Scientists have long thought that processes occurring during sleep were responsible for cementing the salient experiences of the day into long-term memories. Now, however, a study of scampering rats suggests that the mechanisms at work during sleep are also active while the animals are awake -- and that they encode events more accurately.

A new prostate cancer risk assessment test gives patients and their doctors a better way of gauging long-term risks and pinpointing high risk cases.

Researchers have discovered a group of closely related living species that independently repeated the different step-like changes that occurred in the major diversification of their kind during the Cretaceous Period, roughly 100 to 90 million years ago. But remarkably, this group of species arose some 80 million years later.

Scientists have revealed a new avenue for harvesting stem cells -- from a woman's placenta, or more specifically the discarded placentas of healthy newborns. The study also finds there are far more stem cells in placentas than in umbilical cord blood, and they can be safely extracted for transplantation.

New research suggests a direct link between smoking and brain damage. Scientists have found that a compound in tobacco provokes white blood cells in the central nervous system to attack healthy cells, leading to severe neurological damage.

A student in Spain has designed a way to increase the energy sustainability of hybrid cars. The implementation of his idea enables a vehicle to consume much less fuel than it would with a conventional configuration.

Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.

The new findings intensify a debate about so-called “inerts” -- the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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[Please note: this is a special episode of Earth, and runs longer than the usual length. Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]

Mother nature is known for her irony.  And last week’s tornadoes that ripped through the American heartland are a case in point.

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New research has found substantial reductions in binge drinking since the national drinking age was set at 21 two decades ago, with one exception: college students. The rates of binge drinking in male collegians remain unchanged, but the rates in female collegians have increased dramatically.

Scientists are proposing a surprising new solution to the global energy crisis —"milking" oil from the tiny, single-cell algae known as diatoms, renowned for their intricate, beautifully sculpted shells that resemble fine lacework.