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Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Larson talks about his article Greater Glory in the June issue of Scientific American on the forgotten science of the doomed Scott expedition a hundred years ago. [More]

What does a supernova sound like? Hopefully we will never find out directly--getting within earshot of an exploding star is probably a bad idea

By Ewen Callaway Nature magazine By transforming cells from human skin into working nerve cells, researchers may have come up with a model for nervous-system diseases and perhaps even regenerative therapies based on cell transplants. The achievement, reported online today in Nature , is the latest in a fast-moving field called transdifferentiation, in which cells are forced to adopt new identities.

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To better understand how weather will behave in the future, researchers need to understand how weather has behaved in the past [More]

Viewed on a map, South Georgia Island is a speck in the vast Southern Ocean. But new research by the British Antarctic Survey suggests that the waters surrounding the tiny island are home to a disproportionately large slice of marine life. Nearly 1,500 species live off the coast of the former whaling outpost, including many found nowhere else on Earth

Name: Shawn Brixey Title: Arts Chair, Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media, University of Washington [More]

By Nicola Nosengo of Nature magazine Six Italian seismologists and one government official will be tried for the manslaughter of those who died in the earthquake that struck the city of L'Aquila on 6 April 2009. The seven were on a committee that had been tasked with assessing the risk associated with recent increases in seismic activity in the area. [More]

How many miles will an electric car go on a gallon of gasoline? This is not a trick question.

“If climate change drives temperature up a degree or two,” goes the common dismissal, “how bad could that be?” [More]

LONDON (Reuters) - The world would not have to dig so much metal out of the ground if it strongly embraced recycling, which could be higher, the United Nations Environment Programme said on Thursday. Smarter product designs and support for developing country waste management schemes would encourage recycling, said Thomas Graedel, a professor at Yale University and one of the authors of a report on metals recycling rates at a briefing. [More]

By Anna Driver and Braden Reddall DALLAS/SAN RAMON, California (Reuters) - Large blocks of investors in the two biggest U.S. oil companies on Wednesday demanded more disclosure about the environmental risks of extracting oil and gas through hydraulic fracturing

By Marie Maitre DEAUVILLE, France (Reuters) - The European Union called on Thursday for worldwide "stress tests" on nuclear power plants, and said they would discuss stronger global safety standards during meetings with the Group of Eight leaders. [More]

BOSTON--Astronomy is facing a lean decade. That was the message handed down by senior representatives of the federal agencies that fund much of the field's research in the U.S.

Key concepts Ice and water [More]