Environment

Flying into hurricanes, scientists search for more certainty

How do meteorologists and scientists make predictions about the power and trajectory of a hurricane? Buckle up. PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O’Brien joins a crew of scientists who fly right into the eye of Hurricane Florence. TRANSCRIPT Judy Woodruff: Naturally, we and most news organizations are spending a lot of time this week trying […]

Environment

NASA scientists track climate-changing methane leaks from the air

Miles reports from the atmosphere above Southern California, where NASA engineers leverage state-of-the-art technology to measure methane. Released through oil and gas production, livestock emissions, and organic waste, methane is about 85 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. California wants to identify specific methane leaks so it can plug them. Originally aired […]

Environment

Miles O’Brien wins inaugural Darlene Schmidt Science News Award

This week, Miles was honored with the inaugural Darlene Schmidt Science News Award, presented by the American Nuclear Society (ANS). Here’s what the ANS had to say: “O’Brien was nominated based on a 2017 PBS segment on the advances made in nuclear energy systems since the Fukushima accident. He spent two days filming at the […]

Environment

Bill Gates wants to build a newer, safer nuclear reactor.

There’s some renewed interest in TerraPower, the Bill Gates-backed company that’s trying to make a long-time dream of nuclear reactors a mainstay of the industry. Most nuclear reactors around the world are water-cooled, a design chosen because the Navy was the first to develop usable reactors for their nuclear submarines. Water-cooled designs were considered safer […]