Science & Environment

Pages

The Salt
4:30 pm
Mon February 11, 2013

Pig Manure Reveals More Reason To Worry About Antibiotics

Credit Ng Han Guan / AP
Pigs at a farm in Beijing peer out at visitors. Half of all the pigs in the world live in China.

Originally published on Wed February 13, 2013 2:52 pm

There's a global campaign to force meat producers to rein in their use of antibiotics on pigs, chickens and cattle. European countries, especially Denmark and the Netherlands, have taken the lead. The U.S. is moving, haltingly, toward similar restrictions.

Read more
Under The Label: Sustainable Seafood
2:38 pm
Mon February 11, 2013

Is Sustainable-Labeled Seafood Really Sustainable?

Originally published on Wed February 13, 2013 1:19 pm

Part one of a three-part series by Daniel Zwerdling and Margot Williams.

Rebecca Weel pushes a baby stroller with her 18-month-old up to the seafood case at Whole Foods, near ground zero in New York. As she peers at shiny fillets of salmon, halibut and Chilean sea bass labeled "certified sustainable," Weel believes that if she purchases this seafood, she will help protect the world's oceans from overfishing.

Read more
Krulwich Wonders...
12:40 pm
Mon February 11, 2013

The Egg Makes Its Move In A New Version Of Which Came First: The Chicken Or the Egg?

Which came first? I just bumped into a new take on this old puzzler.

Read more
Energy
5:26 am
Mon February 11, 2013

U.S. Natural Gas Exports Stirs Debate

Originally published on Mon February 11, 2013 11:41 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now, tomorrow President Obama delivers his State of the Union address, and may well discuss energy, as he did four years ago. But energy analyst Sarah Ladislaw says a daunting goal is getting trickier.

SARAH LADISLAW: This administration did not come in with small plans for energy markets or for energy policy. Their big plan was to try and de-carbonize the energy sector.

INSKEEP: Reduce carbon emissions by relying less on coal, oil and gas.

LADISLAW: Primarily done for the purpose of battling climate change.

Read more
Space
4:58 pm
Sun February 10, 2013

Want To Create A Space Symphony? Wait For A Solar Storm

Credit NASA / Getty Images
In photo from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, a major solar eruption is shown in progress Oct. 29, 2003. A large coronal mass ejection is being hurled toward the Earth.

In 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick evokes the immense and powerful nature of outer space with Richard Strauss' score, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

The music is now inextricably linked to the idea of space exploration. But what if, instead, you could create music from solar eruptions?

That's exactly what sonification specialist Robert Alexander does.

Read more
Space
4:49 pm
Sun February 10, 2013

To Infinity And Beyond: Would-Be Astronauts Keep Faith In Uncertain Era

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
A child poses for a picture in front of an astronaut space suit at the Kennedy Space Center on the eve of the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour July 14, 2009 in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Originally published on Sun February 10, 2013 4:58 pm

Space exploration has stirred imaginations and piloted hopes and dreams, but the future of space travel looks very different from the age in which Neil Armstrong made it to the moon.

Since NASA is no longer doing manned missions, astronaut hopefuls have turned their sites on the private sector.

Private Adventurism

Read more
Environment
5:03 am
Sun February 10, 2013

Is The Earth Cooking Up A Super Volcano?

Originally published on Sun February 10, 2013 8:38 am

Every few million years or so, the Earth burps up a gargantuan volcano.

These aren't like volcanoes in our lifetimes; these "super volcanoes" can erupt continuously for thousands of years. While they might be rare, you'd best look out when one hits.

The ash and volcanic gases from these volcanoes can wipe out most living things over large parts of the planet. Michael Thorne, a seismologist at the University of Utah, has some clues about what causes these big eruptions.

Read more

Pages