EPA Proposes New Emissions Rules at Chemical and Plastics Plants
Last week in Louisiana, EPA administrator Michael S. Regan announced the agency’s newly proposed rules to reduce emissions of carcinogenic chemicals from manufacturers nationwide. The additional...
View ArticleWill New FDA Rules Help Dial Back Expedited Drugs?
The Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act, signed into law at the end of 2022, enhances the FDA’s authority to ensure that drugmakers follow through with additional research — and, when necessary, withdraw...
View ArticleTo Ingrain AI Ethics, We Should Get Creative About Copyrights
AI is evolving faster than traditional regulatory frameworks can keep up with. Laws to constrain today’s cutting edge models are destined to become obsolete tomorrow, and new AI applications are...
View ArticleInterview: Why AI Needs to Be Calibrated for Bias
In her latest book “More than a Glitch,” data journalist Meredith Broussard wants us to tackle the problem of bias based on race, gender, or ability. Ultimately, she notes, the imperfections of our...
View ArticleWill California Get Enough Rain to Fill Its Pricey New Reservoir?
A $4 billion project is in the works to draw water from the Sacramento River — but only during major storm surges. Proponents say the Sites Reservoir might be incredibly useful, but absent frequent and...
View ArticleAs Sea Levels Rise, Tidal Power Becomes a Moving Target
Primarily generated by the gravitational pull of the moon, tidal power is more predictable than wind and it works well alongside solar power, generating electricity at night when the sun is down and...
View ArticleUnder Debate: The Origins of Mysterious Neurological Disease
The cause of nodding syndrome, a neurological disease, has never been conclusively identified. Many experts believe the disease is related to a parasitic roundworm. But some scientists say this...
View ArticleThe Case for Universal Menstrual Leave
Millions of people suffer from menstrual-related conditions that prevent them from functioning normally during their period. And yet policies that would guarantee a right to menstrual leave — a matter...
View ArticleBook Review: How Spirituality and Science Can Coexist
In “The Transcendent Brain,” writer, physicist, and humanities professor Alan Lightman makes an impassioned case that spirituality can be explained in scientific terms — without evoking a higher power....
View ArticleDoes Your Child Really Need That Root Canal?
Deciding how to treat young patients in dentistry isn’t always straightforward, and the challenge is compounded by a general lack of evidence and clinical guidance. Compared to medical research,...
View ArticleWhy Regulators Can’t Curb Social Media Hype for Weight Loss Drugs
Competition to claim a market that could be worth $100 billion a year for drugmakers alone has triggered a wave of advertising, provoking concern from regulators and doctors worldwide. But their tools...
View ArticleA Pandemic-Fueled Drop in FDA Inspections of Foreign Drug Plants
For decades, a federal watchdog agency has warned that the number of FDA inspections at overseas drug plants was worryingly low — and then Covid-19 slowed inspections to a trickle. But three years...
View ArticleOne Way to Help Prevent Child Abuse? Give Parents Cash.
Preliminary studies indicate that monthly cash payments to families — implemented as part of the short-lived 2021 expansion of the child tax credit — helped keep millions of kids out of poverty. My...
View ArticleBook Review: A Personal Journey to Understand Anorexia
In “Good Girls,” Hadley Freeman draws on her own experience with the disorder as well as interviews with experts and former patients to shed light on a disease that has long resisted explanation and...
View ArticleKeeping the Lights On at Ukraine’s Research Nuclear Reactor
The neutron source uses a fraction of the nuclear fuel needed to power a standard nuclear reactor, but that fuel is just under the threshold of being classified as close to weapons grade. When Russia...
View ArticleRethinking Authenticity in the Era of Generative AI
Generative AI thrives on exploiting people’s reflexive assumptions of authenticity by producing material that looks like ‘the real thing.’ With text, image, audio and video all becoming easier for...
View ArticleStemming the Threat of Biopiracy on the High Seas
In March, following 20 years of negotiations, UN member states secured a treaty that recognizes genetic resources obtained from international waters as common property. It’s an important, if imperfect,...
View ArticleMapping Flood Risk for Nigeria’s Internally Displaced People
Having escaped Boko Haram, internally displaced people now face the threat of rain as destructive storms, fueled by a warming climate, swamp settlement camps. Researchers say government planners have...
View ArticleBook Excerpt: The Forgotten Reformer Who Made Cities Livable
London in the 19th century was an overcrowded river of sewage. But one peculiar man, Edwin Chadwick, led a campaign to push the government to improve essential urban services like public water supply,...
View ArticleIn India, A Nuanced View of How Elephants Make Decisions
The giant mammals are on the move in Asia. And as the boundaries of human development expand, interspecies clashes are likely to become more frequent. Researchers believe that understanding elephants...
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