NPR Health&Science
Tiny Mites Spark Big Battle Over Imports Of French Cheese
Microscopic bugs called cheese mites are responsible for the distinctive rind and flavor of the bright orange French cheese Mimolette. But now, the FDA has blocked more than a ton of Mimolette from entering the country, because the agency says the mites left on it make it unfit for consumption.
Atop A Hawaiian Mountain, A Constant Sniff For Carbon Dioxide
Since 1958, researchers have been measuring the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the Mauna Loa Observatory. The remote outpost has just reported a carbon dioxide level of 400 parts per million — the highest it has climbed in the modern age.
Atop A Hawaiian Mountain, A Constant Sniff For Carbon Dioxide
Since 1958, researchers have been measuring the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the Mauna Loa Observatory. The remote outpost has just reported a carbon dioxide level of 400 parts per million — the highest it has climbed in the modern age.
Microexpressions: More Than Meets The Eye
David Matsumoto, a psychology professor at San Francisco State University, trains national security officials and police officers to recognize "microexpressions"--fleeting, split-second flashes of emotion across someone's face. Matsumoto says those subtle cues may reveal how an interview subject is feeling, helping officials to hone their line of questioning.
The Myth Of Multitasking
How long can you go without checking email, or glancing at your smartphone? Clifford Nass, a psychology professor at Stanford University, says today's nonstop multitasking actually wastes more time than it saves--and he says there's evidence it may be killing our concentration and creativity too.
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Exploring An Ever-Expanding Universe
Saul Perlmutter shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery that the universe was expanding at an accelerating rate. Perlmutter explains how supernovae and other astronomical artifacts are used to measure the expansion rate, and explains what physicists are learning about "dark energy" — the mysterious entity thought to be driving the acceleration.
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Experts Percolate on How To Brew Coffee
Sam Penix and Sam Lewontin, of Everyman Espresso in New York City, and Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking, explain how to get the most out of your grounds. The brewmasters discuss brewing devices, from wood necks to chemex, and filter out reasons you might choose one over another.
Microexpressions: More Than Meets The Eye
David Matsumoto, a psychology professor at San Francisco State University, trains national security officials and police officers to recognize "microexpressions"--fleeting, split-second flashes of emotion across someone's face. Matsumoto says those subtle cues may reveal how an interview subject is feeling, helping officials to hone their line of questioning.
The Myth Of Multitasking
How long can you go without checking email, or glancing at your smartphone? Clifford Nass, a psychology professor at Stanford University, says today's nonstop multitasking actually wastes more time than it saves--and he says there's evidence it may be killing our concentration and creativity too.
Exploring An Ever-Expanding Universe
Saul Perlmutter shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery that the universe was expanding at an accelerating rate. Perlmutter explains how supernovae and other astronomical artifacts are used to measure the expansion rate, and explains what physicists are learning about "dark energy" — the mysterious entity thought to be driving the acceleration.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Experts Percolate on How To Brew Coffee
Sam Penix and Sam Lewontin, of Everyman Espresso in New York City, and Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking, explain how to get the most out of your grounds. The brewmasters discuss brewing devices, from wood necks to chemex, and filter out reasons you might choose one over another.
Kids With Autism Quick To Detect Motion
To test a common theory about the cause of autism, researchers recently studied how kids with autism process moving images. They found that the kids saw simple movements twice as fast as their typically developing peers.
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'Dangerous Territory': Carbon Dioxide Levels Reach Milestone
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has crossed the "psychological threshold" of 400 parts per million. That number is one of the clearest measures of how humans are changing the planet by burning fossil fuels.
Hello....Is There Anybody Out There?
The SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute's Jill Tarter has spent decades searching for the signals that would tell us we aren't alone in the cosmos. Tarter discusses the hunt, and what the presence of intelligent life elsewhere might tell us about our own future on Earth.
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Music, Inside Out
What would it be like to be a string that made music? Not anything simple, like a guitar string or a cello string, but a magical string, a sine curve that's taut then loose, that doubles then doubles again, that sheds then dissolves into showers of notes.
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What Does 'Sexual Coercion' Say About A Society?
Anthropologists have long documented the differences in the extent of sexual coercion — including rape — in different human societies. But is it a vestige of evolutionary history, indicative of cultural activity or governed by power dynamics between females and males?
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College Divestment Campaigns Creating Passionate Environmentalists
Taking a page from the playbook of decades past, college students are once again pressuring schools to pull investment funding from specific sectors. This time it's big oil and coal companies. But these campaigns have effects beyond the university — they're launching a new generation of activists.
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Big Ag Agrees to Conserve Cropland, But At What Cost?
Farmers say they are ready to compromise with some environmental groups on the issue of conservation compliance. But critics say the price tag for the taxpayer may be too high.
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Could You Talk To A Caveman? Scientists Say It's Possible
Researchers at the University of Reading are speculating that today's languages share a common root dating as far back as the last Ice Age. Words like "mother," "man" and "ashes" are categorized as "ultraconserved," meaning they are survivors of a lost language from which many modern tongues are descended.
How Can Identical Twins Turn Out So Different?
Scientists used to think that identical twins turned out differently because they were treated differently by friends, teachers or their parents. A study of mice supports the idea that small changes in behavior can lead to larger ones and eventually even resculpt brains in different ways.
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