In 1832, a cholera epidemic killed 3,515 New Yorkers. At the time, the total population of the city was 250,000–the equivalent mortality rate today would exceed 100,000 deaths in our city of 8 million.

In 1974, renowned primatologist Dian Fossey introduced a young researcher named Kelly Stewart to a baby gorilla. She named him Titus, and his turbulent life story, from orphan to ruler and the challenge to his throne today is “The Gorilla King”, premiering Sunday, April 20, 2008. Preview.

This week, a team of Johns Hopkins researchers say a discovery about the role of proteins in bacteria reproduction may lead to new strategies for developing more effective antibiotics. For more information about recent outbreaks of drug-resistant bacteria, you can read or listen to recent NEWSHOUR coverage.

Of the 4,000 or so species of mammals, only a handful of animals have ever been thought to mate for life. The second episode of NATURE’s What Females Want and Males Will Do explores why many animals stray from their mates.

Today marks the first public appearance for Flocke–”Snowflake” in German–the polar bear cub taken away from her mother in January because caretakers at the Nuremburg City Zoo feared the mother would eat her. If you think one bear is a handful, try taking on a thousand. Learn how a northern Canadian town copes each October [...]

A couple years ago, residents of Cape Coral, Florida began hearing thumps rumble through their homes. At first, they blamed the city’s municipal utility system, and pressured the city council to silence the thumps. The city expected to spend nearly $50,000 on the project.

Today some of our most pressing political concerns are closely related to science. The economy, healthcare, and the global energy crisis are problems that scientific research can help solve. Yet many are concerned by lack of basic scientific knowledge in the general public. Watch a panel of leading scientists discuss the role of science in [...]

Gelada expert Chadden Hunter describes his adventures in Ethiopia studying jealous baboons, a robot seductress helps researcher Gail Patricelli flirt with male sage grouses, and Rebecca Safran explains why barn swallows stray from their mates.

Over at The Wild Side, evolutionary biologist and blogger Olivia Judson describes her favorite animal: the shrimp goby. This little fish teams up with shrimp, sharing the shrimp’s burrow and earning its keep by guarding the entrance.

A recent study conducted by the Cleveland Clinic indicated that heart surgery patients who receive transfusions of blood more than two weeks old were more likely to die or suffer serious complications than patients who receive fresher blood.