Nell Greenfieldboyce

Sand From Fracking Could Pose Lung Disease Risk To Workers

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 18:14:31 +0000

When workplace safety expert Eric Esswein got a chance to see fracking in action not too long ago, what he noticed was all the dust.

It was coming off big machines used to haul around huge loads of sand. The sand is a critical part of the hydraulic fracturing method of oil and gas extraction. After workers drill down into rock, they create fractures in that rock by pumping in a mixture of water, chemicals and sand.

Close Shave: Asteroid To Buzz Earth Next Week

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:58:32 +0000

An asteroid the size of an office building will zoom close by Earth next week, but it's not on a collision course, NASA says.

Still, some people think this near-miss should serve as a wake-up call.

"It's a warning shot across our bow that we are flying around the solar system in a shooting gallery," says Ed Lu, a former astronaut and head of the B612 Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting humanity from asteroids.

The asteroid known as 2012 DA14 was first spotted last year by astronomers in Spain.

Rules Would Retire Most Research Chimps

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:53:27 +0000

The National Institutes of Health should retire most of its chimps that are currently living in research facilities, according to a working group put together by the NIH to look at the future need for biomedical research on chimps.

The group did recommend keeping a small number of chimps in reserve in case they are needed for studies later on.

You Can't See It, But You'll Be A Different Person In 10 Years

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:14:08 +0000

No matter how old people are, they seem to believe that who they are today is essentially who they'll be tomorrow.

That's according to fresh research that suggests that people generally fail to appreciate how much their personality and values will change in the years ahead — even though they recognize that they have changed in the past.

Daniel Gilbert, a psychology researcher at Harvard University who did this study with two colleagues, says that he's no exception to this rule.

"I have this deep sense that although I will physic