Science
More than 140 nations adopt treaty to cut mercury
A new and legally binding international treaty to reduce harmful emissions of mercury was adopted Saturday by more than 140 nations, capping four years of difficult negotiations but stopping short of some of the tougher measures that proponents had envisioned.
Joshua Tree spider species named for U2's Bono
It appeared Bono and arachnids didn't mix when his "Spider-Man" musical had a rough Broadway run, but that didn't keep a biologist from naming an actual spider species after the U2 singer.
Camera on Maine island streams gray seal video
A camera that records seal-pupping activities on a remote Maine island began streaming live to the public Thursday in what's believed to be the first live-streaming camera at an East Coast seal-pupping site.
Space station to get $18 million balloon-like room
NASA is partnering with a commercial space company in a bid to replace the cumbersome "metal cans" that now serve as astronauts' homes in space with inflatable bounce-house-like habitats that can be deployed on the cheap.
Kenya study: Big jump in elephant poaching deaths
A 14-year study of a nearly 1,000 elephants in Kenya shows an alarming death rate among older males _ those with large, valuable tusks _ and an acceleration in poaching deaths, the group Save The Elephants said Thursday.
Change in air for blizzard of winter weather terms
Ever hit a mental whiteout pondering the difference between a winter storm watch and winter weather advisory?
2 Americans, 1 Swede share Crafoord science prize
Two Americans and a Swede have won this year's Crafoord Prize, a 4 million kronor ($600,000) scientific award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to honor achievements not always covered by its more famous Nobel Prizes.
EPA: Mid-Atlantic air pollution down in 2011
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says releases of toxic air pollutants were down in 2011 in the Mid-Atlantic.
NASA, Europeans uniting to send spaceship to moon
NASA is teaming up with the European Space Agency to get astronauts beyond Earth's orbit.
World warm last year, but not like record US heat
While the U.S. was smashing heat marks last year, the world as a whole barely slipped into the top 10 hottest years on record, two American science agencies said Tuesday.
Newport, Ore., to host wave energy test site
Newport, Ore., has been selected as the site for what its backers call a utility-scale wave energy test site.
CDC: 11 biolab workers infected from 2004-10
At least 11 workers at U.S. biological laboratories were infected with dangerous pathogens from 2004 to 2010, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in a report on security measures stemming from the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks.
NASA's Curiosity rover readying to drill on Mars
Scientists have zeroed in on a Martian target for the Curiosity rover to drill into: A rock outcrop as flat as a pool table that's expected to yield fresh insight into the red planet's history.
Bitter cold grips West; citrus and lettuce damaged
As an unusual cold spell gripped parts of the West for a fifth day, some California citrus growers reported damage to crops and an agriculture official said national prices on lettuce have started to rise because of lost produce in Arizona.
Link between pot smoking and IQ drop challenged
A new analysis is challenging a report that suggests regular marijuana smoking during the teen years can lead to a long-term drop in IQ. The analysis says the statistical analysis behind that conclusion is flawed.
The White House does not support blowing up planets
On Jan. 11, the White House responded to a petition posted on its website in regards to securing funds to construct a Death Star.
Ex-NASA manned spaceflight director Holmes dies
Dyer Brainerd Holmes, director of manned space flight for NASA when Americans were making their early forays into space in the early 1960s, has died.
Report says warming is changing US daily life
Global warming is already changing America from sea to rising sea and is affecting how Americans live, a massive new federally commissioned report says.
Locals say shifting sea ice frees trapped whales
About a dozen killer whales trapped under sea ice appeared to be free after the ice shifted, village officials in Canada's remote north said Thursday, while residents who feared they would get stuck elsewhere hired a plane to track them down.
Whew! Big asteroid no longer threat to Earth
Upon further review, a big scary-sounding asteroid is no longer even a remote threat to smash into Earth in about 20 years, NASA says.
Hi: 73 °F | Lo: 63 °F
- Listen
- News
- Traffic
- Weather
- Sports
- Living
- Alerts
Coming up on WTOP 103.5 FM today at 5:25 am:
Developing waterfront: Alexandria plans waterfrong market