washingtonpost.com - Science News and Headlines From The Washington Post
- 16th-Century Mapmaker Martin Waldseemueller's Intriguing Knowledge
How was it that a German priest writing in Latin and living in a French city far from the coast became the first person to tell the world that a vast ocean lay to the west of the American continents? - Big Political Donors Just Looking for Favors? Apparently Not.
The Center for Responsive Politics recently estimated that it cost $5.8 billion to finance the 2008 general elections. To most people that is a staggeringly large sum and evidence of the profoundly corrupting role that money plays in politics, but to some very smart political watchers, the better... - The Bush Administration Is Close to Changing the Endangered Species Act So That an Agency Can Decide Whether It Will Impair a Protected Species' Environment
The Bush administration is "close" to finalizing a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be harmed by agency projects, according to the Interior Department. - Scientists Partially Reconstruct Genome of Extinct Mammoth
An international team of scientists has reconstructed about two-thirds of the genome of the woolly mammoth using DNA extracted from balls of hair, the first time this has been accomplished for an extinct species. - Around the Nation
CAPE CANAVERAL -- The space shuttle Endeavour closed in Sunday for a 220-mile-high linkup with the international space station. - The Space Shuttle Is Delivering a New Toilet to the Space Station
The grand drama of humankind's conquest of space has featured as a recurring subplot the mystery of how people in zero gravity can possibly go to the bathroom. The latest twist in that narrative is about to take place high above Earth, where astronauts will deliver to the international space station... - EPA Advisers Seek Perchlorate Review
The Environmental Protection Agency's scientific advisers have warned the agency that it should delay final action on its decision not to set a federal drinking-water standard for perchlorate, a chemical in rocket fuel, because the computer model underlying the decision may have flaws. - In a First, Astronomers Report Viewing Planets of Other Suns
Staring at his computer screen in May, poking through images of the bright star Fomalhaut, astronomer Paul Kalas found himself staring at a tiny white dot. The dot appeared amid a great ring of dust circling the star. From one image to the next, the dot moved. - Justices Revoke Limits On Navy Use of Sonar
In issuing a deliberately narrow ruling yesterday in a controversial case involving whales and the U.S. Navy, the Supreme Court strongly indicated that it intends to defer to the military in future disputes pitting national security against environmental concerns. - Around the Nation
CHICAGO -- A federal judge on Wednesday turned down a request for a new trial from convicted influence peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the pivotal figure in a major Illinois political corruption scandal. - Around the Nation
CAPE CANAVERAL -- An cold front moving across the northern Plains caused two fatal accidents in Minnesota and left a layer of ice and nearly a foot of snow in parts of Nebraska. NASA warned that the weather could thwart plans to launch the space shuttle Endeavour on Friday on a flight to the... - Aide: Middle-Class Tax Cut a Priority
President-elect Barack Obama plans to push ahead with a middle-class tax cut soon after taking office, his choice for White House chief of staff said yesterday. - Blood Test, Statin Afford Potent Shield, Study Says
A highly anticipated study has produced powerful evidence that a simple blood test can spot seemingly healthy people who are at increased risk for a heart attack or stroke and that giving them a widely used drug offers potent protection against the nation's leading killers. - Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions
Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional... - Proposed Road in Refuge Raises Fears About Drilling
COLD BAY, Alaska -- This isolated outpost, where grizzly bears outnumber people and the one-page phone book is dubbed "the yellow page," is fast emerging as a flash point in the nation's debate over drilling. - Proposed Road in Refuge Raises Fears About Drilling
COLD BAY, Alaska -- This isolated outpost, where grizzly bears outnumber people and the one-page phone book is dubbed "the yellow page," is fast emerging as a flash point in the nation's debate over drilling. - Bush Ocean Plan Is Criticized
President Bush's vision for protecting two vast areas of the Pacific Ocean from fishing and mineral exploitation, a move that would constitute a major expansion of his environmental legacy, is running into dogged resistance both inside and outside the White House and has placed his wife and his v...