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WASHINGTON, D.C.—So much for “spring forward,” given that this year Daylight Saving Time kicks in while it’s still, well, winter. So what’s up with that? Simple: Congress extended Daylight Saving Time by a month, touting the move as a way to save energy, reduce traffic accidents, and, perhaps most important, make Halloween a special and safer treat by allowing kids to go door-to-door while it’s still light out. “The beauty of Daylight Saving Time is that it just makes everyone feel sunnier,” Rep....

Adolescence is a dangerous time. Some of the most life-threatening risks that people take–drunk driving, binge drinking, smoking, having unprotected sex–are especially common during the teenage years. The following statistics illustrate the enormous toll in human suffering caused by adolescent risk taking: Both males and females between the ages of 16 and 20 are at least twice as likely to be in car accidents than drivers between the ages of 20 and 50 are....

Federal scientists released partial findings Friday from a $25-million animal study that tested the possibility of links between cancer and chronic exposure to the type of radiation emitted from cell phones and wireless devices. The findings, which chronicle an unprecedented number of rodents subjected to a lifetime of electromagnetic radiation starting in utero, present some of the strongest evidence to date that such exposure is associated with the formation of rare cancers in at least two cell types in the brains and hearts of rats....

The odds are high that humans will warm Earth’s climate to worrisome levels during the coming century. Although fossil-fuel combustion has generated most of the buildup of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), effective solutions will require more than developing cleaner energy sources and hoping for their wide adoption. Equally important will be establishing institutions and strategies—particularly markets, business regulations and government policies—that will provide incentives for companies to apply innovative technologies and practices that reduce emissions of CO2 and other climate-altering greenhouse gases....

Welcome to National Park Nature Walks, a pop-up podcast. Host Jacob Job, an ecologist and audiophile, brings you inches away from a multitude of creatures, great and small, amid the sonic grandeur of nature. You may not be easily able to access these places amid the pandemic, but after you take this acoustic journey, you will be longing to get back outside. Episode 10: The Otherworldly Sounds of an Elk Rut...

Wireless networking technology will one day deliver high-definition video content and other large data files via the airwaves far faster than that information can be now be delivered over wired systems. But it will take major advances in the electronics that drive computer and radio-frequency systems to create such a high-powered wireless highway. One of the most basic examples of such a system is a laptop computer equipped with a radio for wireless connectivity....

By Eugenie Samuel Reich of Nature magazineIt is a 4,000-tonne edifice that stands three stories high, chock full of particle detectors, power supplies, electronics and photomultiplier tubes, all layered like a giant onion around a cylindrical magnet. During 26 years of operation at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., this behemoth, the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), helped to find the top quark and chased the Higgs boson. But since the lab’s flagship particle collider, the Tevatron, was switched off in September 2011, the detector has been surplus stock–and it is now slowly being cannibalized for parts....

Quantum computers are a sort of holy grail of information science. Their inherent computational advantage comes from their fundamental computational unit, the quantum bit (“qubit”). Unlike a digital bit in a classical computer, which can take the form of either 0 or 1, a qubit can be both zero and one simultaneously, throwing open the door to vastly more powerful computation. And although a usable computer based on qubits remains a far-flung fantasy, investigators continue to make strides toward their realization....

The Internet is an overwhelmingly powerful source of information, but the technology for harnessing that information, for getting it filtered and delivered how and when we want it, is still in its infancy. If you don’t believe it, see what kind of useful information you get when you Google “What kind of harmonica should I get for my 10-year-old?” Recently, though, a flock of new services have cropped up to deliver highly targeted answers by passing your queries on to a sea of strangers....

Samsung has given financial analysts a peek into the future of mobile phones. At its analyst day on Wednesday, the smartphone maker showed off prototypes of foldable phones and devices that could reach consumers within the next few years, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Reporters were not allowed in on the fun, and even the analysts in attendance were restricted from taking photos. But one description paints a good picture of what’s on the horizon....

As government agencies and corporations scramble to cut expenses, one idea gaining widespread attention involves cutting something most employees wouldn’t mind losing: work on Fridays. Regular three-day weekends, without a decrease in the actual hours worked per week, could not only save money, but also ease pressures on the environment and public health, advocates say. In fact, several states, cities and companies across the country are considering, or have already implemented on a trial basis, the condensed schedule for their employees....

Key concepts Water Chemistry Electricity Molecules Introduction You use it every day and cannot survive without it—no it is not the Internet, but water! It is one of the most essential compounds in the world and has become an increasingly important issue everywhere. You probably have heard that in many places droughts or water pollution limits clean drinking water supplies, and those supplies keep shrinking. When considering this, have you ever wondered why we do not just make our own water?...

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Imagine you’ve contemplated the great scientific theories of the past and arrived at new insights based on your own observations. Imagine you’ve organized these thoughts into compelling arguments. Imagine that what you have to say will likely advance humanity’s understanding of its existence. Now imagine your frustration if you were unable to use your physical voice or hands to speak or write the thoughts coalescing in your mind....

As it attempts to lead the world toward a more sustainable future, the United Nations has set a policy to move “towards a zero carbon future.” In a report released yesterday, the agency admitted that despite a campaign under way since October 2007, “much still remains to be done.” Overall, according to the 30-page document issued by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), its annual emissions are climbing. The agency’s latest data, from 2010, shows that it emitted 1....

By Daniel Wallis MIAMI (Reuters) - The U.S. government pared back the number of reef-building coral species it was considering to label as threatened from 66 to 20 this week, prompting criticism from conservationists. Environmentalists urged the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday to extend the protection to all threatened marine species. “We are concerned with NOAA’s unwillingness to acknowledge the widespread threats to the coral species not receiving protections,” said Bethany Cotton, wildlife program director for environmental advocacy group WildEarth Guardians....

HIPPOCRATES DESCRIBED THE SYMPTOMS of the flu some 2,400 years ago. But the influenza virus didn’t become a true menace until the rise of stable, densely populated settlements and the growth of animal husbandry. This crowding of people and their animals furnished the virus with ample opportunities to jump from one species to another, acquiring deadly attributes along the way. The first influenza pandemics were recorded during the 1500s. The one that occurred in 1580 traced a path that epidemiologists today would recognize: it began in Asia during the summer and then spread to Africa, Europe and America over the next six months....

Share Your PhotosUpload Few technologies of the past 25 years have had more of an impact on our lives than the cell phone. Twenty years ago, a friend offered to lend me hers because I was having car trouble. She was worried I would get stuck on the side of the highway on my way home from work with no way of calling for help. Such concern about being unable to communicate now seems quaint....

Three years before launching an offshore herpes vaccine trial, an American researcher vaccinated patients in U.S. hotel rooms in brazen violation of U.S. law, a Kaiser Health News investigation has found. Southern Illinois University associate professor William Halford administered the shots himself at a Holiday Inn Express and a Crowne Plaza Hotel that were a 15-minute drive from the researcher’s SIU lab. Halford injected at least eight herpes patients on four separate occasions in the summer and fall of 2013 with a virus that he created, according to emails from seven participants and interviews with one participant....

I was recently investigating a fancy new stationary bike that came on the market not that long ago. It uses a variation of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). It’s a slick-looking bike, which appeals to my fashionista side. It also includes some interesting machine learning, which appeals to my inner nerd. And it boasts some pretty phenomenal health study results, which appeals to my inner coach. But despite all that, I still find myself scratching my head....

With all of the mobile apps, Web sites and free services clamoring for your personal data, whereabouts and preferences, it might seem as though privacy is at death’s door. Not so. Several projects underway aim to provide virtual lockboxes or screening technologies that can help people to reassert control over their digital lives. In general, privacy-enhancing approaches to online data sharing require any company, app developer or government agency that wants to know more about you to ask permission for access to specific information....