In Genetic Data, Gaps That Affect Indigenous Communities
Genetic research disproportionately focuses on people with European ancestry. New research suggests that having more diverse genetic data could allow physicians to better target certain medical...
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 ArticleIn the Authoritarians’ New War on Ideas, Biology Might Be Next
Recent movements to ban books and modify school curricula will not be limited to subjects like U.S. history, argues C. Brandon Ogbunu in his column Selective Pressure. Biologists must recognize that...
View ArticleBook Review: The Mysterious Impact of Music on the Brain and Body
Neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin’s “I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine” explores the myriad ways in which playing and listening to music can help to heal our bodies and minds,...
View ArticleCourt Tells EPA to Consider Fluoride Risk, to Dentists’ Dismay
A federal judge last week handed a major victory to opponents of water fluoridation — one that may highlight a path for other advocacy groups seeking to challenge environmental regulations. The ruling...
View ArticleFor Thousands of Dams Facing Climate Impacts, an Uncertain Fate
Aging dams built for flood control a half-century ago are at risk of being breached during today’s major rainstorms, resulting in massive damage. But the high price tag to fix what’s broken leaves...
View ArticleCan New Mexico’s Ancient Water System Survive Climate Change?
Scientists say droughts, wildfires, and volatile weather threaten acequias — ancient irrigation ditches in the Southwest. To safeguard their unique system, irrigators are working on boosting acequias...
View ArticleAdaptations to an Older World Hinder Us From Saving This One
We humans harbor many cognitive biases — a legacy of the psychological adaptations early humans had to make to survive. In today’s world, could these deeply held thinking patterns be preventing us from...
View ArticleBook Review: How Much Can Animals Really Communicate?
In “Why Animals Talk,” zoologist Arik Kershenbaum casts a skeptical eye on grand claims about animal communication. Instead, he argues, the way information is conveyed is a product of the animal’s need...
View ArticleAs Hurricanes Disrupt Phone Service, Amateur Radio Comes In Clear
While some residents in hurricane-impacted areas can’t send texts or make calls, amateur radio enthusiasts are helping communicate requests for help and messages between loved ones.
View ArticleIs Depression Contagious? The Science Is Uncertain.
The contagious nature of infections like strep throat or influenza is well understood. You’re at risk of catching the flu, for example, if someone near you has it. But what about a person’s mental...
View ArticleWar’s Public Health Impacts Are Vast. Tallying Them Is Difficult.
Connecting the dots between armed conflict and health is not straightforward. But researchers are developing creative techniques to gauge the extent of armed conflict’s public health harms — an...
View ArticleThe Irony of Powering AI on Atomic Energy
Microsoft announced a deal to revive Three Mile Island and buy all of the nuclear power plant’s electricity as the demands of its artificial intelligence data centers increase. One anthropologist asks...
View ArticleBook Review: All History Is Environmental History
All history is environmental history, according to Sunil Amrith, an historian and the author of “The Burning Earth,” which traces the disparate, and often disastrous, efforts by civilizations as far...
View ArticleHow the Election Could Affect Toxic Chemical Regulation
In the past eight years, activists have successfully pushed for tighter restrictions on so-called forever chemicals, culminating in sweeping regulations that affect drinking water and toxic site...
View ArticleMigratory Birds Need Habitat. California Farmers Can Help.
As they traverse the Pacific Flyway, a strip of land that stretches along the Western coast of the Americas, migrating birds depend on wetland habitat. But in California’s Central Valley, 95 percent of...
View ArticleA Better Way to Treat Opioid-Exposed Babies
For decades throughout the opioid crisis, most doctors have relied on medication-heavy regimens to treat babies who are born experiencing neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome. But a newer, simpler...
View ArticleInterview: Are We Misinformed About Misinformation?
To economist David Rothschild, “social media is the problem” makes for a good story, but the truth about online misinformation is much more nuanced. In a recent review, Rothschild and co-authors found...
View ArticleThe Key to Improving Global Health? Radical Listening
In the field of public health, institutions still hold the power to set agendas and implement measures to protect people’s health. Instead, what’s needed is a bottom-up approach that gives local...
View ArticleThe Upside-Down World of Crime Statistics
Major crimes are falling by most official measures — murder and manslaughter cases fell by almost 12 percent last year, for example. But there is a serious disconnect between the data and public...
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