Podcast
EXPLORING THE SENSES: Baby's first words explained, the changing taste of fruit, pollution destroys scent, why sunburns feel hot, and more
Trees for Healthcare
On the island of Borneo, impoverished families often turn to illegal rainforest logging to pay for healthcare. But a new project trades medical services for rainforest protection.
Podcast
Antifreeze from fleas, silk optics for food safety, plants head for the hills, heavy metals that won't go away, and more.
Ascending Plants
Plant species are seeking refuge from climate change at higher altitudes.
Alcoholic Tree Shrews
A small mammal drinks alcohol without becoming intoxicated.
Poisonous Berries
A listener wants to know why some berries bother being poisonous.
Satellite Archaeology
Satellite images are helping scientists measure the influence of an ancient Mexican civilization.
Podcast
CO2's dangerous overlooked cousin, the origins of the southern hemisphere, why magnetic credit cards don't stick to the fridge and why so many white cats are deaf.
Beetle Roundup
An innocuous-looking beetle may have been partially responsible for the formation of the vast Chihuahuan desert in Mexico.
Tree Roundup
Planting fast-growing trees in southern latitudes could help stall global warming, but they're no panacea.
Podcast
INSECTS & SPIDERS: Spiders play dead for sex, how to make a queen bee, foiling the mosquito's sense of smell, and a new treatment for Lyme disease.
Hypoallergenic Soy
Fermenting soy reduces its allergenicity by 99 percent.
Cat Domestication
A listener asks: where and when were cats first domesticated?
Podcast
ENERGY NEWS: Electricity from bacteria, people power, thermoelectricity and what the sun is made of.
Encyclopedia of Life
A new, comprehensive repository of scientific information for all life on earth comes to the web.
Root Navigation
Researchers discover just how plant roots find their way around obstacles to get to nutrients and water.
Global Seed Bank
A new global seed vault will safeguard food crops from around the world.
Hunger Forecast
A new model predicts where global warming may trigger future food shortages.
Materials Roundup
Researchers test the strength of bamboo as a structural material.
Podcast
Evolution Special: The history of dogs, butterflies vs. cabbages and the world's largest scorpion. Plus: Could there be life two miles beneath Antarctica?
Butterfly Co-Evolution
Plants of the cabbage family evolved a toxic herbicide to ward off pests. But some insects evolved a way around it.
Podcast
Hurricane Katrina and global warming, your skin and your health, and advances in prosthetics research
Podcast
Future Survival: A vaccine for antibacterial-resistant staph infections, future crops use space-age technology, and growing green roofs
Space Crops
Lighting, heating and recycling technology designed for survival in space could revolutionize how crops are grown here on earth.