Discovery of (ANOTHER) New Planet

March 1, 2013
An international team of astronomers has used nearly three years of high precision data from NASA's Kepler spacecraft to make the first observations of a planet outside our solar system that’s smaller than Mercury, the smallest planet orbiting our sun.... continued

Astronomers Help Cure Cancer

March 1, 2013
In a remarkable example of interdisciplinary teamwork, astronomers are helping cancer researchers use computerized stargazing algorithms developed for spotting distant galaxies to identify biomarkers in tumors to determine how aggressive they are. Cancer researchers in the UK adapted astronomers' algorithms... continued

Owls Swivel and Sneak Around

March 1, 2013
When you twist your head around to check for a driver in your "blind spot" before changing lanes, don't you wish you could swivel your head around like an owl? Owls can rotate their heads by as much as 270... continued

Smile!

February 28, 2013
Smiling--whether you FEEL happy or not--is good for your health: it slows down your heart and reduces stress. In fact, the very act of smiling makes us feel happier. Frowning does the opposite, which is why preventing people from frowning,... continued

Europeans Were First Americans

February 28, 2013
An extraordinary discovery of European stone tools along the eastern seaboard of the United States indicates that Europeans reached American shores 10,000 years before Siberians came across the ancient Alaskan land bridge. That doesn't excuse the way we treated the... continued

When Healing Drugs Harm

February 27, 2013
An increasing number of people die from unintentional home injury, in large part due to accidental drug overdose. Older adults and infants have the highest rates of death from unintentional home injury. More than 30,000 such deaths occurred between 2000... continued

Mean Milky Way

February 27, 2013
Peering deep into the vast stellar halo that envelops our Milky Way galaxy, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered tantalizing evidence for the possible existence of a shell of stars that are a relic of cannibalism by our... continued

Have They Found Atlantis?

February 27, 2013
The islands Reunion and Mauritius, both well-known tourist destinations, are hiding a micro-continent, which has now been discovered. The continent fragment (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this show) known as Mauritia detached about 60 million years ago while Madagascar... continued

Who Cheats?

February 26, 2013
A new study shows that the business leaders behind our nations' most unsettling corporate scandals have most likely cheated on tests and term papers in college as well. Researcher Paul Piff says, "Our studies suggest that more positive attitudes toward... continued

Does Violent Media Make Us Violent?

February 26, 2013
Researchers have studied the links between media violence and violent behavior for years without coming to a definite conclusion about this. Correlating crime data and film release schedules between 1995 and 2004, researchers found that on weekends when violent films... continued