The Race to Re-Learn Hemp Farming
Hemp used to be farmed across the United States, but thanks to its association with cannabis, the government banned the crop from private and university fields for most of the 20th century. Now, hemp...
View ArticleIt’s Time to Talk About Ecological Grief
Grief can either paralyze you or galvanize you. For years, emotion had no seat at the table in climate discussions, but the concept of ecological grief — the feeling of despair associated with...
View ArticleScientists Are Feeling the Pinch of the Government Shutdown
Scientific projects are now being impacted by the prolonged government shutdown. And those scientific setbacks are likely to snowball quickly if the shutdown continues — particularly as...
View ArticleHow Hate Speech Breeds Hate
Commentary | Just as reading a scary book can make you afraid to go in the ocean because you simulate (exceedingly rare) shark attacks, encountering language about other groups of people (and their...
View ArticleRevamping the Kilogram for the Quantum Age
Since the 19th century, the kilogram has been defined by the weight of a metal cylinder locked in a French vault. But last month, scientists from nearly 60 countries voted to link the kilogram instead...
View ArticleThe End of Economic Growth Is Inevitable. Let’s Plan for It.
It’s no exaggeration to say that we’re collectively addicted to growth, but if it is meant to have anything to do with increasing quality of life, there is plenty of evidence to suggest it has passed...
View ArticleFor Geoengineers, a Scientific Existential Crisis
If humanity somehow managed to switch off the carbon dioxide spigot by tomorrow, geoengineers’ field could disappear. The point of geoengineering today is to slow down climate change, and if we could...
View ArticleOur Irrational Fear of Sexbots
As several self-proclaimed “sex-robot brothels” have opened around the globe, it's been increasingly easy to get the sense that the age of sci-fi sex is near. But allow me to offer an alternate...
View ArticleOn Pot and Psychosis: Five Questions for Alex Berenson
The author of "Tell Your Children" maintains that today’s highly powerful marijuana can have lethal consequences for some people, and can cause psychosis. He also contends that marijuana use is linked...
View ArticleAt EPA Confirmation Hearing, Andrew Wheeler Faces Questions on Climate
Andrew Wheeler performed a balancing act on Wednesday as he faced questions regarding climate change during his confirmation hearing to officially become the 15th administrator of the U.S. EPA. The...
View ArticleReefer Madness 2.0: What Marijuana Science Says, and Doesn’t Say
A new book by Alex Berenson and an article by Malcolm Gladwell on marijuana science offer a master class in statistical malfeasance, a smorgasbord of logical fallacies, and data-free fear mongering...
View ArticleResearch Suggests We’re Not as Irrational as We Think
Decades of psychological research have emphasized the biases and errors in human judgment and decision-making. But a new approach that borrows an idea from the field of artificial intelligence is...
View ArticleThe Benefits, and Realities, of Using Medication to Overcome Addiction
For many, the road to recovery is long and marked by relapses. Recognizing this, some treatment facilities are beginning to offer medication while simultaneously calling for a holistic approach to...
View ArticleTo Groom Better Scientists, Harness the Power of Narrative
The "nature of science" movement teaches science as story, treating scientists as main characters and discovery as the central plotline. Not only do these narratives better prepare students for the...
View ArticleOn the Spread of Behavior: Five Questions for Damon Centola
In trying to influence people, you might think social media would be more effective than word of mouth. But as Damon Centola argues in “How Behavior Spreads: The Science of Complex Contagions," strong...
View ArticleFor Science Agencies, the Government Shutdown’s Ripple Effects
The government shutdown is now closing out its fifth week, as votes on competing proposals failed to pass on Thursday. While some major agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the...
View ArticleJunk Science or the Real Thing? ‘Inference’ Publishes Both.
One thing is clear: Inference’s inclusion of demonstrably pseudoscientific writing alongside the work of highly regarded researchers puts the two on equal footing — a false equivalence that gives...
View ArticleDecoding China’s Secretive Culture of Science
It's tempting to ascribe China's secretive practices as a throwback to a Cold War mentality, with China competing with the West by incubating cutting-edge research programs behind closed doors. But my...
View ArticleIn Underwater Drones, a New Weapon for Hurricane Hunters
Until now, hurricane forecasting has been far better at tracking a storm's movement than its intensity, but Scott Glenn's decision to deploy an underwater drone during Hurricane Irene may lead to a new...
View ArticleIn Search of a Better Bender: The Case for Vitamin-Enriched Alcohol
Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, a brain disorder that causes debilitating amnesia, is overwhelmingly a consequence of thiamine deficiency due to severe alcoholism. The vast majority of cases could be...
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