Jungus

What is the media’s role in shaping public opinion on global warming and the environment? New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin talks with Ira Flatow about the changing climate of science reporting, and why local meteorologists may be delivering more than just the forecast.

Reporting in the journal Science, researchers say trees in the old forests in western America have been dying at greater rates in recent decades. Research ecologist Phillip van Mantgem explains why scientists believe the increase in tree death is linked to climate change.

Researchers report in the journal Nature that temperatures across Antarctica rose an average of 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit per decade. The study looked at 50 years of temperature data. Researcher Eric Steig explains why the warming trend wasn’t detected until recently.

Researchers manipulated a protein found on sensory hair cells in mouse ears and found that the mutant mice were better able to withstand loud noises. Researcher Paul Fuchs, author of the study published in PLoS Biology, describes how the finding could one day help human ears.

Microscopic water bears, also known as tardigrades, can withstand boiling, freezing, radiation, the vacuum of space and years of dehydration. Biologist Bob Goldstein of the University of North Carolina describes the creatures and why he studies them.