Heavy Risks: On the Link Between ‘Severe’ Autism and Obesity
Among autistic children, those with severe autism traits — based on parent reports — are more than three times as likely to be obese as those with milder traits, according to a new study. “We’ve got to...
View ArticleIn Canada, the Search for a ‘Phrag’ Destroyer
Manually eliminating Canada's most invasive plant, Phragmites australis, or 'phrag,' is a Sisyphean task. But tests of water-safe herbicides are underway. Scientists, activists, and residents fighting...
View ArticleNew Algorithms Perpetuate Old Biases in Child Welfare Cases
Child welfare agencies in several states now use predictive analytics to help decide whether a child is at risk in their home. By placing faith in algorithms that inevitably perpetuate systemic biases,...
View ArticleOn Morality, Time, and the End of the Universe
In "When Einstein Walked With Gödel," Jim Holt provides a guide to some of life's biggest questions. Through a collection of essays, he discusses everything from the meaning of infinity to the end of...
View ArticleAs Some Agencies Bolster Polices on Sexual Harassment, Others Lag Behind
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) adopted a new policy on Saturday that will allow members to request revocation of honorary fellowships for anyone found to be in violation...
View ArticlePaper Trails: Living and Dying With Fragmented Medical Records
Medical facilities in the U.S. manage health records using hundreds of different interfaces, and with minimal data sharing. Few hospitals integrate data from other facilities, and only 30 percent of...
View ArticlePower Outages During a Hurricane Can be Deadly. Solar Could Fix That.
Major hurricanes and other natural disasters tell a story about reliable power that’s quite different from what President Trump has claimed — which boils down to his usual support of fossil fuels. But...
View ArticleA Calculating Look at Criminal Justice
A new law in California will replace the bail system with a computer program to determine whether to keep you jailed or let you go as you await trial. While it's supposed to help remove biases — part...
View ArticleAt the Root of the Cuban Embassy Mystery: Bad Science Journalism
The story of the mystery illness that began to affect U.S. embassy personnel in Havana, Cuba in late 2016 has stirred a media frenzy like few others. Through it all, the press has pretended to be...
View ArticleWhen Conventional Wisdom Is Put on Trial
Do after-school programs really work? Do annual physicals prevent illness? Is surgery for a torn meniscus necessary? When a research group is randomly divided into two or more subgroups that receive...
View ArticleWith Ford Testimony on Kavanaugh Comes Lessons in Memory
As Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh continues to deny the allegations that he assaulted Christine Blasey Ford during a high school party in 1982, his supporters have raised questions about the...
View ArticleScience’s Quality-Control Process Gets a Makeover
Research into reviewer fatigue has been largely neglected, in part because most scholarly publishers are secretive about data underlying their peer review process — possibly because there are no clear...
View Article50 Years of Findings From the Ocean Floor
Over a half-century, scientific ocean drilling has proved the theory of plate tectonics, created the field of paleoceanography, and redefined how we view life on Earth by revealing an enormous variety...
View ArticleIn a Study of Human Remains, Lessons in Science (and Cultural Sensitivity)
The incident hints at the very knotty cultural, political, and ethical questions that attend human-specimen study — particularly in an era of increased sensitivity to the rich world's habit of...
View ArticleWe Need to Change the Way We Talk About GMOs
There is an arms race escalating between our crops and the fungal pathogens that destroy them. We need the best possible weapons at our disposal. Fortunately, there’s a solution that doesn’t require...
View ArticleBattling the Scourge of ‘Embalmed Milk’
Teeming with dangerous bacteria, contaminated by worms, hair, and manure, and often preserved with formaldehyde and other toxic compounds, milk was anything but good for your health until a...
View ArticleDespite Historic Wins for Women, Nobels Still Have a Long Way to Go
As the Nobel Prizes were awarded this week, physicist Donna Strickland and chemical engineer Frances Arnold made history as the first women to win in the physics and chemistry categories, respectively,...
View ArticleEp. 31: Urban Heat Islands, Hardwired Trees, and America’s Disjointed System...
Seth Mnookin talks with Stanford University physician and medical journalist Ilana Yurkiewicz about the personal toll of America's disjointed system of medical records. Also, hooking up sensors to...
View ArticleBuilding Diversity in Science, One Interaction at a Time
Racial minorities can feel excluded and unwelcome in the classroom, especially in science, engineering, and math, where diversity is downplayed and minorities are underrepresented. The NIH's 'Build'...
View ArticleAs Wildfires Rage, So Does Demand for High-Risk Homes
A recent study found that wildfires drive down real estate prices only in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. The finding illuminates a troubling trend: Some of the West’s most fire-prone areas —...
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