Finding Water from Outer Space

Mark Humayun taps the burgeoning field of bioelectronics to help the blind to see and the lame to walk.

Marine chemist Christopher Reddy offered dispassionate and scientific analyses of the Gulf oil spill last year when others were losing their heads.

In the litter scattered across the desert floor, professor Jason De León finds truths about the miserable business of illegal immigration.

How community activists are taking city planning into their own hands and creating pedestrian-friendly blocks via pop-up urbanism.

Here's look at where the stuff in your medicine cabinet was manufactured. Just don’t ask if these foreign-made drugs are safe, because in many cases, it’s impossible to say.

Results of a survey from the American Association of School Administrators shows how K-12 school officials across the country made cuts to their schools' programs.

Preventing seafood fraud won’t be easy, but a new law has potential to stop fish poaching and laundering, which involves mislabeling fish in restaurants.

German Chancellor (and physicist) Angela Merkel did a 180 on nuclear energy after Fukushima, setting off an "energy revolution" in the process.

How hard is it to design a humanlike robot? Harvard's Steven Pinker highlights how simple human accomplishments represent formidable robotics challenges.

Jules Jaffe of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography is developing an army of underwater explorers that researchers hope will produce a fine-grained, real-time map of the movements of the sea.

Economist John F. Helliwell has data that backs up why Americans are significantly happier on weekends and public holidays than during the workweek.

University of Missouri economist Harvey James finds a relationship between life satisfaction and low tolerance for unethical conduct.

Researchers find that food products sell better when they're labeled with descriptive phrases that elicit warm family memories.

In Northern California, where the drug laws can change with the mile markers, a supplier of medical marijuana risks going one toke over the (county) line.

Since the LAPD's cold case unit began 10 years ago, detectives have used science to arrest serial killers and dozens of others who thought they had gotten away with murder.

The world’s best school systems depend on teacher collaboration, but the concept has not caught on in the U.S. We found schools where teamwork is making a difference.

Spouses who blame the economy for their woes, rather than pointing the finger at their partner, are more likely to be satisfied with their marriages.

A look at foreclosures in two Southern California cities shows why some fared better than others in the housing crisis.

How the recession transfers wealth from the old to the young.

Politicians take note: Research shows the fine line between claiming regret and taking responsibility.

The Stars and Stripes are subliminal, class cleavages are overrated, and other academic analyses we should consider from the last election.

As the fall semester begins, we look at some of the ways community colleges are meeting — or failing to meet — the needs of their students.

How to spot thrill-seeking men on the dance floor, "sweet" personalities in public, and bidding fever on eBay.

Researchers mix technology with fashion, analyze a pharaoh's skin condition, measure the smarts of Scrabble players, and more in this edition of Miller-McCune's "Cocktail Napkin."

Do we really need to smell the items featured in TV programming? A materials expert has created a function for your TV or portable device that can generate thousands of odors.

Columbia professor Deanna Kuhn says teachers should foster some debate to help kids learn the lost skill of thinking critically.

A Central California community has added a fourth "R" to the core curriculum in its public schools: Religion. Sociologist Emile Lester answers our questions about the experiment.

How one California school district turns bad teachers over to their peers to help them improve their skills and save their jobs.

Diane Ravitch, the former assistant U.S. secretary of education, tells Miller-McCune what she thinks about No Child Left Behind now.

The documentary "More Than a Month" asks: Does Black History Month still inspire reflection, or just Nike sales?

A PBS documentary follows a group of friends before, during, and after their time in Afghanistan.

PBS looks at the radical environmentalists whose turn to terrorism discredited their quixotic campaign in "If a Tree Falls."

A new book, "The Failure of Environmental Education," says schools are failing to teach kids how to save the planet.

U.S. soldiers work to undo some of the damage done to Afghanistan's agricultural communities from decades of war.

Facing high unemployment rates, returning U.S. veterans are finding work on the farm.

Tattoo remorse is leading many of the painted masses to rethink their ink, which is fueling a burgeoning business: specialty tattoo removal shops.

Researchers across California are working to bring medical microscopes to our cellphones — and vastly improve field medicine.

A growing body of research reveals myriad benefits — for employers and employees alike — when company policies promoting work-life balance are offered to low-wage workers.

Now that modern militaries accept that war creates psychological trauma, therapists wonder about its toll on the spirit.

Communities with more primary care doctors enjoy better health, yet those physicians are a dying breed. Here is what some schools are doing to combat the looming shortage.

A toxic molecule found in pond scum may trigger neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Parkinson's. Could a group of scientists, led by a botanist, hold the key to a cure?

Double-blind trials have long been considered the gold standard to determine drugs’ effectiveness. Do we need to rethink that assumption, given the power of the placebo effect?

Who controls the Nixon Library? A dispute over how to tell the story of his presidency raises questions about the purpose, and legitimacy, of presidential libraries.

As coastlines are battered by rising seas, staff at North Carolina’s Alligator River Wildlife Refuge look for ways to make an orderly retreat.

Buried in the high hopes for electric cars is the very real possibility that they can make money by powering and regulating the grid.

As our correspondent in Libya has learned, rushing to the ballot box might be the biggest mistake there is.

After studying four decades of terrorism, Aaron Clauset thinks he's found mathematical patterns that can help governments prevent and prepare for major terror attacks. The U.S. government seems to agree.

New planning initiatives protect agriculture and nature, while still accommodating growth.

Visitors are expected to flock to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum when it opens, even as memories of that day fade away.

The University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute runs charter schools and uses innovative practices to provide inner-city children a pathway to college.