Tortoise and Hare, in a Laboratory Flask
By CARL ZIMMER
Scientists conducting a long-running study found that competition among E. coli bacteria produced a single dominant strain after 1,000 generations.
Science Times: March 22, 2011
Blindsided by Ferocity Unleashed by a Fault
By KENNETH CHANG
Tomohiko Kano/Mainichi Simbun, via Associated Press
TAME THE FURY A tsunami wave crashed over the breakwater in the coastal city of Miyako on March 11 in northeastern Japan. “I was surprised,” one scientist said. “Nobody expected magnitude 9.”
The devastation in Japan raises a worrisome question: How many quakes are lurking in underestimated fault lines?
Dangers of Leaving No Resident Behind
By GARDINER HARRIS
As the Japanese are learning, the science behind herding thousands, sometimes millions, of people from danger to safety is uncertain at best.
Radiation, Once Free, Can Follow Tricky Path
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
How — and how fast — radioactive elements travel depends on many factors, including weather, soil and what they land on first.
Viktor Koen
People pragmatically intuit that regardless of whether free will exists, our society depends on everyone’s believing it does.
A Conversation With Samantha B. Joye
Revisiting the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
Dr. Joye, of the University of Georgia, directs a team seeking to understand the long-term effects of the leak on the chemistry and creatures of the gulf.
More Science News
Natural Gas Now Viewed as Safer Bet
By JAD MOUAWAD
The calamitous events in Japan may roll back the global nuclear revival and lead to a surge in natural gas demand.
Tweety Was Right: Cats Are a Bird’s No. 1 Enemy
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
While public attention has focused on wind turbines as a menace to birds, a new study shows that a far greater threat may be posed by a more familiar antagonist: the house cat.
Judge Halts California Emissions Plan
By REUTERS
The state did not adequately consider alternatives to its plan to create a cap-and-trade market for carbon emissions, the judge ruled.
Scientist at Work Blog
Why Do Animals Sleep?
By BRYSON VOIRIN
Researchers studying sleep in wild animals started with a surprisingly difficult subject: the three-toed sloth.
Health News
Well Blog
After a Diagnosis, Wishing for a Magic Number
By PETER B. BACH, M.D.
“What was the chance that my wife’s breast cancer would come back?” a cancer researcher writes
Riddled With Metal by Mistake in a Study
By DENISE GRADY
A device meant to shield healthy tissue from radiation during surgery for breast cancer left hundreds of tiny particles of the heavy metal tungsten inside dozens of patients.
Rear-Facing Car Seats Advised at Least to Age of 2
By MADONNA BEHEN
A pediatricians’ group now says that toddlers shouldn’t move to a forward-facing seat until at least age 2.
Global Update
Bangladesh Bans Sale of Palm Sap After an Unusually Lethal Oubreak
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Large fruit bats lap up the running sap, sometimes fouling pots with their saliva, urine or feces; the recent outbreak has killed 35 of the 40 people known to have been infected.
Earthquake in Japan
Radiation Over U.S. Is Harmless, Officials Say
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Officials tracking the plume drifting eastward from Japan say it arrived, enormously diluted, from the west and was moving toward Europe.
No Urgent Changes Seen for U.S. Nuclear Plants
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Inspectors at each nuclear site have been told to double-check that emergency precautions mandated years ago were still in place, an American official said on Monday.
Japan’s Nuclear Crisis Causes Run on Radiation Detectors
By VERNE G. KOPYTOFF
Relief crews, businesses and ordinary consumers have bought nearly every Geiger counter available from the few American retailers that sell them.
More Multimedia
Interactive Feature: Rock-Paper-Scissors: You vs. the Computer
Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence.
Interactive Feature: A Space Wardrobe
A collection of spacesuits, some worn by famous astronauts and others that never made it into space.
Video: Spacesuit Archives
Graphic: Dressed for Egress
Interactive Feature: Test Your Insight
Does your mood affect how quickly you intuit answers? Play this game to find out.
Podcast: Science Times
This week: A tight focus on the earthquake and nuclear calamity in Japan.
Readers’ Photos: A Family’s Best Friend?
Photos and stories of pets that were viewed differently by family members.
Science Columns
Q & A
Behind the Mask
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Wearing a surgical mask can sometimes limit the spread of infectious particles shed into the air, but masks are only one component of respiratory hygiene.
Observatory
For the Brain, a Race To Recall the Details
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Researchers have found that the brain competes to recall old memories and new ones that are associated with the same thing.
Observatory
Canine Genetic Wrinkle Has Human Potential
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Studying the genetic mutation that causes shar-peis to develop wrinkles and recurring fevers that resemble illnesses that humans inherit could help human geneticists develop treatments.
Observatory
Older Elephant Matriarchs Keep the Lions at Bay
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Family groups with matriarchs older than 60 were more adept at fending off “lion attacks” staged as part of a study in Kenya.
Health Columns
Personal Health
A Guide to Smarter, Safer Antibiotic Use
By JANE E. BRODY
In a world beset with an unprecedented wave of infections, it is important that antibiotics work well when people need them.
Really?
The Claim: Eating Flaxseed Can Help Relieve Hot Flashes
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Alternative remedies for hot flashes have become increasingly popular, but there’s little research to support many of them.
On the Block: Two Fiberglass Lungs
March 22, 2011
On Our Radar: Cycling Deaths Decline in New York
March 21, 2011
Greening the Team: Will Fans Follow Suit?
March 21, 2011
Opinion
Dot Earth Blog
Bee Maven Wins Big Environmental Prize
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
A big prize goes to a student of the ever-evolving chemical warfare between plants and insects and hive troubles in bees.
Letters
Science, Environment and Health Series | Special Sections
MOST POPULAR - SCIENCE
- Tweety Was Right: Cats Are a Bird’s No. 1 Enemy
- Findings: Do You Have Free Will? Yes, It’s the Only Choice
- Readers’ Photos: A Family’s Best Friend?
- Blindsided by Ferocity Unleashed by a Fault
- Radiation, Once Free, Can Follow Tricky Path
- Observatory: Canine Genetic Wrinkle Has Human Potential
- Observatory: Older Elephant Matriarchs Keep the Lions at Bay
- Observatory: For the Brain, a Race To Recall the Details
- Green: Divvying Up the Water Down Under
- Scientist at Work: Why Do Animals Sleep?
- Blindsided by Ferocity Unleashed by a Fault
- Radiation, Once Free, Can Follow Tricky Path
- Tweety Was Right: Cats Are a Bird’s No. 1 Enemy
- Findings: Do You Have Free Will? Yes, It’s the Only Choice
- Observatory: For the Brain, a Race To Recall the Details
- Observatory: Canine Genetic Wrinkle Has Human Potential
- Judge Halts California Emissions Plan
- Revisiting the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
- Tortoise and Hare, in a Laboratory Flask
- Why Do Animals Sleep?
Greg Laden's Blog
Current Status of the Nine Nuclear Reactors Damaged in Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami
March 18, 2011
DrugMonkey
Were "incense" products containing JWH-018 and other cannabimimetics ever "legal" in the US?
March 17, 2011
