Unwelcome News For Keystone Opponents

A protest of the Keystone XL pipeline last March along its proposed route near Bradshaw, Nebraska. NH/AP hide caption

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NH/AP

State Dept. Delivers Unwelcome News For Keystone Opponents

January 31, 2014 • The department's final environmental assessment of the Keystone XL pipeline found that blocking the project probably wouldn't stop the development of Canada's tar sands. But the review didn't endorse the pipeline either. Secretary Kerry — and, ultimately, President Obama — will have the final say.

State Dept. Delivers Unwelcome News For Keystone Opponents

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U.S. Issues Keystone XL Pipeline Environmental Review

Pipefitters work on construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline's southern portion outside Tulsa, Okla., last January. PR Newswire hide caption

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PR Newswire

U.S. Issues Keystone XL Pipeline Environmental Review

January 31, 2014 • The report concludes that the production of Canada's tar-sand crude, which causes more greenhouse gases than other forms, won't be affected if the pipeline moves forward.

John Wilbanks: Is Too Much Privacy Bad For Your Health?

"People like to share, if you give them the opportunity and the choice." — John Wilbanks James Duncan Davidson/TED hide caption

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James Duncan Davidson/TED

John Wilbanks: Is Too Much Privacy Bad For Your Health?

January 31, 2014 • Health IT expert John Wilbanks explores whether the desire to protect privacy is slowing research, and if opening up medical data could create a wave of health care innovation.

John Wilbanks: Is Too Much Privacy Bad For Your Health?

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Australia OKs Dumping Dredged Mud In Great Barrier Reef Park

A tasseled wobbegong shark (top) lies on the seafloor with the head of a brown-banded bamboo shark in its mouth on the fringing reef of Great Keppel Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef in August 2011. Reuters/Landov hide caption

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Reuters/Landov

The Two-Way

Australia OKs Dumping Dredged Mud In Great Barrier Reef Park

January 31, 2014 • The dredging operation is part of a plan to expand a coal port in Queensland. Environmentalists have warned that dumping sediment could kill off delicate corals, but park officials said dredging would be "subject to strict environmental conditions."

A Hunk Of Planet Dissolves Before Our Eyes

exposurelabs/YouTube

Krulwich Wonders...

A Hunk Of Planet Dissolves Before Our Eyes

January 31, 2014 • It's been there for thousands, maybe tens of thousands of years — a huge, solid, endless mass of white ice. Then, all of sudden ("It's starting, Adam," says an onlooker) there's a crack, then another, and whoosh, an immense field vanishes — splits, splits again, and right before your eyes (you've got to see this) sinks into the sea. This is how ice leaves our planet.

Researchers Watch As Our Brains Turn Sounds Into Words

Katherine Streeter for NPR

Shots - Health News

Researchers Watch As Our Brains Turn Sounds Into Words

January 30, 2014 • To understand speech, the brain has to quickly recognize the sounds used to form words. Researchers say that process involves groups of highly specialized brain cells that respond to individual sounds produced by the human vocal tract.

Researchers Watch As Our Brains Turn Sounds Into Words

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Changing Climate In Argentina Is Killing Penguin Chicks

Magellanic penguins strut their stuff on the rocky shoreline of Argentina's Punta Tombo, home to the largest colony of the birds in the world. Craig Lovell/Corbis hide caption

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Craig Lovell/Corbis

Environment

Changing Climate In Argentina Is Killing Penguin Chicks

January 30, 2014 • The world's largest breeding colony of Magellanic penguins is seeing unprecedented deaths among young birds. A scientist who has spent 30 years studying the penguins says that climate change is to blame — triggering, among other things, more heat waves and wetter storms that kill fledglings.

Changing Climate In Argentina Is Killing Penguin Chicks

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Your Nose Knows Which Foods Are Fattiest

Charles, Prince of Wales, smells before tasting some ice cream during a visit to Gloucestershire. Maybe he was sniffing for fat? Barry Batchelor/Getty Images hide caption

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Barry Batchelor/Getty Images

The Salt

Your Nose Knows Which Foods Are Fattiest

January 30, 2014 • Low-fat ice cream just won't cut it for you? Maybe it's your nose telling you it's not the real deal. Researchers have found that people can actually smell differences in dietary fat in food. It's an ability that might have helped our ancestors find the best foods to survive on.

Popular Testosterone Therapy May Raise Risk Of Heart Attack

Some men take testosterone hoping to boost energy and libido, or to build strength. But at what risk? iStockphoto hide caption

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iStockphoto

Shots - Health News

Popular Testosterone Therapy May Raise Risk Of Heart Attack

January 30, 2014 • Men who take testosterone supplements double their risk of heart attacks, a study finds. That was true for men over 65 and for younger men with heart disease. Testosterone supplements have become increasingly popular as a way to counter flagging libido.

Loic Poidevin//Nature Picture Library/Corbis

Krulwich Wonders...

The Starling That Dared To Be Different

January 30, 2014 • There they are, up on the power line, side by side by side by side by side. Starlings, each one like the other — rubber-stamped birds, a mob (or murmuration) of indecipherably similar critters, always the same, sitting or flying. But wait! What if there's such a thing as an Exceptional Starling? I think I've found one (or maybe ... four!), hiding in a video.

Asteroid Belt May Be Just One Big Melting Pot Of Space Rocks

An artist's concept of a narrow asteroid belt orbiting a star similar to our own sun. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Two-Way

Asteroid Belt May Be Just One Big Melting Pot Of Space Rocks

January 30, 2014 • New research shows that a planetary reshuffle might have shaped the ring of rubble between Mars and Jupiter.

Asteroid Belt May Be Just One Big Melting Pot Of Space Rocks

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Much Of North Dakota's Natural Gas Is Going Up In Flames

Gas flaring near Highway 85 southwest of Williston. Analysts estimate that almost 30 percent of the gas being produced in the state is burned off. Jeff Brady/NPR hide caption

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Jeff Brady/NPR

The Great Plains Oil Rush

Much Of North Dakota's Natural Gas Is Going Up In Flames

January 30, 2014 • Drillers pumping oil on the Great Plains are also producing a lot of natural gas. But the state doesn't have the infrastructure to transport or store it, so much of that gas isn't being sold — it's being set on fire.

Much Of North Dakota's Natural Gas Is Going Up In Flames

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Adult Obesity May Have Origins Way Back In Kindergarten

Playing outside can help kids — and their parents — maintain a healthy weight. iStockphoto hide caption

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iStockphoto

Shots - Health News

Adult Obesity May Have Origins Way Back In Kindergarten

January 29, 2014 • Overweight kindergartners are much more likely to be obese by eighth grade compared to their normal-weight peers, a study finds. The solution may be for women to avoid gaining too much weight during pregnancy, researchers say, as well as helping kids get exercise and eat healthy foods.

Adult Obesity May Have Origins Way Back In Kindergarten

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Neanderthal Genes Live On In Our Hair And Skin

Love your hair. Artists' depictions of a Neanderthal man and woman at the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann, Germany. Martin Meissner/AP hide caption

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Martin Meissner/AP

Shots - Health News

Neanderthal Genes Live On In Our Hair And Skin

January 29, 2014 • Scientists know that a small percentage of humans' genes came from Neanderthals. But they were surprised to find that one-fifth of Neanderthal genes are in modern humans living today. That includes genes associated with diseases including Type 2 diabetes, Crohn's disease and lupus.

Neanderthal Genes Live On In Our Hair And Skin

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A Milk Mystery: Did Gloomy Weather Make Us Love The Stuff?

A new study on lactose tolerance among early farmers in Spain challenges a leading theory that humans developed an appetite for milk to avoid calcium deficiency. iStock hide caption

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iStock