Why Did the CDC Bury Its Latest Measles Forecast?
The move — along with the CDC’s explanation — is a sign that the nation’s top public health agency may be falling in line under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines.
View ArticleFor Health Apps, Questions Over Privacy and Efficacy
Apps that help track health information, provide diagnostic assistance, and facilitate care may have benefits, but with a patchwork of regulations, there’s potential for harm. Experts say more...
View ArticleIn Western Wildlife, Bird Flu Deaths Highlight Uncertainties
In Washington state, The closely-spaced deaths of two cougars who tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu suggest the virus is likely more widespread than thought. “There’s just so much about this virus...
View ArticleYour Genome Is a Specimen. Let’s Treat It Like One
The impending bankruptcy of genetic testing company 23andMe prompted worries about consumers’ personal data being sold. It has also raised the argument that genetic data shouldn’t be treated as assets...
View ArticleWhy Did the CDC Bury Its Latest Measles Forecast?
The move — along with the CDC’s explanation — is a sign that the nation’s top public health agency may be falling in line under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines.
View ArticleIn Western Wildlife, Bird Flu Deaths Highlight Uncertainties
In Washington state, The closely-spaced deaths of two cougars who tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu suggest the virus is likely more widespread than thought. “There’s just so much about this virus...
View ArticleBook Review: How Plagues Are Intertwined With Social Justice
In “A History of the World in Six Plagues,” science historian Edna Bonhomme investigates the racial and class inequalities, and the injustices of confinement, that have hampered official responses to...
View ArticleCutting Edge: The Cautious Optimism for Psychiatric Brain Surgery
Lobotomies left thousands of patients disabled in the 1950s. But with advances in treatment, some surgeons now say that, for a small group of patients, removing brain tissue can help patients with OCD...
View ArticleEPA Plans to Stop Collecting Emissions Data From Most Polluters
Officials have asked staff at the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program to draft a rule that will drastically reduce data collection. Climate experts expressed shock and dismay at the move. “It would be a...
View ArticleIn the Northeast, a Question of Fighting Fire With Fire
Scientists have long debated the scale of intentionally set fires, particularly in the woodlands of eastern North America. And a dust-up over a 2020 journal article on prescribed burning illustrates...
View ArticleThe Mental Health Impacts of Scientific Fieldwork
Fieldwork is vital to scientific research. But difficult conditions at remote research sites can increase workers’ vulnerability and put them under physical, mental, and emotional strain. A shift in...
View ArticleCome-Gimme! Why Do We Shrug When Apes Cross the Language Barrier?
There is a long history of linguistic breakthroughs by researchers who have raised great apes in language-rich environments. But the first words and signs of humans’ closest relatives have stirred up...
View ArticleIn Western Wildlife, Bird Flu Deaths Highlight Uncertainties
In Washington state, The closely-spaced deaths of two cougars who tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu suggest the virus is likely more widespread than thought. “There’s just so much about this virus...
View ArticleThe Melatonin-ification of Childhood Bedtimes
Academic surveys suggest that as many as one in five preteens in the U.S. now take melatonin at least occasionally, and that some younger children consume it multiple times per week. Companies and...
View ArticleThe Melatonin-ification of Childhood Bedtimes
Academic surveys suggest that as many as one in five preteens in the U.S. now take melatonin at least occasionally, and that some younger children consume it multiple times per week. Companies and...
View ArticleWhat the Science Says About Food Additives
More than half of the calories consumed in the U.S. are from highly processed foods, which often contain synthetic ingredients. The new head of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has...
View ArticleRedefining ‘Harm’ Could Gut Protection of Endangered Species
A proposed rule from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would change the definition of “harm” to an endangered species, effectively allowing such activities as logging and oil drilling to be approved...
View ArticleThe Dangerous Illusion of Climate Resilience
For decades, climate disasters were seen as the burden of poor nations. But the wildfires in Los Angeles and other catastrophes in the Global North prove that no one is immune. Adaptation, which could...
View ArticlePolicymakers Wrangle Over NIH Spending
Advocates argue that the proposed reforms — which come after decades of steady, bipartisan-supported growth in funding for biomedical research — will cut administrative costs and other perceived bloat....
View ArticleInterview: Why Autistic Women Have Been Overlooked for Decades
Over the past decade, spurred by personal testimonies, autism researchers have increasingly examined how women and girls have eluded diagnosis by adopting two broad strategies — camouflaging and...
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