top stories
February 9, 2012
Business & Economics
Prop Planes: The Future of Eco-Friendly Aviation?
Propellers’ role in flight date back to the dawn of engine-driven aviation. But the next generation of propeller-driven aircraft engines will put their rotors back in the spotlight.
February 8, 2012
The Idea Lobby
House Puts Transportation in Partisan Crossfire
Transportation used to be one of the few guaranteed areas of agreement when pragmatism trumped ideology in D.C. But that’s no longer the case.
February 8, 2012
Legal Affairs
A Perennial Epicenter, Now for Same-Sex Marriage
San Francisco City Hall embodies the thrill of wedded bliss while it endures the fallout over Prop. 8
February 7, 2012
Legal Affairs
Prop 8 May Be Same-Sex Couples’ Least Worry
A family law professor explains why differences between states over gay marriage may lead to a deluge of court cases.
February 7, 2012
Science
EarthScope: A Seismic Shift in Data Gathering
Two hundred years after the New Madrid quake rocked the U.S., Earthscope, a traveling scan of what lies underneath North America, reveals more about earthquakes and volcanoes.
February 6, 2012
Findings
Pressure to Conform Can Inspire Creativity
New research suggests less-creative people do more innovative thinking when they are told individualism is the norm, and instructed to conform.
February 3, 2012
Education
Learning to Read When a School System Falters
How a determined student, who was once branded ineducable, finds the help of dedicated New York City educators and mounts a path toward literacy at age 18.
February 1, 2012
Environment
Quake Rescues Reserve, Shakes Baja Fishing Town
An earthquake has helped seal off a traditional fishing spot in Mexico, pleasing conservationists but hurting locals who depend on an annual fishing frenzy to sustain their economy.
January 31, 2012
Health
Neglected Tropical Diseases Neglected No More?
World health leaders announce coordinated push to eradicate or control neglected tropical diseases.
January 31, 2012
Politics
Pirate Party Docks at Berlin’s Parliament
Tired of the same old political cronies, Berliners have voted in the Pirate Party — Internet open-source activists who hope to use online systems to improve democracy.
January 30, 2012
Findings
Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World
A survey of award-winning children’s picture books from 1938 to 2008 suggests our increasing estrangement from the natural environment.
January 30, 2012
Environment
Conservation’s Earnest Message Could Use Levity
Lions, gorillas, and wolves, oh my! Two on-the-ground proponents of saving the tropics think a great way to both engage and enlighten the West is to deploy a dollop of satire.
January 27, 2012
The Idea Lobby
Traffic Solution: Make Drivers Less Lonely
Rather than moaning about too many cars on the road, the Ridesharing Institute says the real key to battling traffic congestion and pollution is filling empty passenger seats.
January 26, 2012
Skeptic's Café
Numerology Doesn’t Know the Score
Various ways of assigning numbers to events, people, and actions is an ancient parlor game, but let’s not take it beyond that.
January 24, 2012
The Cocktail Napkin
Women Eye Dance Moves to Find Thrill Seekers
How to spot thrill-seeking men on the dance floor, “sweet” personalities in public, and bidding fever on eBay.
January 23, 2012
The Idea Lobby
Conservatives’ Politics of Fear a Biological Response
Researchers looking at how we fixate on threats uncover more evidence of a biological component to the red-blue divide.
January 23, 2012
Findings
Morning People May Be More Creative in the Afternoon
New research finds problems that require a flash of illumination to solve are best approached during the time of day when you’re not at your peak.
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findings
Text Messages No Substitute for Mother’s VoiceA study finds girls’ stress levels decrease after speaking with mom, but not after text messaging.
Long-Term Love Not Just a Fairy TaleA new study finds nearly three-quarters of Americans remain “very in love” after a decade of marriage.
Portraits Can Get Your Pulse PoundingNew research recording physiological reactions of museum-goers suggests we respond to art with our bodies as well as our brains.
Female Pop Stars: Prepare to DisrobeAn analysis of Rolling Stone magazine covers finds female artists are increasingly sexualized and presented as sex objects.
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moments in video
Why Do Lobbyists Have the Veto?Video: Miller-McCune hosts a panel at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., asking, “Why Do Lobbyists Have the Veto?”
Desperately Seeking LandminesDespite years of research on everything from ‘HeroRATS’ to TNT-sniffing bees, humans still remove most landmines by poking — very, very carefully — in the ground.
Songs and Ads: Ten Infamous ExamplesHere’s 10 examples of songs turned into ads, all influential, some successful.
‘One Dream’ Meets ‘I Have a Dream’American documentary makers bring Martin Luther King to Beijing — and back.
A Call to Reform Congress“Changing Congress: Lessons Learned by a Copyright Activist” a presentation by Lawrence Lessig.
‘Orphan Film’ Selections From the ArchivesThese 10 ephemeral works from the last century provide a fascinating window into our culture of the past — for better or, oftentimes, for worse.
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podcasts
Ecosystems Secretly Protect Against Lyme Disease
Lizards, it seems, are good at keeping ticks free of Lyme disease, which suggests that a ecosystem that benefits lizards (and other creatures) ultimately benefits humankind, ecologist Cherie Briggs explains in this podcast.
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Download the podcast (right-click or option-click).Listen to more Curiouser and Curiouser podcasts.
from the blogs
Swiss scientists plan to send a “janitor satellite” into orbit to attempt to clean up space debris.
New international measures to end fish poaching on the high seas would enforce laws where the poacher calls, not where their ships are registered.
New research finds support for school projects differs according to the race and age of the recipients.
While it’s not a bad idea to pay attention to the various costs of your medical care, the president of the Center for Advancing Health argues that haggling over costs is not a long-term solution to spiraling expenses.
Like other great figures, new writings about Mohandas Gandhi tell us something about the subject but perhaps more about our times.
South Africa’s painful journey from white minority domination to democracy, and the roles played by the rest of the world, is chronicled in a five-part documentary airing on PBS.
Recent scholarship and popular journalism both suggest an unappealing future for American boys: You’re screwed.
A number of folk stories and a few divisive rumors have surrounded the office of the U.S. presidency, and skeptical folks like us check a few of them out.
What makes communities strong and vibrant? Researchers say local schools bring a raft of positives to town — even for the childless — beyond creating an educated populace.
Sports fans control more of what happens on the court or on the field than they realize. Now if they could just applaud good decisions over flashy bad ones.
Researchers propose pulling patients out of anesthesia with “a shot of adrenaline to the brain.”
Shunned in the past as trumping mitigation, the issue of climate adaptation is now receiving serious attention.
