How Crop Science Is Transforming the Humble Potato
A breakthrough in hybrid crop breeding has laid the groundwork for a revolution in potato farming, enabling breeders to create new varieties that can better withstand diseases and climate change, while...
View ArticleMpox Offers Another Chance to Confront Vaccine Inequity
The World Health Organization has declared mpox a global public health emergency. Countries in Africa face the brunt of the disease yet only have access to a fraction of the vaccine doses needed....
View ArticleThe Golden Age of Offbeat Arctic Research
The Cold War spawned some strange military research projects in Greenland that were doomed to failure, from futuristic hovercraft and atomic subways to disposing of nuclear waste by letting it melt...
View ArticleBalancing Act: Pregnancy and Bipolar Disorder
For women with bipolar disorder, pregnancy can be a fraught endeavor as they balance the health of their growing fetus with their own mental state. Many either stop taking the medications that keep...
View ArticleAs Earthquake Risk Looms, Is a Major Oil Hub in Oregon Ready?
While oil and gas operations at Portland’s CEI Hub continue to grow, disaster experts and advocates highlight the risk of a massive spill if a major earthquake hits the region. Despite the pushback,...
View ArticleThe Rise of the Science Sleuths
A seminal paper in Alzheimer’s research raised red flags. Those who called out the problematic data hoped the discovery would correct the scientific record. Instead, the questions raised about the work...
View ArticleWhere Do We Search for the Fundamental Stuff of Life?
The study of how life on Earth began has been dominated by speculation, writes C. Brandon Ogbunu in his column “Selective Pressure.” But two recent books by physicist Sara Imari Walker and biochemist...
View ArticleThe Tragic Toll of Climate Change on Children
In “The Air They Breathe,” Debra Hendrickson, a pediatrician working in Reno, Nevada, the nation’s fastest-warming city, chronicles the disproportionate effects of climate change on children, a growing...
View ArticleIn Arid New Mexico, a Debate Over Reusing Oil-Industry Wastewater
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s ambitious proposal to regulate and reuse wastewater discharged from oil and gas drilling for alternative energy projects has been blocked for now, though the debate over...
View ArticleWhat Does ‘Recyclable’ Really Mean?
The Consumer Brands Association believes companies should be able to stamp “recyclable” on products that are technically “capable” of being recycled, even if they’re likely to end up in a landfill....
View ArticleRising Tide of Reddit Users Bring Awareness to ‘No-Burp Syndrome’
The painful condition of not being able to burp has long gone unrecognized in medicine. But those with ‘no-burp syndrome’ have been gathering online, and gaining steam: A pioneering Botox treatment was...
View ArticleSaving the Chandra X-ray Observatory
In March, a cut to NASA’s proposed 2025 budget threatened to end the Chandra orbiting telescope’s mission early, with no replacement in the works. But a campaign by astronomers to restore that funding...
View ArticleBook Review: The Intricate Connections Between Humans and Nature
Peter Godfrey-Smith’s “Living on Earth” is a natural history “of organisms as causes, rather than evolutionary products.” His subject is the intricate connection between humans and nature, and the...
View ArticleCould an Old Drug Protect Against a New Pandemic?
Health authorities have said that stockpiled Tamiflu should work well against H5N1. But while the drug may help in cases of severe flu, research shows that it doesn’t help keep average-risk patients...
View ArticleThe Downstream Effects of Fixing a Racist Lung Test
A race-neutral algorithm for lung function was recommended by the American Thoracic Society last year. But making the change at thousands of clinics across the country comes with challenges — and...
View ArticleNursing Homes Overuse ‘Chemical Restraints’ on Dementia Patients
In nursing homes, antipsychotic drugs are often used to sedate dementia patients who show agitation or aggression. New data shows that the use of such drugs remains stubbornly high. Some experts say...
View ArticleThe Challenge of Preserving Good Data in the Age of AI
Artificial intelligence-driven tools such as ChatGPT threaten to flood the internet with machine-generated content, making the question of what data to archive more challenging. Libraries, with their...
View ArticleInterview: How Michigan Targeted Avian Influenza in Dairy Cattle
Two Michigan health officials describe how the state is confronting an outbreak of avian influenza among dairy cattle through an aggressive approach that includes declaring an animal health emergency...
View ArticleShould the Pharmaceutical Industry Police Itself?
Roughly half of all Britons have said they view the drug industry at least somewhat favorably. By contrast, just 18 percent of Americans report positive views of pharma. The discrepancy may be...
View ArticleLong Distance Whale Synchrony: Coincidence or Communication?
A 1970s theory proposed that baleen whales, like bowheads and humpbacks, travel in diffuse herds spanning up to hundreds of miles. Since then, anecdotes of whales seeming to coordinate behavior over...
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