The Titanic sank in 1912, the Lusitania sank in 1915. In each case, about 32 percent of passengers survived. But women and children did much better on Titanic, which took 160 minutes to slide underwater, than on Lusitania, which went down in 18 minutes. Ditto for rich people. Why?

How many dead? Research and real-life experience prove that people die when drivers pick up the cellphone. Even worse: texting on the road!

Underground nuclear tests have been the biggest roadblock to a comprehensive test ban. How are these explosions detected, and how reliably?

The Why Files asks why mass killers pull the trigger. What are the warning signs of “rampage” shootings? Can they be prevented?

In the brain, dopamine carries signals that make us eat, take drugs and have sex. New research shows that dopamine plays a key role in rewarding mice for aggression.

California’s fires are a tragedy, but are human actions making them worse? What is the role of global warming and zoning? Can we build safer houses in safer locations?

Hurricanes, disease and heat deliver another body blow to Caribbean coral reefs — the centers of biodiversity, fish nurseries and guardians of shorelines. Must we kiss coral goodbye?

Could something as simple, cheap and natural as a forest protect a coastline from a tsunami’s titanic wave? It’s looking that way…

What are the health effects of low-level radiation? How much cancer results from a small dose increase? If the hazard is small, are we wasting money on radiation protection? Lessons from Hiroshima and Chernobyl.

Salvage logging of forests after natural disturbances is a bad idea, ecologists warn. Evidence from a forest whacked by a 1938 hurricane show how salvage logging changes the landscape.