Post-Vaccine Covid Infections Are Real. But How Serious Are They?
Researchers have long expected that new variants of the coronavirus would gradually get better at evading vaccines. The bigger question, though, is what risk, exactly, breakthrough infections actually...
View ArticleIn California, A New Strategy to Fight Grapevine-Killing Bacteria
By crossbreeding European and North American grapes, a plant geneticist recently patented five hybrid grapes that could save some California vineyards from a devastating bacterium — and resurrect those...
View ArticleA Curious Union: Clorox, Cleveland Clinic, and the CDC Foundation
A deal between the disinfectant maker Clorox, the Cleveland Clinic, and the CDC Foundation was forged amid Covid — and it includes clear messaging on the virtues of surface cleaning to prevent disease...
View ArticleCourt Affirms Health Workers’ Rights to Speak up on Safety
Media policies barring health care workers from publicly speaking or posting about safety issues have been a bitter source of conflict over the past year as workers have been fired for calling out...
View ArticleWith Internet Shutdowns, India Is Violating a ‘Duty to Memory’
Indian authorities have repeatedly cited law-and-order concerns to justify cutting off internet access amid unrest. But the shutdowns arguably represent an infringement on constitutional rights, and...
View ArticleBook Review: Lessons Learned From the Wayward Brain
In “Projections: A Story of Human Emotions” and “A Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are,” Karl Deisseroth and Veronica O’Keane, respectively, use patient stories as conduits to talk about...
View ArticleThe Wild Frontier of Model Organism Research
From the fruit fly to brewer’s yeast to the proverbial lab rat, model organisms have been behind many of modern biology’s basic discoveries. But research on these classic models has largely focused on...
View ArticleSummer Catastrophes Bring the Climate Crisis into Focus
In the past few weeks, we’ve seen deadly heat domes across the Pacific Northwest, a petroleum pipeline leak in the middle of the ocean that set the Gulf of Mexico on fire, and deadly floods in Germany...
View ArticleA Sterile Solution: How Crispr Could Protect Wild Salmon
The term may sound like an oxymoron, but genetically-edited “sterile parent” salmon might prevent escaped farmed salmon from interbreeding with their wild counterparts, one of the most pressing...
View ArticleIt’s Time for a New International Space Treaty
With satellite traffic increasing and space tourism poised to take off, space is much busier than it used to be. Before extraterrestrial conflicts erupt, debris makes space travel unsustainable, and...
View ArticleBook Review: Tales of Scientists Gone Rogue (or Worse)
From ice-pick lobotomies to gruesome pirate raids, in “The Icepick Surgeon,” Sam Kean catalogues the long trail of amoral scientists, and their justifications. Through his comprehensive and complex...
View ArticleAs Olympics Open in Japan, Covid-19 Cases Rise
The opening ceremony for the 2020 Olympics, delayed by a year due to Covid-19, kicked off Friday in a restrained performance in Tokyo. Around 15,000 athletes from more than 200 countries are expected...
View ArticleDalit Scientists Face Barriers in India’s Top Science Institutes
Long marginalized in the Hindu caste system, Dalits are systematically underrepresented in India’s elite science institutes. And while some upper-caste researchers say caste discrimination is a thing...
View ArticleAs Covid Cases Mount, Missouri Legislators Oppose Vaccine Efforts
As the number of coronavirus infections rises around the country, lawmakers have adopted responses that trouble many health officials. In Missouri, where the dangerous delta variant is taking hold,...
View ArticleAfghanistan’s Covid-19 Response Falters as U.S. Troops Withdraw
Amid rising violence, many hospitals and health care clinics in Afghanistan have been forced to shut down. Those that continue to operate are often difficult to access and overwhelmed with war...
View ArticleA Common Biopsy Is Putting Lives at Risk. It’s Time to Retire It.
The transrectal biopsy has been considered the gold standard for diagnosing prostate cancer. But it’s also risky, and can sometimes cause life-threatening infections. Some urologists are already...
View ArticleBook Review: An Ode to the Dank World of Sweat and Stink
In the summer’s ultimate beach read, journalist Sarah Everts delivers a chatty, informative romp through the science and history of perspiration. From the literal smell of fear to the chemical...
View ArticleAs Vaccination Rates Lag, Delta Variant Presents New Challenges
In an announcement this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that vaccinated individuals with breakthrough infections are more likely to pass Covid-19 on than had been previously...
View ArticleHere Comes Trouble: An Anti-Tobacco Hero’s Complicated Legacy
In recent years, as a contentious debate over electronic cigarettes has fractured the community of tobacco researchers, many of Stanton Glantz’s former allies have turned on the 75-year-old scientist....
View ArticleOften Overlooked, New Building Codes Could Buffer Climate Change
In the wake of the 2020 wildfire season, the California Energy Commission proposed state building standards that require “electric ready” equipment and encourage electric heating rather than the use of...
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