Earth & Sky

Why are marsupials concentrated in Australia?

Where do smells go?

Who came up with the idea of the twenty-four hour day?

Where did the term “dog days of summer” come from?

Some say cicadas sound like a tin can in a blender.

Grab an umbrella if a “waterspout” strikes your town.

Ever have that sinking feeling?

Bzzzzz. Slap! ITCH. Scratch. Sound familiar?

How do bees replace their queens?

It seems like a crow can use only one eye at a time …

Why are moths drawn to light?

Just thinking about food can get your digestive organs going …

Find our why Berkeley professor Michael Pollan, who wrote The Omnivore’s Dilemma, is making a case against what he calls ‘eating scientifically.’ He’s talking about breakdown of foods into scientific terms – for example, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids.

Renowned deep sea explorer Sylvia Earle says humans are Earth’s most relentless predator for the ocean’s large fish. But “we have an unprecedented chance to turn things around,” she says. Hear more from Sylvia Earle.

NASA has announced plans to return to the moon by the year 2020 and establish a human presence there. NASA’s Larry Toup told Earth & Sky he is figuring out how to make a tent-like structure that’s compact to transport, and easy to set up on the moon. He and his team plan to test the structure at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

“Animals are just so there in the moment, perhaps their joy is richer than human joy and their grief is deeper than human grief.” said Mark Bekoff, evolutionary biologist at University of Colorado. Bekoff talked to EarthSky about animal joy and animal sorrow.

A 2006 study found that 43 percent of Americans think food from cloned animals is unsafe to eat. Mark Walton of ViaGen, a Texas-based cloning company, shares his perspective.

The sun has been implicated by some in driving climate change over the past few decades. But Caspar Ammann of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder speaks of evidence that the sun is not to blame for a warming Earth.

Shark expert “Dr. Hammerhead” follows hammerhead sharks on their ‘superhighways’ in the sea, starting at the Galapagos islands.

Scientists have been testing robots they say could take exploration of the moon and planets to a new level.

According to the CDCP, 16 percent of U.S. children (over 9 million) between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight or obese. Christina Economos studies childhood obsesity, and she says the problem is getting worse.

Bees began disappearing from commercial hives in the U.S. two years ago. In 2007, beekeepers lost 37 percent of their colonies. Honey bees are still leaving their hives and not returning. And scientists still aren’t sure why.

A boy from Laos wonders how long we – or our descendants – might live. An MIT biologist responds, and talks about new research that could help extend our lifespan.

“We know little about sharks in general…and these are the sharks that live a long way down in the ocean.” An Australian shark expert says that there are 600 species of deep sea sharks, and they’re in trouble.