News items from Science Friday

From switching to energy-efficient light bulbs and appliances, to collecting rainwater and installing photovoltaic panels, how are experts making buildings that use less energy and generate less waste? Ira Flatow and guests explore the latest in green materials and design.

Pigmentless grotto salamanders, blind Ozark cavefish and parasitic horsehair worms are a few of the animals living in Missouri's 6,000-plus caves. Ira Flatow and three expert spelunkers look at the biology, geology and history of underground attractions in the "Cave State."

Biotech has promised innovations like drought-resistant corn and vitamin-packed cassava to the developing world. But how has it delivered on those dreams? Ira Flatow and guests discuss the status of those projects, and how "technologies in a seed" fit in with other agricultural improvements.

When writer John D'Agata moved his mother to the suburbs of Las Vegas, he began looking at the history of the government’s plan to store nuclear waste deep in Nevada's Yucca Mountain. The resulting boo—-- About a Mountai—-- is a reporter's notebook that reads like poetry.

President Obama has pledged support for nuclear power, but problems including how to dispose of the waste persist. Ira Flatow and guests look at the latest nuclear technology, from microreactors to waste storage, and compare the cost of nuclear to other energy sources.

Energy Star labels and miles-per-gallon vehicle ratings aren't enticing enough consumers toward energy-saving options, according to economist Hunt Allcott. Allcott explains how new research in behavioral economics might help lead consumers to more energy-efficient choices.

Forget the air guitar solos, go electric for under $10. Sound artist Ranjit Bhatnagar, a member of NYC Resistor, specializes in building cheap, DIY instruments. He explains how to make an electric guitar from a plank of wood, some wire, a magnet and a guitar string.

A fossil in Tanzania suggests dinosaurs appeared 10 million years earlier than previously thought, according to a Nature study. Christian Sidor, of the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Washington, discusses the origin of dinosaurs.

Researchers decoded electrical brain signals without implanting electrodes, according to a new study. Instead, Jose L. Contreras-Vidal and colleagues monitored brain activity with EEG sensors placed on the scalp, using those signals to reconstruct hand movement and drive a robot.

The earthquake that shook Chile last weekend was powerful enough to push up the Andes a few feet, shift Earth's axis and even speed up the planet’s spin. Ross Stein, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, explains the fallout of the quake and the physics that triggered it.

Charles Darwin is often depicted as an old, bearded genius, but what was he like as a young man? The new movie Creation explores young Darwin's inner turmoil. Director Jon Amiel and Darwin's descendant Randal Keynes discuss the film and Darwin's personal life.

How do you take pictures of objects that are too small to photograph? George Whitesides and Felice Frankel, co-authors of the image-heavy book No Small Matter: Science on the Nanoscale, discuss nanoscience and the process of photographing particles smaller than photons.

With global threats like ocean warming and acidification, it's a tough time to be a coral. Marine ecologists John Bruno and Elizabeth Selig analyzed over 8,000 coral surveys from all over the world to see if local management through Marine Protected Areas had any positive effect on coral.

Data from GPS and depth sensing instruments suggest sperm whales may herd squid to make capturing their prey easier. Science News reporter Sid Perkins reports on this and other findings presented at the American Geophysical Union's Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland this week.

In his new book, The Calculus of Friendship, math professor and writer Steven Strogatz looks back on his 30-year correspondence with his high school math teacher. Can calculus, differential equations and chaos theory help explain the complex nature of human relationships?

Reporting in The Canadian Field-Naturalist, researchers write of spotting grizzly bears in Canada's Wapusk National Park, on the shores of the Hudson Bay — land previously inhabited only by polar bears. Author Robert Rockwell discusses potential competition between the species.

Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson of the National Marine Mammal Foundation discusses why dolphins may have evolved a diabetes "on/off switch," and Dr. Hendrik Nollens of the University of Florida talks about what scientists can learn by studying papillomavirus infections in dolphins.

Just one exposure to the algal toxin domoic acid can trigger epilepsy in sea lions and humans. NOAA scientist John Ramsdell discusses the one known human case of epilepsy from domoic acid poisoning, and what scientists can learn from similar cases of epilepsy in sea lions.

As newspapers and cable news cut science coverage, where can the science-curious get reliable science and technology news? Ira Flatow and guests discuss how the Internet — including blogs and social media — is filling the coverage gap. Plus, spicing up screenplays with science.