Topic: National Academy of Sciences

Los Angeles collects most guns ever, in post-Newtown buyback event

Police collected more than 2,000 firearms Wednesday in Los Angeles, during a gun buyback event held less than two weeks after the mass shootings in Newtown, Conn. Do such city initiatives help reduce gun violence?

Video games and shooting: Is the NRA right?

The NRA says the problem with mass shootings like the recent one at the Sandy Hook grade school in Connecticut is not too many unregulated guns but violent video games. But most academic and government research does not support the gun lobby's charge.

Kids and violent video games: One senator calls for research

Violent video games and programming affect the lives of American children, says Sen. Jay Rockefeller. Legislation introduced by Rockefeller this week will investigate their long-term effects.

NASA plans follow-up trek to Mars

The Mars rover Curiosity is four months into its 2-year investigative visit to Mars. Now NASA is planning another rover trip to bring samples from Mars back to Earth. 

BP to pay $4.5 billion in fines for Gulf oil spill. Is legal saga over?

A deal on federal criminal charges helps bring legal action over the Gulf oil spill nearer a conclusion. But many more claims remain – totaling perhaps tens of billions of dollars.

Energy Voices
The real reason behind oil price rises

In an interview, energy economist James Hamilton reveals how demand for oil keeps outstripping production, even with new shale oil supply coming from the United States.

Health-care system wastes $750 billion a year

Health-care system squanders roughly 30 cents of every medical dollar through unneeded care, byzantine paperwork, fraud and other waste, a new study shows. Deep cuts to the US heath-care system may produce a more efficient, better-quality product.

Prop. 37: Will California be first state to label genetically modified food?

Proponents of Prop. 37, which is on the California ballot in November, say consumers have a right to know what kinds of food they are eating. But similar labeling laws have failed in 19 states.

Rover Curiosity is a star, but can it help fund future of Mars exploration?

The steady stream of enticing photographs from the rover Curiosity may be wowing scientists and the public, but NASA is facing serious budgetary constraints on the future of Mars exploration.

Solar storms: Five key facts

This weekend's solar storm brought spectacular auroras over a big part of the Northern Hemisphere. Here are five facts about these dazzling – and sometimes dangerous – eruptions from our sun.

West Coast sea levels: New report estimates greater rise by 2100

The estimates from the National Research Council, taking advantage of more recent research, range from 19 to 55 inches. The study is expected to become a common frame of reference that coastal communities can use in planning.

Were early humans cooking their food a million years ago?

The discovery of million-year-old ash and charred bone in a South African cave suggests that human ancestors were using fire much earlier than previously thought.

Climategate sequel? Scientist lies to get Heartland Institute documents.

Climate scientist, Peter Gleick, lied to acquire – then leak to the press – documents from the Heartland Institute, an organization that argues that global warming poses no threat. 

Obama's NASA budget favors a space telescope over Mars exploration

The proposed 2013 federal budget shifts funding away from missions to Mars and emphasizes manned spaceflight and astronomy.

Fukushima meltdown could be template for nuclear terrorism, study says

The Fukushima meltdown showed how some nuclear plants are vulnerable to cooling-system failures. That might be of interest to Al Qaeda, which considered attacking US nuclear facilities after 9/11, a new study says.

Casey Anthony case resembles real-life CSI crime drama

Prosecutors have established that Casey Anthony lied about the disappearance of her daughter Caylee. But physical evidence linking Anthony to her daughter's death has been hard to come by.

Report: 'Unacceptable threat' from spent-fuel pools at US nuclear power plants

Overcrowded spent-fuel pools at US nuclear power plants pose an 'unacceptable threat to the public,' says risk assessor. Much of the leaked radiation from Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi came from spent-fuel pools.

Fukushima warning: US has 'utterly failed' to address risk of spent fuel

Nuclear experts told Congress Wednesday that spent-fuel pools at US nuclear power plants are fuller than safety suggests they should be. They say the entire US spent-fuel policy should be overhauled in light of the nuclear crisis at Japan's Fukushima plant.

Japan nuclear crisis: Seven reasons why we should abandon nuclear power

The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station underscores – yet again – the need to abandon nuclear power as a panacea for energy independence. Experts may never determine what caused all of the emergency cooling safety systems at Daiichi to fail completely. But they have learned that they are nearly powerless to bring the smoldering units under control. In the meantime, significant amounts of radioactive gas have vented, and partial meltdowns of at least two reactors have occurred. Indeed, nuclear power will never live up to industry promises. As a whole it is ultimately unsafe, an accident waiting to happen, and far more expensive than proponents admit.

Colby College professor Paul Josephson gives seven reasons why we should abandon nuclear power and instead turn to solar, wind, and other forms of energy production that won’t experience such catastrophic accidents.

The new cyber arms race

Tomorrow's wars will be fought not just with guns, but with the click of a mouse half a world away that will unleash weaponized software that could take out everything from the power grid to a chemical plant.

Solar flare 2011: How a dazzling display can wreak electrical havoc

Solar flare 2011: A massive eruption of charged solar plasma glanced off the earth this week, a reminder that our star can still surprise us.

Toyota recall investigation reports cars are 'safe'

Toyota recall of cars with 'sticky' gas peddles is not due to an electronic cause, government says after 10-month investigation.

'Report card' on science: Most US students aren't 'proficient'

Just 34 percent of fourth-graders, 30 percent of eighth-graders, and 21 percent of 12th-graders performed at or above 'proficient' in a national science assessment, according to a NAEP report card.

Opinion: Creationists have gotten clever, but there's still no debate over evolution

Creationists and intelligent design proponents have gotten clever. Instead of pushing for creationism to be taught in science classes, they're merely asking that schools fairly present 'the scientific evidence' against evolution. The only problem? There isn't any.

Opinion: Religion doesn't belong in public schools, but debate over Darwinian evolution does

Students need to learn about Darwinian evolution. But they also deserve to hear countervailing scientific evidence – evidence that is censored in many current textbooks.