Back in May 2008, the U.S. Interior Department finally declared the polar bear a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. But now the state of Alaska — led by Gov. Sarah Palin, who John McCain introduced as his running mate in his bid for the presidency — has sued Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne seeking to reverse the decision in order to open the possibility of offshore drilling.
The Human Spark team peer with both an MRI and a brainwave monitor into Alan Alda’s brain to examine how he uses both language and tools. Read more…
It’s been 125 years since the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history–the explosion, earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused by Krakatoa, an island in Indonesia. Krakatoa is still a benchmark for extreme seismic activity, as it’s explosion was 13,000 times more powerful than one of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima.
Ninety years after the 1918 flu pandemic claimed the last of its approximately 50 million victims, antibodies to the virus live on in people exposed to it as children — and the pandemic itself is still inspiring research and debate among scientists. Read more…
Some 300 miles off Costa Rica is Cocos Island, a tiny Pacific outpost that was once a favorite haunt of pirates. Cocos is beset by powerful ocean currents that churning the waters nearby into an undersea storm. Welcome to Shark Mountain. Watch the episode now.
Asteroid: the doomsday rock
The quest for element 114
Obesity: the compulsion to eat
Profile: Karl Iagnemma - robiticist & writer
An MRI is a huge magnet, sucking metallic objects into its maw. But they needed to film the process… so how did the team shoot the scene? Read the Spark Blog to find out. (also watch video).
Sales of GM’s once-popular line of SUVs and pickup trucks have sunk. The company is now trying to lure drivers back by making smaller and more fuel-efficient cars, like the Chevy Volt, an electric vehicle GM calls “a game changer.” Watch interview…
The Bush administration has proposed new rules that would weaken the Endangered Species Act. As you will recall, in May of this year, the polar bear became the first species listed as threatened on the basis of habitat concerns stemming from climate change.Why does the Bush Administration want the changes?
Wind energy is the world’s fastest-growing energy source, but the rush to build windmill farms breeds corruption. At least, that’s what residents of small towns in upstate New York claim in a new report by The New York Times.
