Should string theory prove correct, says Columbia’s Brian Greene, this might well be the unified theory that Albert Einstein was looking for. Hear Greene talk about the possibility of testing string theory.

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MIT’s Paula Hammond talks about using nanotech to protect against a biological or chemical attack.

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Population expert Joel Cohen talks about the “complicated busisness” that’s the interaction between Earth’s rising human population and our planet’s biodiversity.

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Sunday, May 11, 2008. As darkness falls tonight, the waxing moon can be found between two planets, Mars and Saturn. Saturn lies to the east of the moon. Mars lies to the west. Saturn is brighter, and easy to notice now because it’s right next to a bright star, Regulus in the constellation Leo.

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What do swear words reveal about the human psyche? Harvards’s Steven Pinker offers insight into taboo language.

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Eons ago, dragonflies had the wingspan of a hawk and millipedes almost as long as a man crawled along forest floors. What happened to decrease the size of these gigantic arthropods? Hear from Arizona biologist Alexander Kaiser.

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Earth is becoming more urbanized, according to the United Nations. Hear demographer Carl Haub talk about what ‘urban’ really means.

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Monday, May 5, 2008. After the sun sets today, there’s a slim chance of someone spotting a record-setting young crescent moon in eastern Canada. From eastern North America, the young moon is less than 1/2 day old. No matter where you live, try to spot this razor-thin crescent moon in the west immediately after sunset.

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Six dead zones in the past six years, but none before that. That’s what scientists have discovered in the Pacific ocean off the northwest U.S. coast. Marine biologist Jane Lubchenco talk about what might be causing these “virtual wastelands.”

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