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?
Mass killings - Thursday, April 16th, 2009
After another mass murder — 13 dead in Binghamton, N.Y. — The Why Files wants to know why they 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.
If we put up a giant umbrella to shield the Earth from global warming, what will happen to plant productivity?