Science

Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall' helps researchers study the brain

7:58am August 21, 2023

Researchers, studying which parts of the brain are responsible for processing elements of music, played a Pink Floyd song to a group of patients with electrodes implanted in their brains.

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Marine scientists Jan-Olaf Meynecke attaches video-enabled tracking tags to humpback whales near Brisbane, Australia. While collecting data for a larger project on the whales' migration patterns and climate change, Meynecke and his colleagues discovered a new behavior they call "sand rolling."

This video from a humpback 'whale spa' shows skin care is serious — and social

7:00am August 21, 2023

by Carrie Feibel

The footage of humpback whales exfoliating their skin with sand offer new insight into these animals' complex lifestyles deep beneath the ocean

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After a relatively quiet start to the Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center was monitoring multiple storm systems in the Atlantic on Sunday.

Tropical Storm Emily takes shape in the Atlantic, as storm activity starts to warm up

3:22pm August 20, 2023

by Jonathan Franklin

As the season is nearing its peak, the Atlantic Ocean has suddenly become very active with several storms that meteorologists and weather forecasters are watching.

Science

A development in particle physics could point to the existence of a new dimension

10:10am August 20, 2023

by Ayesha Rascoe

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Esra Barlas Yücel, a researcher at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, about Fermilab's most precise measurements of the muon particle's magnetic wobble.

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How the brain processes music, with a little help from Pink Floyd

9:18am August 20, 2023

by Ayesha Rascoe

Scientists at University of California Berkeley have recreated a Pink Floyd song using previously recorded brain waves. In the process, they've learned a lot about how the brain processes music.

Russia and India are landing close to the moon's south pole. Researchers believe water ice hidden in craters could one day supply lunar colonies with vital resources.

Russia and India are landing on the moon next week. Here's what you need to know

9:27am August 19, 2023

by Geoff Brumfiel

India and Russia are sending landers to spots near the south pole, which has water ice that might one day be mined to make rocket fuel.

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Science

Every summer, thousands of citizen scientists help researchers track bat populations

8:09am August 19, 2023

by Nikolai Mather

Bats fly at night and they're hard to hear, so counting them is tricky. Researchers use volunteers and some innovative technology to monitor bat populations.

Scientists say the question-mark-shaped structure seen in a new photo from the James Webb Space Telescope is likely the merger of two or more galaxies.

Science

People are freaking out over a question mark seen in space. Scientists can explain

5:02am August 17, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

A stunning new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a pair of actively forming stars. But many people are more curious about the tiny question mark visible toward the bottom of the frame.

The yellow-legged hornet is a prolific predator of honey bees and other pollinators. Now it's been spotted alive in the wild in the U.S. for the first time.

An invasive hornet that hunts honeybees is spotted in the U.S. for the first time

5:00am August 17, 2023

by Bill Chappell

The yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina, is a close cousin of the northern giant hornet, or "murder hornet." Both of them are very adept in the wholesale destruction of honey bees.

Researchers say that advanced transmission technologies could help the existing grid work better. But some of these tech companies worry about getting utilities on board - because of the way utilities make money.

Science

Why lasers could help make the electric grid greener

4:59pm August 13, 2023

by Julia Simon

Thousands of renewable projects are waiting to connect to the grid, but there aren't enough transmission lines. Some tech companies have faster and cheaper solutions.

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