Tackling the Burden and Shame of Hearing Loss
According to the World Health Organization, 900 million people are expected to have disabling hearing loss by the year 2050. A growing of drugmakers and technology companies are angling to tackle the...
View ArticleConfronting the Replication Crisis Could Lead to Better Science
Scientists face increased scrutiny after reports revealed a significant fraction of published studies from certain fields are irreproducible. But the "crisis" could provide motivation for researchers...
View ArticleTaxonomy for Sale to the Highest Bidder
With more than 27,000 species at risk of extinction, auctioning off naming rights seems like a fairly harmless way to increase public awareness and raise much-needed funding for wildlife conservation...
View ArticleWhy Journalists Are Wrong to Say Trump Is at War With Science
There's no question that the Trump administration often ignores or downplays science when making policy decisions. But that is very different from waging a war against science. When we science...
View ArticleTaking a Scientific Approach to Worrying
Bees, public restrooms, and the Ebola virus are all things we might potentially worry about — but how much attention should we give them? In the new book "Worried?" a biomedical engineer and a...
View ArticleIn a New York Measles Hotspot, Mandatory Vaccination Comes to Town
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency on Tuesday, ordering mandatory measles vaccinations in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. The area, home to a large...
View ArticleA Battle Over California’s Public Records Law
Though a recent bill could offer relief to academics who feel harassed by mounting requests, it also has major implications for would-be requesters — an unlikely combination of journalists, policy...
View ArticleAn Unprecedented Look at Spaceflight’s Effects on the Human Body
Scott Kelly spent a year in orbit while his identical twin and fellow astronaut Mark remained earthbound. By comparing their biological samples, researchers have gleaned unprecedented insights into how...
View ArticleThe Doctors Taking Birth Out of the Hospital
A small contingent of doctors believe that taking low-risk births out of the hospital and into birth centers can achieve what’s known as the Triple Aim of obstetric care: improving outcomes and...
View ArticleIt’s 2019. Academic Papers Should Be Free.
As a new librarian in the early 2000s, I believed passionately in the cause of open access and worked hard to bring it about, but the movement made only slight gains at the margins. Almost two decades...
View ArticleFive Questions for Mark Honigsbaum: The Scourge of Pandemics
Mark Honigsbaum, a medical historian and author of "The Pandemic Century," discusses the origins of “vaccine hesitancy,” how poverty and social class intersect with public health, the need for quick...
View ArticleIn Pig Brains, Researchers Spark New Activity After Death
Conventional wisdom tells us that a mammal brain dies minutes after it stops receiving oxygen. But researchers at the Yale School of Medicine successfully revived cellular activity in the brains of...
View ArticleCured in Place? An Underground Pipe Repair Raises Questions.
The technique has been used for decades, but a recent study out of Purdue questioned its safety, and put a spotlight on an industry that has worked behind the scenes for years to minimize concerns that...
View ArticleA Growing Gap in Consumers’ Awareness of Algorithmic Influence
A new digital divide is forming not around technological access, but in people's understanding of the factors influencing their online experiences. As savvier users choose to opt out of data sharing...
View ArticleMany Anti-Vaxxers Don’t Trust Big Pharma. There’s a Reason for That.
Spending on medical marketing has nearly doubled, to $30 billion, over the last two decades. Amid that relentless hard sell, it can be easy to see how intelligent, protective parents can become jaded...
View ArticleWhat a Deleted Profile Tells Us About Wikipedia’s Diversity Problem
On February 11, 2019, in the middle of Black History Month and on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Wikipedia editors deleted the profile of Clarice Phelps, who is thought to be the...
View ArticleA Gripping History of the Nuclear Disaster at Chernobyl
Drawing on more than a decade of research and interviews, including recently declassified material, a British journalist recounts the horrific 1986 accident in rural Ukraine, as well as the...
View ArticleU.S. Measles Outbreak Becomes the Largest in Two Decades
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday afternoon that growing measles outbreaks have helped the United States break a troubling record. The agency now reports there are 695 cases...
View ArticleWhen Measles Arrives: Breaking Down the Anatomy of Containment
That the center managed to contain the highly-contagious measles virus is a testament to its modernized records system, its staff’s military-style precision, and its location in a resource-rich region....
View ArticleIn Times of Crisis, Social Media Blackouts Jeopardize Public Safety
Governments claim that their goal in severing communication links is to prevent the spread of disinformation and decrease violence in times of crisis. But evidence is scant that massive disruptions to...
View Article