Google Lobbies Nevada To Allow Self-Driving Cars
By JOHN MARKOFF
Google hired a lobbyist to promote legislation for the licensing of autonomous vehicles, and an exemption that would permit texting while driving to operate such a car.
Nimmida Pontecorvo/WNET
A mother black bear and her cubs photographed for the PBS Nature series "Bears of the Last Frontier."
Black bears have killed only 63 people in the United States and Canada over the last 109 years. Most attacks involved a bear on the prowl, likely hunting for food, not mothers protecting cubs.
U.S. Reaches a Settlement on Decisions About Endangered Species
By FELICITY BARRINGER
The Interior Department will make rulings on 251 species over the next six years.
Horace Freeland Judson, Science Historian, Dies at 80
By WILLIAM GRIMES
A writer whose 1979 book “The Eighth Day of Creation” is regarded as the definitive account of the breakthroughs that transformed molecular biology.
Science Times: May 10, 2011
Life and the Cosmos, Word by Painstaking Word
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
Sean McCabe
In a rare interview, the physicist Stephen Hawking discusses his work, aliens and living with A.L.S.
Living on Thin Ice
Relentless warming in Antarctica is taking a toll on Adélie and emperor penguins.
Fountains of Optimism for Life Way Out There
By GUY GUGLIOTTA
A newfound abundance of water in the solar system has inspired scientists who hope to find traces of life.
Tracking Lineage Through a Bramble
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Donald C. Johanson and Richard Leakey, paleoanthropologists and famous rivals, joined forces to speak on human evolution at the American Museum of Natural History.
Neanderthals and Early Humans May Not Have Mingled Much
By NICHOLAS WADE
Carbon dating shows that Neanderthals didn’t last as long as thought, throwing into doubt the idea that they may have interbred with early humans.
Health News
18 and Under
Fixated by Screens, but Seemingly Nothing Else
By PERRI KLASS, M.D.
Is a child’s ability to stay focused on TV or a video game, though not on anything else, a cause or an effect of attention problems — or both?
Cases
Caring for an Ill Spouse, and for Other Caregivers
By ALIX KATES SHULMAN
A support group gives caregivers something science and doctors can’t: collective experience, a priceless resource.
Hazy Recall as a Signal Foretelling Depression
By ALASTAIR GEE
An “overgeneral memory,” a tendency to recall past events in a broad, vague manner, may be a predictor of mental illness.
More Multimedia
A Shuttle Town’s Glory Days
The launching of the space shuttle Endeavor is expected to be one of the biggest ever, jamming the roads in Titusville, Cape Canaveral and other nearby Florida towns.
Interactive Feature: What Makes Music Expressive?
What makes music expressive? Quiz yourself based on new research.
Readers’ Photos: A Family’s Best Friend?
Photos and stories of pets that were viewed differently by family members.
Rock-Paper-Scissors: You vs. the Computer
Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence.
Scientist at Work Blog
Sediments on the Ocean Floor
By ALYSON SANTORO
Scientists measure the amount of oxygen in the water between sediment particles to calculate the rate at which carbon reaches the bottom of the ocean.
A Bird’s Convoluted Conservation Odyssey
May 11, 2011
Nuclear Problems in the Rearview Mirror
May 11, 2011
Science Columns
Observatory
Featherweight Relative of the T. Rex Is Found
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
In life, the specimen weighed less than 70 pounds, compared with the six-ton weight of a full-grown T. bataar.
Observatory
In Digestion, Leeches Show Sophisticated Side
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Well-fed leeches seek out warmth, where chemical processes can move faster, while hungry ones preserve energy by moving to cooler places.
Observatory
A Mysterious Marsupial That Ambushed Its Prey
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
A study that examined the elbow joints of dozens of predators concluded that “Tasmanian tiger” is an apt name for a creature that became extinct in the last century.
Q & A
Urban Twisters
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
If big tornadoes hit Manhattan, would the skyscrapers break up the winds, or would some of them be destroyed?
Podcast: Science Times
This week: A rare interview with a physics superstar, and up in the trees with a sleeping bird.
Health Columns
Doctor and Patient
A Better Medical School Admissions Test
By PAULINE W. CHEN, M.D.
The MCAT is undergoing its first revision in 25 years.
Personal Health
‘Disease of Kings’ Trickles Down to the Rest
By JANE E. BRODY
The number of Americans with gout is rising steadily as the population ages, becomes heavier and is exposed to foods that can precipitate the disorder in susceptible people.
Really?
Eating Local Honey Cures Allergies
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Many allergy sufferers believe that a daily spoonful of locally produced honey can act like a vaccine and alleviate symptoms.
Opinion
Dot Earth Blog
Confronting the 'Anthropocene'
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Will the human imprint on Earth systems be recorded in geology as grand design, or a scar?
Wordplay Blog
Numberplay: Mission Shortest Path
By PRADEEP MUTALIK
Finding out the shortest path between two points, in the presence of obstacles.
Letters
Science, Environment and Health Series | Special Sections
MOST POPULAR - SCIENCE
- Study of Black Bears Finds It’s Not the Mamas That Should Be Feared the Most
- Google Lobbies Nevada To Allow Self-Driving Cars
- A Conversation With | Stephen Hawking: Life and the Cosmos, Word by Painstaking Word
- In a Changing Antarctica, Some Penguins Thrive as Others Suffer
- Neanderthals and Early Humans May Not Have Mingled Much
- Fountains of Optimism for Life Way Out There
- Tracking Lineage Through a Bramble
- Florida Legislature Votes to Ease Rules on Development
- Willard S. Boyle, Father of Digital Eye, Dies at 86
- Green: Nuclear Problems in the Rearview Mirror
- Study of Black Bears Finds It’s Not the Mamas That Should Be Feared the Most
- Google Lobbies Nevada To Allow Self-Driving Cars
- A Conversation With | Stephen Hawking: Life and the Cosmos, Word by Painstaking Word
- Nuclear Problems in the Rearview Mirror
- U.S. Reaches a Settlement on Decisions About Endangered Species
- Fountains of Optimism for Life Way Out There
- Horace Freeland Judson, Science Historian, Dies at 80
- In a Changing Antarctica, Some Penguins Thrive as Others Suffer
- Willard S. Boyle, Father of Digital Eye, Dies at 86
- Neanderthals and Early Humans May Not Have Mingled Much
