Science

Sometime in the next few months, David Daniel probably will have to stand by and watch as bulldozers knock down his thick forest and dig up the streams he loves.

His East Texas property is one of more than 1,000 in the path of a new pipeline, the southern stretch of what is known as the Keystone XL system.

For years, Daniel has tried to avoid this fate — or at least figure out what risks will come with it. But it has been difficult for him to get straight answers about the tar sands oil the pipeline will carry, and what happens when it spills.

The Discovery Channel's annual "Shark Week" is one of the longest running events on cable television. After 25 years on the air, the weeklong series of programming dedicated solely to sharks has become an American icon. Comedian Stephen Colbert has called it his second favorite time of year.

Legend has it that it all began as an idea scribbled down on a napkin during a brainstorming meeting.

Dear college students across the U.S.,

Like millions of my colleagues who teach at universities and colleges, I'm working hard this week to put an updated zing into the syllabus for each of my fall classes. Describing the course content and readings for Biological Anthropology and Primate Behavior is the fun, mind-engaging part.

If lately you've noticed the farmers' market flooded with signs that say "donut," "cling," "whiteflesh" and "freestone," you won't be surprised to learn that August is National Peach Month. Though the juicy fruits pack the produce aisles now, in a few short months a good peach might be hard to find.

Many fruits, though harvested in other parts of the world, are available in the United States all year long. So why are peaches so seasonal, and in the winter, either difficult to find or hard as a rock?

Transcript

DAVID GREEN, HOST:

Let's look to the sky now. Scientists say they have found what could be the most massive cluster of galaxies ever seen. One of the galaxies is giving birth to new stars at an astonishing rate. Here's NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce.

A regular old orange-colored sweet potato might not seem too exciting to many of us.

Only those who were in deep hibernation or unconscious would have missed two recent amazing events: the London Olympics and the sensational feat in which NASA engineers and scientists managed to land a car-sized rover onto the Martian surface. Adam wrote about the mission last week.

Now that the dust has settled (in many ways, including around the rover), I'd like to revisit the mission and its promise of discovery.

We realize the skinny on chocolate seems too good to be true, but there have been positive signs lately that a bit of the sweet stuff is OK.

A few months back we reported on a study that found a regular chocolate habit — in moderation, of course — may be good for the waistline.

Despite being a busy M.D.-Ph.D. student at Brown University, Bill Brucker is determined to improve science education in the United States.

To that end, Bill has set up the Providence Alliance for Clinical Educators that combines captivating storytelling with exquisite illustrations to teach scientific principles in a fun and memorable way.