Feathers Trapped in Amber Reveal a More Colorful Dinosaur Age
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Science/AAAS
A feather barb within Late Cretaceous Canadian amber that shows some indication of original coloration.
Paleontologists in Canada have found 70-million-year-old amber preserving 11 specimens showing a wide diversity of feather types and pigments in the Mesozoic Era.
NASA Unveils New Rocket Design
By KENNETH CHANG
A colossal rocket would be the most powerful since the Saturn V that took Americans to the moon.
BP Shortcuts Led to Gulf Oil Spill, Report Says
By JOHN M. BRODER
Investigators said the cause of the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig was a failure of the cement at the base of the 18,000-foot-deep well.
A City of Glass Towers, and a Hazard for Migratory Birds
By LISA W. FODERARO
The reflective towers of New York City, which is on the Atlantic migratory flyway, can be deadly for birds. An estimated 90,000 birds are killed by flying into buildings in the city each year.
Furor Over Loans to Failed Solar Firm
By MATTHEW L. WALD and CHARLIE SAVAGE
Documents released by a House subcommittee raised questions about whether White House staff intervened to speed a review of loan guarantees for the Solyndra solar company.
Scientists Hint at Why Laughter Feels So Good
By JAMES GORMAN
The simple muscular exertions involved in producing laughter cause an increase in endorphins, the brain chemicals known for their feel-good effect.
Science Times: Sept. 13, 2011
Geoscientists Get to Work as Quake Memories Fade
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Scott Olson/Getty Images
AFTERMATH Restocking in Mineral,Va., the earthquake’s epicenter.
The magnitude 5.8 quake that struck central Virginia on Aug. 23 offers a chance to learn more about the seismology of the East Coast.
Claudette Barius/Warner Bros., via Associated Press
FEAR FACTOR "Contagion" can veer far from the reality of a viral pandemic.
For all the relentless realism of the film “Contagion,” much of the real drama of epidemic disease never quite makes it to the screen.
Taking Advantage of a Destructive Insect’s Weakness for Purple
By ANTHONY DePALMA
The emerald ash borer is the most destructive insect in North America, and officials in New York are using special purple devices — called Barney traps — against them.
36 Light-Years From Here, New Hope for an Earth-Like Planet
By DENNIS OVERBYE
Scientists found a lump of something about 3.6 times as massive as the Earth, circling its star at the right distance for liquid water to exist on its surface.
Horwich Wins Lasker Award by Straddling Science and Medicine
By CARL ZIMMER
Dr. Arthur Horwich, a winner of this year’s Lasker Award, has discovered a “changing room” for proteins that allows them to do their jobs.
Health News
In Republican Race, a Heated Battle Over the HPV Vaccine
By TRIP GABRIEL and DENISE GRADY
The unlikely issue has become the latest flashpoint among G.O.P. presidential candidates as they vie for the support of social conservatives.
Abuse of Xanax Leads a Clinic to Halt Supply
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
Citing concern over overdoses, doctors at Seven Counties Services in Louisville have stopped writing prescriptions for the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.
In Study, Fatherhood Leads to Drop in Testosterone
By PAM BELLUCK
The study suggests that men’s bodies evolved hormonal systems that helped them commit to their families.
More Multimedia
INTERACTIVE FEATURE: Panoramas: Expanding the Shortcut Between the Seas
In the first expansion in the 100-year history of the Panama Canal, crews are starting to build a new set of locks that will handle much larger ships.
VIDEO: Life Out There: Eden in a Test Tube
To better recognize extraterrestrial life should they come upon it, scientists are working to create simple life forms in a lab. But, as Dennis Overbye reports, they first have to agree what life is.
VIDEO: Nora Volkow
An interview with the neuroscientist in charge of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who also happens to be the great-granddaughter of Leon Trotsky.
To the Arctic, in Search of the Unknown
September 13, 2011
Rules of Engagement in the Elephant World
September 8, 2011
GREEN BLOG
Watch Out for Lethal Branches. Bats, Too.
By CRAIG LEISHER
Living off the grid in Maine, the author escapes rabies, a serious eye injury and carbon monoxide poisoning. Phew. But a storm damages the family's kayak.
SCIENTIST AT WORK BLOG
The Island Birds of Papua New Guinea
By JACK DUMBACHER
Scientists arrive in Milne Bay, a maritime province with more than 600 islands off the southeastern tip of New Guinea, where they hope to discover new species of birds and their parasites.
Greenhouse Gas Rule Delayed
September 15, 2011
A War Against Food Waste
September 15, 2011
Parsing Myth and Reality on Solyndra
September 14, 2011
Science Columns
OBSERVATORY
Good Vibrations Lead to Hummingbird Romance
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
The male hummingbird’s tail feather vibrations are audible, precise and separate from the humming of the wings that gives the birds their name.
OBSERVATORY
A Jekyll-and-Hyde Act for the Feathered Set
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Honeyguides lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and upon hatching, the chicks kill their foster siblings.
OBSERVATORY
Cavefish Keep Time Without the Sun
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Photoreceptor cells in cavefish do not respond to light, a discovery that provides insights about the evolution of circadian clocks.
Q & A
Dating Stone Tools
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Because radiocarbon dating is limited to the last 50,000 years, an artifact like a flint tool is dated by the age of the sediment in which its found.
Podcast: Science Times
This week: A new experiment in gene therapy for cancer, tracking a tree-killing insect, and comparing the movie “Contagion” to real-life epidemics.
The Science Times PodcastHealth Columns
18 AND UNDER
A Child’s Nap Is More Complicated Than It Looks
By PERRI KLASS, M.D.
Napping in children actually is a mix of individual biology, including neurologic and hormonal development, cultural expectations and family dynamics.
PERSONAL HEALTH
Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause
By JANE E. BRODY
A series of reports in The Lancet lays out the reasons why the number of overweight Americans began skyrocketing in the 1970s, and how the problem can be brought under control.
REALLY?
The Claim: Fingers Wrinkle Because of Water Absorption
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Researchers theorize that the wrinkles allow water to drain away as fingertips are pressed to wet surfaces, creating more contact and a better grip.
Opinion
DOT EARTH BLOG
Four Years, 1,630 Posts and a Nice Award
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Awards for a remarkable book on the early days of cancer research, a series of articles on the frontiers of that field, a documentary on ailing dolphins and this blog.
