Wash Post Science

Crashed satellite detects water at moon's pole

Joel Achenbach — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Water on the moon, once a wild conjecture, appears to be solidifying into a scientific fact. Jubilant NASA scientists announced Friday that they have found the telltale signature of significant quantities of water, in the form of ice and vapor, in a shadowed crater at the moon's south pole.

U.S. military expands efforts to track satellites

Andrea Shalal-Esa — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The U.S. military said last week that it is tracking 800 maneuverable satellites on a daily basis for possible collisions and expects to add 500 more non-maneuvering satellites by year's end.

Potomac Conservancy blames chemical runoff for intersex fish

David A. Fahrenthold — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Pollutants that mimic natural hormones have created a "toxic stew" in the Potomac River, altering the sexual development and the immune systems of fish, a local nonprofit group warned in a report Wednesday.

Interest in saving the Amazon rain forest is growing

Brendan Borrell — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

We used to hear so much about the destruction of the Amazon rain forest, but lately not a word. So what happened: Did we save it, or not?

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SCIENCE NEWS

Post — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

You knew those Ding Dongs, candy bars and strips of bacon weren't good for you. But now comes a study suggesting that junk food may be addictive in the same way as heroin or cocaine.

SCIENCE SCAN

Post — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

In Turkey, fertile ground for creationism

Marc Kaufman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

ISTANBUL -- Sema Ergezen teaches biology to Turkish students interested in teaching science themselves, and she has long struggled with her students' ignorance of, and sometimes hostility to, the notion of evolution.

India's space ambitions taking off

Emily Wax — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

PANNITHITTU, India -- In this seaside village, the children of farmers and fishermen aspire to become something that their impoverished parents never thought possible: astronauts.

Great white sharks coming closer to shore than thought, researchers find

Juliet Eilperin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

For years, humans have thought of great white sharks wandering the sea at random, only occasionally venturing close to shore.

Why do leaves turn color in the fall?

David Brown — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

There aren't many things that look their best right before they die, but the leaf of the sugar maple is one of them.

How GPS devices pinpoint the location of moving objects

Curt Suplee — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

America has seen its last Lost Generation. Thanks to an invisible armada of incessantly broadcasting satellites, collectively called the Global Positioning System, and to the explosive proliferation of GPS receivers in gadgets from dashboard map units to cellphones to dog collars, even the cartog...

Green Lantern: Choosing kitchen disinfectants

Nina Shen Rastogi — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

I've replaced most of my cleaning supplies with eco-friendly versions, but I'm not sure that Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds are strong enough to kill all of the nasty bugs in my kitchen. Do green cleaning products work as disinfectants?

SCIENCE SCAN

Post — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

SCIENCE NEWS

Post — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Juggling and other physically complex activities may hold some promise for brain regeneration among those who have suffered stroke or are coping with other neurological diseases where the pathways that connect how people think with how they move their bodies begin to break down.

Skywatch: The Leonids, going out in a blaze of glory

Blaine P. Friedlander Jr. — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Cross your fingers for clear skies: Meteors ahead.

As NASA tests new rocket, long-range mission remains unclear

Joel Achenbach — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:59:59 EDT

It emerged just after midnight seven days ago, bolted down and gleaming under the floodlights. This was the biggest debut since King Kong, joked the aerospace folks. The Ares I-X is the world's tallest rocket, 327 feet high, and it began the long crawl toward the launch pad at the Kennedy Space C...

As NASA tests new rocket, long-range mission remains unclear

Joel Achenbach — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

It emerged just after midnight last Tuesday, bolted down and gleaming under the floodlights. This was the biggest debut since King Kong, joked the aerospace folks. The Ares I-X is the world's tallest rocket, 327 feet high, and it began the long crawl toward the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Cen...

Ailing planet seen as bad for human health

David A. Fahrenthold — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Climate change will make Americans more vulnerable to diseases, disasters and heat waves, but governments have done little to plan for the added burden on the health system, according to a new study by a nonprofit group.

Action on polar bears might curb oil drilling in Alaska

associated press — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The Obama administration said last week that it plans to designate more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska and off its coast as "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could add restrictions to future offshore drilling for oil and gas.

Laurel area rich in dinosaur fossils is dedicated as a park

Jonathan Mummolo — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

More than 65 million years ago, before the continents reached their current configuration -- and ages before industrial parks and shopping centers existed -- a warm and swampy swath of what is now Prince George's County was home to dinosaurs.

Science news

Post — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

What do Tyrannosaurus rex and today's pigeons have in common? According to a new study by a group of paleontologists, round holes in the jawbones of many T. rex skeletons suggest that the ferocious creatures may have been afflicted by a potentially life-threatening infectious disease, trichomonos...

Science scan

Post — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

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U-Va. students are using DNA to try to make a 'new machine'

Emma Brown — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Creating an original organism required no bolt of lightning for a team of University of Virginia students. But it did take buckets of ice, vials of bacteria and a FedEx delivery.

Manned NASA efforts at Âtipping point' on funds, panel says

Joel Achenbach — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Put more money into NASA's human space flight program, or forget about going anywhere new and interesting with astronauts, a blue-ribbon panel told the White House on Thursday.

Panel questions strategy of civilian space program

Joel Achenbach — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:37:53 EDT

Put more money into NASA's human space flight program or forget about going anywhere new and interesting with astronauts, a blue-ribbon panel told the White House on Thursday.

European astronomers find 32 new 'exoplanets'

Joel Achenbach — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Astronomers are finding planets by the dozen. European astronomers announced Monday that they had found 32 new "exoplanets" orbiting distant stars.

Talk about battery life! Old device, new tricks.

Curt Suplee — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Since the opening bell of the wonder-stuffed 21st century, consumer technologies have evolved at an electrifying pace . . . batteries not included.

Athletic cases show line between male and female can be hazy

David A. Fahrenthold — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

What's the difference between a man and a woman? The question seems too silly to be science: Its answer is so obvious that every stand-up comic has a different way of saying it. (Even the gender jokes break down by gender: Male comics say women go to the bathroom in packs. Female comics say men w...

Profile of Nobel Prize Winner Carol Greider, a Johns Hopkins Molecular Biologist

Liza Mundy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Partway through an interview, Carol Greider's cellphone emits the special ring she has set to indicate the caller is one of her two children. Greider, a molecular biologist at Johns Hopkins who this year became one of only 10 women to win the Nobel Prize in medicine, is at her phone in a split se...

Bloggers sound off on Colorado balloon escapade

Post — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Last week's new stories about 6-year-old Falcon Heene floating away in a giant saucerlike balloon over Colorado got people wondering about more than the intentions of Heene's family. For instance, is such a thing even possible? How much was this like the animated movie "Up," where a lonely old man...

Experts list seafood that's sustainable and extra-nutritious

Juliet Eilperin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Many savvy consumers are familiar with the color codes that marine conservationists bestow on fish and shellfish, depending on how they're faring in the environment: red for avoid, yellow for consume sparingly and green for eat without guilt.

Photo exhibit focuses on specimens from Harvard museum

Post — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

At the National Academy of Sciences, 2100 C St. NW.

Green Lantern: Should you wash out recyclable containers?

Nina Shen Rastogi — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

I've always been dedicated to washing the peanut butter, Pepsi and mayo out of my food containers before tossing them into the recycling bin. My sister, though, pointed out that I'm probably wasting gallons upon gallons of precious H20! Is it worth it to soap up my tin cans and soda bottles?

Use of Forests as Carbon Offsets Fails to Impress In First Big Trial

Juliet Eilperin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

More than a decade ago in the northeast corner of Bolivia, a group of polluters and environmentalists joined forces in the first large-scale experiment to curb climate change with a strategy that promised to suit their competing interests: compensating for greenhouse gas emissions by preserving f...

National Museum of National History to Open Hall of Human Origins

Jacqueline Trescott — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:24:00 EDT

The National Museum of Natural History announced Wednesday that it is dedicating a new hall to the story of human evolution, giving emphasis not only to how we became humans but how changes in the natural world affected human development.

Nobel Prize for Physics Went to Scientists Behind Colonoscopies, Digital Cameras

David Brown — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Forgive the question, but have you had a colonoscopy yet?

Obama Urged to Intensify Push for Climate Measure

Juliet Eilperin and Michael D. Shear — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

President Obama is coming under renewed pressure internationally and in the United States to throw his weight behind climate-change legislation, which advocates fear has suffered in light of the president's sweeping domestic agenda.

Washington: First in War, Peace -- and Accounting

Joel Achenbach — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

One day in 1791, President George Washington received a bill for 60 pounds, 1 shilling and 7 pence from his physician friend James Craik, who regularly made the rounds at Mount Vernon. The invoice ran two pages:

Moon Shot Not Much to See, but Data Could Prove Exciting

Joel Achenbach — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

For those wanting something flashy, the moon thud was a dud.

NASA, Searching for Water, Is Going to Crash Spacecraft Into the Moon

Joel Achenbach — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

America is returning to the moon -- violently. A rocket booster and a small spacecraft will crash into the moon Friday morning at 5,600 mph. The Earth's satellite will have two new craters.

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Three Scientists Share Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Post — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 7 -- Two Americans and an Israeli won a Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for creating detailed blueprints of the protein-making machinery within cells, research that is being used to develop new antibiotics.

Obama Aims to Boost Pell Grant Funding by $40 Billion

Nick Anderson and Daniel de Vise — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

After three years of major increases in federal Pell grants for needy college students, President Obama aims to boost the aid further with $40 billion in funding over the next decade. But even that influx might not ensure that the grants will recover and sustain the purchasing power they once held.

Three U.S. Scientists' Genetic Work Earns Nobel Prize for Medicine

Rob Stein — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Three American scientists shared a Nobel Prize on Monday for deciphering how cells protect their genes as they divide repeatedly throughout an organism's life, a crucial discovery with far-reaching implications for aging's effects, as well as cancer and other diseases.

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Study Examines Toll of Preterm Birth

David Brown — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Around the world, about one in 10 babies are born prematurely each year, and more than one-quarter of the deaths that occur in the month after birth are the consequence of preterm birth.

Hurdles Remain on Climate Change Goals

Juliet Eilperin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Like most members of President Obama's climate team, David Sandalow was one of President Bill Clinton's negotiators in Kyoto. And he carries an indelible lesson from the experience of signing off on the international climate pact there 12 years ago: "Only agree abroad to what you can implement at...

3-Planet Monte, Meteors and the Mall

Blaine P. Friedlander Jr. — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

October features three-planet monte, Jupiter's reign over the evening sky and the Mall gaining a public observatory.

Best, Green Intentions ...

Pat Mertz Esswein — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

If you're like most people, you're more than happy to buy green -- as long as it also saves greenbacks. A recent study by the Shelton Group found that people who buy eco-friendly products at least occasionally are more interested in spending their money wisely than in improving the environment.

Ancient Skeleton Could Rewrite the Book on Human Origins

Joel Achenbach — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Ardi lived 4.4 million years ago in the woodlands of East Africa. She spent most of her time in the trees. She stood about 4 feet tall, weighed 110 pounds, and had long arms, short legs, and a grasping big toe that was perfect for clambering branch to branch. She ate in the trees, raised her...

In Sumatra, a Search for Quake Survivors

Andrew Higgins — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Oct. 2 -- A powerful earthquake on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has left a vibrant port city heaped with corpses sealed in canary-yellow body bags as soldiers and rescue workers searched for life early Friday beneath rubble entombing possibly thousands of people.

Scientists: 'Ardi' Fossil Sheds Light on Origin of Human Species

Joel Achenbach — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:33:00 EDT

Ardi lived 4.4 million years ago in the woodlands of East Africa. She spent most of her time in the trees. She stood about four feet tall, weighed 110 pounds, and had long arms, short legs, and a grasping big toe that was perfect for clambering branch to branch. She ate in the trees, raised her o...

Researcher Cites Role of Ancient Farming in Climate Change

David A. Fahrenthold — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Has climate change been around as long as the pyramids?

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New Analysis Brings Dire Global Warming Prediction

Juliet Eilperin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Climate researchers now predict the planet will warm by 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century even if the world's leaders fulfill their most ambitious climate pledges, a much faster and broader scale of change than forecast just two years ago, according to a report released Thursday by...

Scientists Find Water on the Surface of the Moon

Post — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The moon is not the dry, dull place it seems. Traces of water lurk in the dirt unseen.

Firms Start to See Climate Change as Barrier to Profit

Juliet Eilperin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

As the real-world impacts of climate change begin to materialize and regulation of greenhouse gases appears more likely, corporate America has begun to grapple with a challenging question: How do you quantify the risks associated with climate change?

Aquaculture's Rise Brings Both Optimism, Concern

Juliet Eilperin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

By the end of this year, the world is projected to reach an unheralded but historic milestone: Half of the fish and shellfish we consume will be raised by humans, rather than caught in the wild.

Book Review: 'Green Metropolis' by David Owen

Jonathan Yardley — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

David Owen has his advice for creating a "Green Metropolis": Live small, live close, drive less.

Editor Irving Kristol, 89; Architect of Neoconservatism

Adam Bernstein — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Irving Kristol, 89, a forceful essayist, editor and university professor who became the leading architect of neoconservatism, which he called a political and intellectual movement for disaffected ex-liberals, like himself, who had been "mugged by reality," died Friday at Capital Hospice in Arlington...

Scientists Unveil Surprisingly Tiny T. Rex Ancestor

Joel Achenbach — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Tyrannosaurus rex -- the most fearsome predator ever to have trod the Earth -- had a pint-sized precursor, remarkably similar in appearance but no heavier than a human being, according to a new report from a team of scientists. The creature was what Austin Powers might call T. rex's Mini-Me.

Colleges Try to Ease Veterans' Move From Combat to Classroom

Emma Brown — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

During his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, Sgt. Chris Day made a habit of wearing a Terps T-shirt under his uniform. He planned to enroll at the University of Maryland as soon as he got out of the Army.

SEC Proposes Ban on Flash Orders

Zachary A. Goldfarb — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Federal regulators turned their attention on Thursday to the fast-paced and sometimes opaque electronic trading systems that dominate financial markets, proposing to ban a type of trading that critics contend gives hedge funds and other financial firms an unfair advantage over individual investors.

New Water-Measurement Tool Relies on Satellites to Track Consumption

Kari Lydersen — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Water management is serious business in the American West, where precipitation is scarce, irrigated agriculture is a major industry, new housing subdivisions spread across arid landscapes and water rights are allocated in a complicated seniority system.

U.S., Canada Take First Good Look at Far Reaches of Continental Shelf

Juliet Eilperin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

A joint American-Canadian cruise exploring the frigid Arctic Ocean has mapped broad swaths of the extended continental shelf for the first time, scientists reported Thursday.

Images From Refurbished Hubble Pack Visual Punch

Joel Achenbach — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, rebuilt by astronauts, has demonstrated its new powers with a stunning set of images of exploding stars, a stellar nursery, colliding galaxies and the lensing effect of a galactic cluster nearly halfway across the universe.

Augustine Committee Says NASA Needs More Money to Make Space Exploration Viable

Joel Achenbach — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Don't try to put astronauts on Mars yet -- too hard, too costly. Go to the moon -- maybe. Or build rockets that could zip around the inner solar system, visiting asteroids, maybe a Martian moon. Keep the international space station going until 2020 rather than crash it into the Pacific in 2016. Help...

Scientists Discover 3 More Genes With Links to Alzheimer's Disease

David Brown — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Two European research teams have identified three genes that affect a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia in the elderly.

Thanks to Shakespeare, the Starling Has Become a North American Nuisance

Mike Stark — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

SALT LAKE CITY -- The next time the sky darkens with a flock of noisy, unwelcome starlings, blame Shakespeare -- or, better yet, a few of his strangest fans.

Study Shows Species of Monkeys Responds to Music

Rob Stein — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Whales have songs, and so do birds, of course. But does music lift the spirits of a swallow? Do humpbacks hum to make themselves mellow?

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Private Enterprise's Ticket to Fly Into Space

Joel Achenbach — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Perhaps, someday, going into space will be as mundane as flying on a commercial aircraft: Buy the ticket online, drive to the aerodrome, shuffle through a cattle-pen security line, grab a burger in the food court, watch a mediocre movie on the way up, and so on.

Study Links Humans to Reversal of 2,000-Year Arctic Cooling Trend

Juliet Eilperin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Human-generated greenhouse gas emissions have helped reverse a 2,000-year trend of cooling in the Arctic, prompting warmer average temperatures in the past decade that now rank higher than at any time since 1 B.C., according to a study published Thursday in the online version of the journal Science.

Nation Digest: U.S. Paying Millions for Land for Pennsylvania 9/11 Memorial

Post — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT

PENNSYLVANIA The National Park Service will pay about $9.5 million to eight landowners that own property needed to complete the first phase of the National Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County, Pa., the Interior Department announced Monday. The agreement should allow the memorial to be built by...

St. Lawrence Seaway Fosters a Plague of Sea Life

Kari Lydersen — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959 to great fanfare. The system of canals connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the five Great Lakes cut a lucrative international trade route through the heartland and gave the United States a refuge and staging ground for ships and submarines in case of war with ...

Jupiter Easy to See, Saturn's Rings Flatten Out as Autumnal Equinox Approaches

Blaine P. Friedlander Jr. — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

In September's planetary opera, Jupiter remains sharp, and Saturn 's ring cycle goes flat.

Scientists Produce Monkeys With DNA From Two Mothers

Rob Stein — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Scientists have produced monkeys with genetic material from two mothers, an advance that could help women with some inherited diseases have healthy children but that would raise a host of safety, legal, ethical and social questions if attempted in people.

The Story Behind Jim Sanborn's Latest Artwork, 'Terrestrial Physics'

Blake Gopnik — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

When Jim Sanborn shows you his latest art, the jaw drops and elegant words fail.

Nation Digest: 2 Deaths Attributed to Hurricane Bill

Post — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

A large wave fueled by Hurricane Bill swept spectators out to sea at a Maine park Sunday, as the storm-churned surf attracted onlookers and daredevils along the Eastern Seaboard.

Maryland Abandons Auction to Buy Crabbers' Licenses as Watermen Refuse to Sell

David A. Fahrenthold — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The Chesapeake Bay, raked by storms and swimming with things that pinch and sting, has always been brutal on wooden boats, old lighthouses and ungloved fingers.

Angled Surfaces Trigger Gecko's Super-Strong Grip

Ibby Caputo — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Put a gecko on a level piece of glass and it might slip all over the place. Tilt that glass about 10 degrees and it will stay in place. This is because the gecko's grip is triggered by gravity, a recent discovery made by scientists at the University of Calgary and Clemson University in South Caro...

14 Years After War's End, Ethnic Divisions Once Again Gripping Bosnia

Craig Whitlock — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia -- Fourteen years after the United States and NATO intervened to stop war and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, the old divisions and hatreds are again gripping this Balkan country.

New NIH Chief Says He Has 'No Religious Agenda' for Agency

Lauran Neergaard — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

An influential geneticist who wears his faith on his sleeve said that as the new director of the National Institutes of Health, he won't inject his religious convictions into medical research while pushing cutting-edge science into better bedside care.

Blasting Neutrinos Under Wisconsin May Yield Big Payoff

Joel Achenbach — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Scientists are playing an exotic game of pitch and catch between Illinois and Minnesota. Their catcher's mitt is solid iron, weighs 5,500 tons, and is parked in northern Minnesota in an abandoned iron mine. With millions of dollars from the federal stimulus package, construction crews are now bui...

Pathology Institute Defends Its Turf

Steve Vogel — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

For nearly 150 years, from its origins during the Civil War, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington has helped diagnose illnesses and solve medical mysteries.

Science Digest: Health Issues After Sept. 11 Attacks Studied

Post — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Office workers, rescuers and others directly exposed to the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks reported new cases of asthma and symptoms of post-traumatic stress five to six years later, according to a study in the Aug. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Exposure to...

Cash-Strapped D.C. Area Governments Try to Snap Up Discounted Parkland

Michael Laris — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

In the boggy wilderness beside a log cabin on the eastern edge of Montgomery County, crayfish build runny mud towers, and green bursts of ground pine spring from the forest floor.

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Panel Finds Current Spaceflight Strategy Unworkable

Joel Achenbach — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

NASA doesn't have nearly enough money to meet its goal of putting astronauts back on the moon by 2020 -- and it may be the wrong place to go anyway. That's one of the harsh messages emerging from a sweeping review of NASA's human spaceflight program.

Nation Digest: Judge Rebuffs Obama on Mining Waste

Post — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

WEST VIRGINIA A federal judge on Wednesday rebuffed the Obama administration's attempt to reverse a Bush-era rule that allows surface mine waste to be dumped near streams.

Some Highly Developed Countries See Increased Fertility

Rob Stein — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

For decades, the rate at which women were having babies in many of the world's most highly developed countries slowly declined.

In the Baltic, a Seaweed Divided Against Itself Upsets an Underwater Order

Kari Lydersen — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

STOCKHOLM -- Something is happening in the Baltic Sea's underwater forests.

Science Digest: New HIV Strain Found in Cameroon

Post — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT

A new strain of the virus that causes AIDS has been discovered in a woman from the African nation of Cameroon.

River Project Offers New Hope for Oysters, Researchers Say

David A. Fahrenthold — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Scientists say they've created something in a Virginia river that hasn't been seen since the late 1800s: a vast, thriving reef of American oysters, the shellfish that helped create the Chesapeake Bay's ecosystem and then nearly vanished from it.

Scientists Develop Bar-Code Standard for Plants

Adrian Higgins — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

An international panel of scientists has agreed to a bar-code standard for plant DNA that will allow the precise identification of most of Earth's 300,000 species of plants, according to a research report due to be published this week.

911 Caller Did Not Describe Gates as Black

Krissah Thompson — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The role of race in the controversial arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. became more difficult to untangle Monday with the release of the tape of the emergency call that brought Cambridge, Mass., police to his door.

Nation Digest: Clinton Plans to Tour Seven African Nations

Post — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

DIPLOMACY Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to travel to Africa next week on a seven-nation tour, the State Department said Monday.

Science Digest: Virus in Chimps Tied to AIDS-Like Illness

Post — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Chimpanzees infected with the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the precursor of HIV, do develop an AIDS-like illness, according to a study published in last week's Nature. Scientists previously thought that SIV did not cause AIDS.

Infectious Diseases Study Site Questioned

Carol D. Leonnig — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The Department of Homeland Security relied on a rushed, flawed study to justify its decision to locate a $700 million research facility for highly infectious pathogens in a tornado-prone section of Kansas, according to a government report.

Ruling Parties Dominate Vote in Iraq's Kurdish Region, but Opposition Does Well

Anthony Shadid — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq -- The ruling parties of Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region won a comfortable majority in the region's parliament, unofficial results showed Sunday, but a strong performance by the opposition has already begun to rework the balance of power.

An Elusive Musical Gift Could Be at Children's Fingertips

Kathryn Tolbert — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

TOKYO -- If you could give your child the gift of perfect pitch -- the ability to identify a note simply by hearing it -- would you? The few who are born with perfect pitch say notes have a concrete identity and presence, almost like colors, and being able to intuitively recognize them gives mus...

Wash Post Science

Crashed satellite detects water at moon's pole

U.S. military expands efforts to track satellites

Potomac Conservancy blames chemical runoff for intersex fish

Interest in saving the Amazon rain forest is growing

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SCIENCE NEWS

SCIENCE SCAN

In Turkey, fertile ground for creationism

India's space ambitions taking off

Great white sharks coming closer to shore than thought, researchers find

Why do leaves turn color in the fall?

How GPS devices pinpoint the location of moving objects

Green Lantern: Choosing kitchen disinfectants

SCIENCE SCAN

SCIENCE NEWS

Skywatch: The Leonids, going out in a blaze of glory

As NASA tests new rocket, long-range mission remains unclear

As NASA tests new rocket, long-range mission remains unclear

Ailing planet seen as bad for human health

Action on polar bears might curb oil drilling in Alaska

Laurel area rich in dinosaur fossils is dedicated as a park

Science news

Science scan

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U-Va. students are using DNA to try to make a 'new machine'

Manned NASA efforts at Âtipping point' on funds, panel says

Panel questions strategy of civilian space program

European astronomers find 32 new 'exoplanets'

Talk about battery life! Old device, new tricks.

Athletic cases show line between male and female can be hazy

Profile of Nobel Prize Winner Carol Greider, a Johns Hopkins Molecular Biologist

Bloggers sound off on Colorado balloon escapade

Experts list seafood that's sustainable and extra-nutritious

Photo exhibit focuses on specimens from Harvard museum

Green Lantern: Should you wash out recyclable containers?

Use of Forests as Carbon Offsets Fails to Impress In First Big Trial

National Museum of National History to Open Hall of Human Origins

Nobel Prize for Physics Went to Scientists Behind Colonoscopies, Digital Cameras

Obama Urged to Intensify Push for Climate Measure

Washington: First in War, Peace -- and Accounting

Moon Shot Not Much to See, but Data Could Prove Exciting

NASA, Searching for Water, Is Going to Crash Spacecraft Into the Moon

Three Scientists Share Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Obama Aims to Boost Pell Grant Funding by $40 Billion

Three U.S. Scientists' Genetic Work Earns Nobel Prize for Medicine

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Study Examines Toll of Preterm Birth

Hurdles Remain on Climate Change Goals

3-Planet Monte, Meteors and the Mall

Best, Green Intentions ...

Ancient Skeleton Could Rewrite the Book on Human Origins

In Sumatra, a Search for Quake Survivors

Scientists: 'Ardi' Fossil Sheds Light on Origin of Human Species

Researcher Cites Role of Ancient Farming in Climate Change

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New Analysis Brings Dire Global Warming Prediction

Scientists Find Water on the Surface of the Moon

Firms Start to See Climate Change as Barrier to Profit

Aquaculture's Rise Brings Both Optimism, Concern

Book Review: 'Green Metropolis' by David Owen

Editor Irving Kristol, 89; Architect of Neoconservatism

Scientists Unveil Surprisingly Tiny T. Rex Ancestor

Colleges Try to Ease Veterans' Move From Combat to Classroom

SEC Proposes Ban on Flash Orders

New Water-Measurement Tool Relies on Satellites to Track Consumption

U.S., Canada Take First Good Look at Far Reaches of Continental Shelf

Images From Refurbished Hubble Pack Visual Punch

Augustine Committee Says NASA Needs More Money to Make Space Exploration Viable

Scientists Discover 3 More Genes With Links to Alzheimer's Disease

Thanks to Shakespeare, the Starling Has Become a North American Nuisance

Study Shows Species of Monkeys Responds to Music

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Private Enterprise's Ticket to Fly Into Space

Study Links Humans to Reversal of 2,000-Year Arctic Cooling Trend

Nation Digest: U.S. Paying Millions for Land for Pennsylvania 9/11 Memorial

St. Lawrence Seaway Fosters a Plague of Sea Life

Jupiter Easy to See, Saturn's Rings Flatten Out as Autumnal Equinox Approaches

Scientists Produce Monkeys With DNA From Two Mothers

The Story Behind Jim Sanborn's Latest Artwork, 'Terrestrial Physics'

Manned NASA efforts at Âtipping point' on funds, panel says