In Ghana, a Bumper Crop of Opinions on Genetically Modified Cowpea
Proponents say the seeds provide a raft of benefits and will help feed a fast-growing population on a warming planet. But social scientists warn that GM cowpea is being developed without an...
View ArticleNuclear Fallout and the Downwinders’ Dilemma
Although the mushroom cloud became the icon of American nuclear activity in the 20th century, a bomb’s harms did not fade with its dimming fireball. No group in the U.S. understands this better than...
View ArticleOn Neuroscience and Morality: Five Questions for Patricia S. Churchland
Patricia S. Churchland, a philosopher and the author of "Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition," discusses how neuroscience, evolution, and biology are all essential to understanding moral...
View ArticleIn a U.S. First, Doctors Use Gene-Editing Crispr Tool to Treat a Genetic...
Doctors in the U.S. have used the gene-editing tool Crispr to treat a patient with a genetic disorder for the very first time. But researchers caution that the procedure — done as part of an ongoing...
View ArticleWhy Parents Are Turning to a Controversial Treatment for Food Allergies
Thousands of food allergy patients swear by oral immunotherapy, often calling the results life-changing. But with many researchers dismissing the science as thin and the treatment as unnecessary, the...
View Article‘Environmental Footprints’ Tend to Underestimate Resource Use
Each country’s ecological footprint is an estimate of the biological resources required to meet its population’s consumption demands and absorb its carbon emissions. The calculations underlying the...
View ArticleAs Elephants and Whales Disappear, They Take Valuable Cancer Clues With Them
Scientists have found that whales and elephants evolved clever ways of dealing with cancer — and somewhere hiding in their genetic code or evolutionary history could be a new cancer treatment for...
View ArticleFor Toxic ‘Forever’ Chemicals, We Need More Than a Temporary Fix
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have found their way into drinking water supplies and foods, and almost all Americans have detectable levels of the toxic chemicals in their blood. Yet...
View ArticleHow We Brought Our Understanding of Gravity Down to Earth
From Newton's “Principia” to today's dauntingly weird notions about the so-called multiverse, gravity has proven to be frustratingly difficult to comprehend, but science writer Richard Panek does his...
View ArticleTrump Wants Social Media to Prevent Shootings. Experts Say It’s the Wrong...
President Donald Trump called on social media companies, in partnership with law enforcement agencies, “to develop tools that can detect mass shooters before they strike.” But experts say even the most...
View ArticleAn Identity Crisis for the Australian Dingo
To some Australians, the iconic, free-roaming dingo is a beloved member of the nation’s unique fauna. To others, it is little more than an agricultural pest. Its future could hinge on the question of...
View ArticleSyrian War Puts Researchers in Limbo and Artifacts in Jeopardy
Since war broke out in the region in 2011, archaeologists and other scholars have stopped working in Syria. Scientists aren’t uncovering new sites or digging deeper into the long human history of the...
View ArticleAs the Forest Moves Back in, Pollen Is on the Rise in Detroit
As the forest creeps back into Detroit’s myriad vacant lots, plants are pumping pollen into the air — and into Detroiters’ airways. Now, for the first time, researchers are starting to pinpoint where...
View ArticleOf CNN, Hydropower, and Albania’s Valbona Valley
In early 2018, an Albanian hydropower giant, Gener2, entered into a media partnership with CNN. In May, a human rights organization detailed allegations of a pattern of threats, intimidation, and...
View ArticleSurgical Robots are Surging in Popularity. So Will Their Data.
The most popular surgical robot in use today, the da Vinci, is equipped to record all of the movements a surgeon makes during an operation. On its face, that could be a valuable training tool, allowing...
View ArticleAmid Biodiversity Crisis, Trump Administration Weakens Endangered Species Act
Under the changes, it will be easier for regulators to delist and “down-list” the some 1,650 species currently protected by the act, it will be harder to take climate change's effects into account, and...
View ArticleThe Mysterious Fate of the World’s Largest Butterfly
Butterflies are rapidly disappearing. Among the rarest is the world's largest butterfly, the Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing of Papua New Guinea, which boasts a wingspan of 14 inches. Yet despite its...
View ArticleWriggling Around Law, Insurers Deny Coverage for Breastfeeding Help
As of August 2012, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandated that new individual and employer-based health insurance plans cover breastfeeding support and supplies at no cost to families. But parents...
View ArticleClimate Data Is Being Privatized. Will the Public Lose Out?
The "climate services" industry has grown rapidly in recent years, as companies sense the potential for massive profits from selling customized data to clients who want to learn in detail where and how...
View ArticleIn Afghanistan, Combating the Dubious Science of Virginity Testing
While many Taliban-era strictures have been dismantled, female sexuality remains a matter of strict control in Afghanistan. Now doctors and activists are moving to end the widespread practice of...
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