Lasers, nasty space weapon or another tool? Equipped with a laser system, a plane collected highly precise images of New York city, its rooftops, trees, wetlands and much of what lies in between. In only four days, a twin engine aircraft equipped with an advanced version of lidar (light detection and ranging) flew back and…

Have you ever wondered how can you possibly gain so much weight when somebody else eats even more and gains less? Obviously, some of the answer is how much exercise one does. Another part of the answer is shown in the first study of its type by Australian researchers. Healthy people with a genetic predisposition…

Whatever happened to Neanderthal man and woman? Where did they go? After extracting ancient DNA from the 40,000 year old bones of Neanderthals, scientists have obtained a draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome, yielding important new insights into the evolution of modern humans. Among the findings, published in the May 7 issue of Science, is…

There is a body of evidence linking general environmental exposures to cancer. A report was released today by the President’s Cancer Panel which finds that the true burden of environmentally induced cancer is underestimated. The Panel’s report, “Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now,” concludes that while environmental exposure is not a new…

Here we are in global warming but there are still places that can be outright cold. Antarctica, of course, comes to mind as well as Siberia. The lowest recorded air temperature on Earth was a measurement of −89.2C (-128.6 F) made at Vostok station, Antarctica, at 0245 UT on 21 July 1983. What could have…

A volcano erupts and the world seems to end. What happens afterwards? May 18 marks the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state and scientists to this day use what’s being learned there to challenge established thinking about how landscapes evolve and rebound.