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DRESDEN, Germany--How cool would it be not just to read about the craziness of quantum mechanics, but to see it--even better, do it--for yourself? Several years ago I asked virtuoso experimental physicist Paul Kwiat whether he could develop a simple demonstration anyone could do at home, and he and his undergraduate student Rachel Killmer came up with a "quantum eraser" . This week I got to see another big step toward the era of quantum homebrewers

By Ewen Callaway An experimental gene-therapy treatment for Parkinson's disease has eased the movement problems of a small number of patients and raised no major safety concerns.

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Helicopters and fire trucks proved unsuccessful at replenishing damaged nuclear fuel pools at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant on Thursday. The spent-fuel pools contain a large amount of radioactive material that is not contained as well as that in the reactor cores. And although information has been spotty, nuclear experts worry that this fuel--which should be submerged in circulating water to keep it from overheating--has been at least partly exposed in the pools belonging to reactors Nos.

The hydrogen explosions, melting fuel rods and radiation leaks at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are having an immediate impact on perceptions of nuclear power worldwide, at a time when many countries are earnestly searching for alternatives to fossil fuels. Safety will be a major concern, particularly as emergency workers in Japan continue to battle to keep spent fuel rods stored on site at Fukushima Daiichi from melting down. [More]

Once in Resolute Bay you feel like you are at the edge of the world, your view is of nothing but snow covered hills and sea ice.

Burncoat Street is a wide, suburban avenue above the industrial center of Worcester, Massachusetts. Lined with single-family clapboard and brick houses, churches, an elementary and a high school, Burncoat Street is a typical New England neighborhood

“We are definitely in uncharted waters, particularly given that the spent fuel pool appears to either not have water or have very little water.

Last week, I spent a pleasant hour over lunch talking to my 60-year-old aunt and her 80-something husband about "this Twitter thing" and how one defines a blog. They had heard that social media had played a role in the protests in Egypt and wanted to learn more. Good students, they nodded and asked questions as I showed them the screens and tools on my computer in a restaurant chosen mostly because it had wi-fi

If you had four pictures of a person at different ages, how would you lay them out in chronological order? As an English speaker, you would almost certainly put childhood scenes on the left and pictures from old age on the right. But if you spoke another language, you might arrange the photos in a column or even from east to west

A new mother’s body goes through many changes--among them, key parts of her brain get bigger, according to research reported in October’s Behavioral Neuroscience .

Researchers have come a step closer to gaining complete control over a mind, even if that mind is smaller than a grain of sand. A team at Harvard University has built a computerized system to manipulate worms--making them start and stop, giving them the sensation of being touched, and even prompting them to lay eggs--

CHERNOBYL, Ukraine--Imagine a metal arch taller than the Statue of Liberty. Now picture it sliding a distance of roughly three football fields, making it the largest movable structure ever .

Serious nuclear incidents that followed Friday's catastrophic Japan earthquake has raised fears of radiation leakage, a weather-dependent matter that could have a far-reaching impact. [More]

By Ewen Callaway A sperm's path to an egg is more a deadly obstacle course than a track sprint. [More]