Drilling Down
Hunt for Gas Hits Fragile Soil, and South Africans Fear Risks
By IAN URBINA
A plan to drill for natural gas in the Karoo region of South Africa would use millions of gallons of water in a drought-stricken area.
Map: Major Shale Gas Basins
Organic Agriculture May Be Outgrowing Its Ideals
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Even as more Americans buy foods labeled organic, the products are moving away from a traditional emphasis on local growing and limited environmental strain.
Facing Consequences of Success in Bid to Save a Goose
By FELICITY BARRINGER
A century of efforts to sustain snow geese along their migratory paths may have succeeded a little too well.
Science Times: Dec. 27, 2011
Getty Images
Around 5 or 6, children experience an endocrinological event that propels them toward the ability to control impulses, to reason, to focus, to plan for the future.
Graceful Moves, for a Boy Made of Metal
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
How does an automaton that helped to inspire the one in the Martin Scorsese film “Hugo” really work?
Books on Science
Portraits of the Southwest in the Shadow of Drought
By CORNELIA DEAN
“A Great Aridness,” by William deBuys, and “Bird on Fire,” by Andrew Ross, focus on the killing droughts that have lately gripped the region — and are likely to recur.
Shiny Patches in Maine’s Streambeds Are Bright Sign for Salmon
By MURRAY CARPENTER
While this year’s salmon comeback has been a welcome surprise for conservationists and environmental officials, scientists caution that the long-term picture is still cloudy.
Science and Censorship: A Duel Lasting Centuries
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
When a federal panel asked two journals last week to withhold details on bird flu experiments, it was only the latest example of an ages-old conflict often rooted in issues of war and advanced weaponry.
Health News
Debate Persists on Deadly Flu Made Airborne
By DENISE GRADY and DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Some experts say research that made a flu virus even more dangerous shouldn’t have been done. Others argue it is better to know about the risk of greater transmissibility.
Other News
Autism, Grown Up
Navigating Love and Autism
By AMY HARMON
For Jack Robison and Kirsten Lindsmith, both of whom fall on the autism spectrum, being in a relationship together has created a unique set of comforts and challenges.
More Multimedia
Video: Edith Widder's New Crusade
The marine biologist Edith Widder has spent a career studying bioluminescent sea creatures. Now she is using the phenomenon to fight pollution.
Interactive Feature: Predicting the Future of Computing
Readers are invited to make predictions and collaboratively edit this timeline on the future of computing.
Michael Benson’s Planetary Landscapes
A multimedia artist digitally processes raw image data from deep-space missions to create large-format landscapes that sometimes resemble places on Earth.
A Second Chance for Christmas Trees
December 30, 2011
High-Tech Tools, Primeval Wonders
December 30, 2011
For Entrepreneurial 'Change Agents,' a Green M.B.A.
December 30, 2011
Podcast: Science Times
This week: Middle childhood, censoring bad news on avian flu and the science behind a character in the movie “Hugo.”
Science Columns
Q & A
The Toughest Seed
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Many seeds have an impermeable outer layer that protects them, but others require a trip through the digestive tract before they can germinate.
Observatory
Bony ‘Sixth Toe’ Helps an Elephant’s Stance
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Their feet may look like solid, flat-bottomed tree trunks, but elephants actually stand tiptoed, more like dogs or deer, thanks to a false toe that turns from cartilage to bone.
Observatory
Tiniest of Spiders Are Loaded With Brains
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
The smallest of nine species in a study had smaller brains in absolute terms, but relatively speaking, their brains were enormous.
Observatory
Kings of the Track Share Traits With Speedy Cats
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
The foot and ankle structure of human sprinters resembles that of cheetahs and greyhounds, a new study reports.
Health Columns
Personal Health
Sodium-Saturated Diet Is a Threat for All
By JANE E. BRODY
While a diet high in sodium — salt is the main source — increases heart disease risk, even more important is the ratio of sodium (harmful) to potassium (protective).
Phys Ed
For Older Runners, Good News and Bad
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
Runners over 60 were just as efficient as younger runners, even those in their 20s, though they are more prone to injuries.
Really?
The Claim: For Famous Musicians, 27 is a Dangerous Age
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Amy Winehouse was 27 when she died. So were Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.
Opinion
Dot Earth Blog
The Most Precious Resource of All
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
The end of the year is a good moment to relish the gift of time.
Wordplay Blog
Numberplay: Uncertain Return
By GARY ANTONICK
Throw a perfectly bouncy ball up a perfectly elastic, frictionless and very large sloped roof. Will the ball slide or bounce back to you?
Editors’ Picks
The Future of Computing
This special issue takes a many-faceted look at a set of technologies that are changing the world.
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Times Science Reporters
The Pump Handle
FAA's pilot fatigue prevention rule could translate to other occupations
November 21, 2011
