In Cambodia, Activists Risk Prison to Expose Ecological Scars of Sand Mining
Despite its modest size, Cambodia had recently become one of the world’s top 10 sand exporters. But with its shorelines, interior rivers, and estuaries ravaged by the industry, the country banned sand...
View ArticleIn France’s Battles Over Lyme Disease, Lessons in Science Communication
Last year, the French government launched a plan to combat Lyme. It included a fact-based public service campaign aimed at raising awareness about the disease's real prevalence, and dispelling...
View ArticleTorture and Triumph: The Evolution of Sign Language for the Deaf
For centuries, leaders and educators stifled the deaf by forcing them to conform to the ways of the hearing. That is the impetus behind “The Language of Light,” Gerald Shea's history of deaf people’s...
View ArticleIn Addressing the Opioid Crisis, Critics Say Trump Falls Short
Topping our weekly news roundup: The Trump administration declared a public health emergency Thursday over the U.S. opioid epidemic, which claimed 33,000 lives in 2015. But state officials say falling...
View ArticleIs Biodiversity Beneficial to Human Health? Maybe Not.
Based on media coverage over the last 10 years, it would seem that the dilution effect — the idea that preserving and protecting an abundance of other species can help to dilute the risk of diseases...
View ArticleApproach With Caution: Nostalgia Is a Potent Political Agent
Research shows that nostalgia has the power to mobilize people. With his “Make America Great Again” campaign, Trump didn’t simply invoke the idea of an idealized past, but provoked the anxious feelings...
View ArticleThe Growing Urgency of Killer Chronic Diseases
Policymakers recognize the imbalance of attention given to chronic diseases, which kill far more people worldwide than do infectious diseases and terrorism. The issue likely will worsen with economic...
View ArticlePodcast #20: The War on Polio
Our podcast host and former NYT editor David Corcoran talks with Jo Chandler about her Undark Case Study on the campaign to wipe out polio in a corner of Nigeria where it stubbornly hangs on. Also:...
View ArticleBowing to Pressure from China, a Scientific Publisher Censors Itself
Topping our weekly news roundup: Bowing to pressure from China, Springer Nature blocked access in the country to select articles on topics including Tibet and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The...
View ArticleOn the Face of It: Darwin and the Evolution of Expression
Darwin’s experiments on his infant son Willy turned out to be an overlooked landmark in the history of science. In the same spirit that he applied to other pinnacles of evolutionary perfection, he...
View ArticleThe Public’s Distrust of Biotech Is Deepening. Commercialization May Be to...
A new study can theoretically predict thousands of disorders and identify several genetic risk variants in newborns. So project leaders were stunned when parents were reluctant to take part. The...
View ArticleFor Minorities in Science, Building Community Matters
Despite efforts by the federal government to promote diversity in the science over the past decade, minority participation remains staggeringly low. Leaders of mentorship programs around the country...
View ArticleIt’s Time to Rethink the Relationship Between Borders and Climate Change
Opening borders and removing sovereignty from environmental decisions will be seen as radical proposals by some. But the alternative will push us headlong into a rapidly arriving dystopian future of...
View ArticleFacing Facts: Artificial Intelligence and the Resurgence of Physiognomy
Researchers are developing artificial intelligence that they claim is able to identify a person's sexual orientation or propensity for criminal activity just by scanning their face. To many critics,...
View ArticleLocal Climate Action Surges While Washington Stalls
Most of the liberal politicians elected Tuesday doubtless accept the reality of human-caused climate change and support policies to address it. But they will hold state and local offices, not federal...
View ArticlePollsters Blew Last Year’s Election and This Year’s. Will Anything Change in...
Poor sampling methods and misrepresentation by journalists have led to erroneous forecasts, miscalling the 2016 election for Hillary Clinton. Now on the cusp of the 2018 midterm election season, it’s...
View ArticleSyria Joins the Paris Agreement, Leaving the U.S. as the Only Holdout
Topping our weekly news roundup: Syria announced its intention to join the Paris climate accord at a United Nations climate conference in Germany on Tuesday, leaving the United States as the world’s...
View ArticleBook Review: ‘Endurance: A Year in Space,’ by the Astronaut Who Lived It
As important as space exploration may be, living and working there can be a grind. Equipment vital to life, like the toilet, goes on the fritz. Repairs can be agonizingly difficult. High carbon dioxide...
View ArticleThe Allure and Perils of Hydropower
Research suggests that damming rivers produces much more methane than previously thought. Considered alongside the impacts on local ecosystems and communities, the practice is falling out of favor...
View ArticleIn the Western U.S., Considering the Altitude-Suicide Relationship
Even after controlling multiple socioeconomic, demographic and clinical factors, such as unemployment rate and the ratio of population to primary care physicians, new research has found...
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