Life
A counter to the argument that any alien life force that succeeds in getting into space will be as exploitative as colonial humanity:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-myth-of-evil-aliens&posted=1
Linguistics
This is as much society as linguistics, but a look at gender-specific terms in English and how they are changing to recognize the times:
Research
This would be a fun bit of tech to add to a science fiction story. You’d have to advance it of course since it’s here now, but (warning: starts video with audio):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13430747
Science
A further sign that we don’t have a handle on the full of the planet we call home in the rediscovery of a species thought extinct:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2011-05-18-rodent-species_n.htm?csp=Tech
Writing
This YouTube video by Ira Glass is a good basic look at how a story comes together and why it is interesting (The others in the series touch on different aspects):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loxJ3FtCJJA&feature=relmfu