Activists and Oil Refiners Square Off Over Hydrofluoric Acid
Hydrofluoric acid is widely used by the petroleum industry to help make gasoline run cleaner. It could harm people if accidentally released into the air, so refineries use a modified form to prevent it...
View ArticleLizards, Leaf Blowers, and the Value of Basic Research
To people outside of academia, basic research can seem bereft of purpose, of no benefit to humanity. But even if basic research doesn't help people directly, it can help answer important questions...
View ArticleGiving Voice to Big Tech’s Haves and Have Nots
Drawing on 45 conversations with venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, homeless advocates, even a pawnbroker and a tattoo artist, a writer and filmmaker poses a number of troubling questions about the...
View ArticleVoting on the Future of Science Journalism (Again)
Should public relations officials be allowed to serve as leaders of the country’s oldest organization for science journalists? Once again, that question is up for a vote this weekend at the National...
View ArticleApprove First, Ask Questions Later: ‘Post-Marketing’ Research and the FDA
The FDA can approve a drug with caveats, like requests for additional research on niggling issues of safety and efficacy that the approval process couldn’t nail down. This allows drugs to get to market...
View ArticleIs It Ethical for Nutrition Scientists to Accept Industry Money?
For nutrition scientists in academia, career advancement hinges on winning grant money to do research and publishing the results in prestigious journals. But with federal funding in short supply,...
View ArticleLosing the Grand Canyon: Five Questions for Stephen Nash
As temperatures increase, wildlife will be forced to migrate and adapt to landscapes that are increasingly being modified by humans. Journalist Stephen Nash talks about his book "Grand Canyon For Sale"...
View ArticleTo Sway Science Skeptics, First Listen to Them
Scientists operate largely on the conviction that people will listen to expertise if only the evidence is communicated well — an idea known as the deficit model. But there are signs that the deficit...
View ArticleAn Elephant’s Carcass, and a Grim Reminder of Poaching’s Victims
Squinting at the ground, I suddenly spotted a deflated gray balloon, fallen amidst piles of withered brown leaves and pale, skeletal trees. Though I had been reporting on the poaching crisis in Africa...
View ArticleFans Celebrate Marijuana Legalization in Canada. Critics Say it Could All Go...
All eyes were on Canada Wednesday as the country became the second, only behind Uruguay, to legalize recreational marijuana. While the legislation was welcomed by marijuana advocates and industry...
View ArticleAmid Pollution and Political Indifference, Nigerians Struggle to Catch Their...
While particulate pollution is a worldwide problem blamed for millions of deaths annually, high concentrations in parts of Africa’s most populous nation are inextricably linked to a suite of...
View ArticleMobile Health Apps Are Going Largely Unpoliced. The Public Deserves Better.
As the number of mobile health apps surged to a record 325,000 in 2017, app performance is going largely unpoliced, leading to what’s been dubbed a “Wild West” situation. Unfortunately for health...
View ArticleIn India, Breast Cancer Screening Goes High-Tech
150,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in India each year. Currently, only half of them survive. Among other things, experts blame late diagnosis. New low-cost screening devices being...
View ArticleA Lesson of Hurricane Michael: Our Policymakers are Failing Us
Hurricane Michael was but the latest in a string of devastating storms to strike states in the southeastern U.S. in recent years. In a cruel irony, the states hit hardest by climate-change-related...
View ArticleIn “Rising,” Elizabeth Rush Offers an Elegy for Our Battered Coasts
From the struggle of flood-prone Florida neighborhoods to imperiled bird populations and the demise of tupelo trees and sea meadows, "Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore" creates a collage...
View ArticleAhead of Brexit, Scientists Push for Focus on Research Impacts
Last Friday, 35 scientists and mathematicians sent a letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker warning that a hard Brexit could cause barriers...
View ArticleIn China’s Industrial Centers, Lung Disease and Hard Choices
A recent study confirmed what millions of Chinese citizens already knew: Just like smoking, long-term exposure to high concentrations of fine particulate pollution greatly increases the risk of...
View ArticleReading (and Understanding) Scientific Literature Isn’t Easy. Here’s a Guide...
Research shouldn’t be regarded as a closely kept secret for a small number of people. In a world full of half truths, simplistic and misleading summaries, and outright “fake news,” being able to read...
View ArticleEp 32: Decentralized Internet, a Trip into Space, and a Roiling Debate Among...
Seth Mnookin talks with award-winning author and journalist Marcia Bartusiak about the backstories to some of the greatest ideas and discoveries in astronomy. Also, an effort to build a decentralized,...
View ArticleUsing Satire to Communicate Science
Satire can capture people’s attention, make complex topics accessible, and even sway beliefs. Researchers are now exploring whether satire could play a role in effective communication of contentious...
View Article