The SciencesJuly 29, 2009
Croc Unlocked: A Gene Map for the Fashion Industry
Hermes Handbags are big business for Australian crocodile farmers, and one scientist is determined to bring the industry into the genetic age
Stories by Brendan Borrell
Brendan Borrell is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. He writes for Bloomberg Businessweek, Nature, Outside, Scientific American, and many other publications, and is the co-author (with ecologist Manuel Molles) of the textbook Environment: Science, Issues, Solutions. He traveled to Brazil with the support of the Mongabay Special Reporting Initiative. Follow him on Twitter @bborrell.
The SciencesJuly 29, 2009
Botanists agree on DNA bar code for world's plants
EnvironmentJuly 28, 2009
Eat Flipper? Stealthy filmmakers spotlight Japanese dolphin slaughter in The Cove
July 27, 2009
Joule Biotechnologies announces new biofuel jargon, scant details
EnvironmentJuly 24, 2009
EPA reconsiders lead-monitoring plans foiled by Bush White House
July 24, 2009
Canine Culls and Feral Feasts: China Still No Closer to Ending Its Rabies Problem
Without surveillance and a vaccination strategy, China won't be able to conquer the horrific--but preventable--rabies virus, experts say
EvolutionJuly 22, 2009
Pre-Columbian Map of North America Could Be Authentic--Or not
A researcher says a chemical compound on the Vinland Map may not have come from a modern pigment after all
EnvironmentJuly 22, 2009
Meteorologists say "yes" to geoengineering
EvolutionJuly 20, 2009
Did a Comet Cause a North American Die-Off around 13,000 Years Ago?
Tiny hexagonal diamonds suggest a massive impact during the late Pleistocene that could have wiped out the Clovis people, mastodons and other continental inhabitants--but the geologic evidence falls short for some skeptics
EnvironmentJuly 20, 2009
Cagey Solution: Will Nano Traps Make Geothermal Power Earthquake-Safe?
Scientists could use nano "cages" to increase the heat-storing efficiency of shallow, low-temperature geothermal wells, thereby decreasing the need for deeper, more earthquake-prone ones
EnvironmentJuly 18, 2009
Environmental fugitive arrested in Mexico
July 17, 2009
Climate kerfuffle: Did Sen. Barbara Boxer really direct a "racial slant" at African-American Harry Alford?
EvolutionJuly 15, 2009
Lucy on Broadway: Discoverer says the famous hominid fossils belong in the limelight
July 15, 2009
Army Corps clamps down on debris dumping by mountaintop coal-mining operations
July 14, 2009
Clean dreams or pond scum? ExxonMobil and Craig Venter team up in quest for algae-based biofuels
HealthJuly 13, 2009
New Algorithm Speeds the Hunt for Nature-Derived Antibiotics and Cancer Drugs
A method to sequence potential pharmaceuticals could make nature's medicine cabinet more alluring to drugmakers
HealthJuly 13, 2009
North Korea's Kim Jong-il not likely to survive much longer if pancreatic cancer reports are true
The SciencesJuly 13, 2009
Spark for Life: Lightning Strikes Create Minerals Crucial for Early Organisms
Scientists identify a natural source for a form of phosphorus once common on Earth and critical for microbes
July 10, 2009
Biofuel Fraud Case Could Leave the EPA Running on Fumes
Cello Energy is unlikely to produce 70 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel next year, which means that the EPA will not meet its 2010 target of 100 million gallons
HealthJuly 9, 2009
If Swine Flu Weren't Enough, Now There's Swine Ebola
Scientists report that domestic pigs harbor Reston ebolavirus, the only Ebola species that has not caused disease in humans
HealthJuly 9, 2009
Drugmakers Abandon Nature's Pharmacy
From penicillin to Taxol, most new drugs have had their roots in natural products, but scientists worry that the approach is in decline
July 8, 2009
U.S. Energy Corridors Could Disrupt Climate Change Research
Conservation groups challenge Bush-era "energy corridors" that threaten wilderness areas, including a long-term ecological study site
EvolutionJuly 8, 2009
Was Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame, murdered?
July 7, 2009
Senate Republicans take aim at climate bill