PBS NewsHour - Science

Miles O'Brien has traveled the world for the NewsHour, often to dangerous places, such as his recent trip to the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. Last month, an injury during another reporting trip in the Philippines became life-threatening and resulted in the amputation of his left arm. He joins Judy Woodruff to talk about what happened.

With help from fisherman and citizen scientists, researchers in Japan and the U.S. are tracking the nucleotides in the ocean creatures who swim in the plume of water tainted with radiation from Fukushima. Their research is part of a long-term effort to figure out when — if ever — certain fish will be safe to eat. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports.

The site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan remains a post-apocalyptic landscape of abandoned towns, frozen in time. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien got a rare tour inside the plant, where three nuclear reactors melted down after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, to learn more about the long-term solutions for stemming the radioactive contamination.

With the push of a button – plus a lot of design work and hours of waiting – the emerging technology of 3-D printing can produce food, plastic phone accessories, even human tissue. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien explores how businesses and schools are creating everything from speakers to ballet shoes, as well as serious challenges and risks presented by ever-widening printing possibilities.

Composer, computer scientist and futurist Tod Machover has joined the power of technology with one of the great classical art forms. In "Death and the Powers," opera robots take the stage to sing about the search for immortality and how our humanity is transformed by tech. Jeffrey Brown reports on the preparations taking place at the MIT Media Lab for an upcoming interactive performance.

While scientists and doctors have hopes of helping the 34 million people infected with HIV live disease-free, some basic questions remain about the virus, like where it hides in the human body. Special correspondent Spencer Michels reports on the latest steps in the search for an AIDS cure and renewed support from the government.

Tonight on the program, we examine the deadly comeback of heroin as use of the dangerous drug in the U.S. has doubled since 2007. Also: Preventing accidents with "talking cars," South Carolina's battle over Medicaid expansion, new media models affecting traditional journalism, hiding concussions in high school football and remembering Oscar-winning actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Up and down the Pacific Coast, starfish are dying by the tens of thousands and no one knows why. Special correspondent Katie Campbell reports from Seattle on how researchers and citizen scientists are investigating the spread of the mysterious and distressing syndrome.

Tonight on the program, we look at a federal oversight board that says the NSA should stop collecting phone records entirely. Also: Syria's government and opposition offer more heated rhetoric, a commission finds voting process needs to catch up with the times, a solar power project confronts habitat impact with tortoises, the origin of a secret CIA prison in Poland and tech that tracks users.

Around the country, developers, policy makers and environmentalists are faced with balancing the need for clean energy with the protection of the existing landscape. In California's Mojave Desert is one of the world's finest solar power resources, but it's also the habitat of endangered tortoises. Gabriela Quiros of KQED reports.

At the bottom of a nickel mine near Sudbury, Ontario, scientists at one of the world's most sophisticated particle physics observatories are investigating one of the biggest mysteries of the cosmos: What is dark matter? Science correspondent Miles O'Brien helps to shed some light on the research at SNOLAB.

On our program tonight, peace talks aimed at halting the civil war in Syria are flung into disarray before they have even started. Also: A long-lost speech by Martin Luther King Jr. is rediscovered, the Taliban attacks a military base after a deadly suicide bombing in Kabul, researchers study dark matter in a Canadian nickel mine and the tech industry responds to new NSA rules.

Even before President Obama outlined his proposed changes in how the NSA should collect data for surveillance, many tech giants were vocal in their criticism. Gwen Ifill discusses what's at stake with Christian Dawson of the Internet Infrastructure Coalition and Nuala O'Connor of the Center for Democracy and Technology.

U.S. retailer Target has acknowledged that up to 110 million customer accounts were compromised by a data breach during the holidays, raising consumer concerns and prompting lawmakers to demand answers. How can shoppers protect themselves? Gwen Ifill talks to Nicole Perlroth of The New York Times and Ken Stasiak of SecureState.

In our news wrap Tuesday, a federal appeals court set aside the FCC's net neutrality rules. Now, major Internet providers can decide what can be accessed through their networks and at what cost. Also, the tap water ban has been lifted for 35 percent of the 300,000 West Virginians who were affected by a chemical spill.