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Biologists Should Articulate Their Position on AI

Last month, mathematics researchers released the Leiden Declaration, a treatise on how to handle the challenges that artificial intelligence poses to their field. C. Brandon Ogbunu argues that biologists should learn from the mathematics community…

02/07/2026

Review: What Animals Can Teach Humans About Caregiving

From seahorses and birds to beetles and killer whales, journalist Elizabeth Preston finds a lot of common ground between human and animal parenting in “The Creatures’ Guide to Caring,” a sweeping survey of the evolution of caregiving and the…

26/06/2026

Advocacy Groups Express Mixed Views on Embryo Editing

At least two new start-up companies, Preventive and Origin Genomics, say they are developing strategies that combine gene editing with in vitro fertilization to correct disease-causing mutations. Advocacy groups for people living with these genetic…

24/06/2026

Book Review: How Radio Astronomy Made the Invisible Visible

According to astronomer Emma Chapman’s revelatory “The Echoing Universe,” the history of radio astronomy is filled with surprises that have revealed parts of the universe that would otherwise remain hidden and invisible — DIY instruments, secrets…

05/06/2026

Risk Aversion in Science Stifles Innovation

Does the scientific enterprise play it too safe? C. Brandon Ogbunu argues that risk-taking in science involves a willingness to reflect on the processes and incentives of the profession — and to dramatically overhaul them if they do not work. Only…

04/06/2026

Book Review: Within Our Cells, the Miracle of Constant Mutation

Our cells are constantly mutating in a battle for the survival of the fittest that is raging inside us daily, Roxanne Khamsi writes in “Beyond Inheritance.” Many of these mutations are harmless, others are cellular deviants that lead to disease, and…

29/05/2026

Book Review: The Case for Making Data-Driven Decisions

In “Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works,” science journalist Helen Pearson profiles a group of people working in medicine and other fields who became leaders of the worldwide evidence movement, which encourages the use of data from…

22/05/2026

Medicine’s Move Toward Race-Neutral Risk Assessments

Earlier this year, new guidelines were released for doctors assessing a patient’s risk for heart disease. The guidelines take a race-neutral and patient-informed approach that’s rooted in up-to-date science, one doctor writes, and offer a glimpse of…

07/05/2026

Plastic Pollution Is Bad Enough. Burning It Can Be Even Worse.

Even when done in incinerators equipped with air scrubbers and filters, plastic refuse burning is linked to higher rates of premature birth, congenital abnormalities, and neural tube defects. But when plastics are burned in unregulated low-tech…

10/04/2026

The Push for Artificial Inheritance

Experts and lawmakers have long wrestled with what it would mean to use Crispr to tinker with the human gene pool — the fulfillment it could bring to prospective parents; the socioeconomic inequalities it could deepen; the transformative effect it…

08/04/2026

As Rocket Launches Increase, They May Be Polluting the Skies

Though space pollution is still small compared to the aviation industry, rocket exhaust and debris may be gradually depleting Earth’s protective ozone layer, which is still recovering from the impacts of pollution from the chemical…

06/04/2026

Why Swedish Schools Are Bringing Back Books

Sweden was an early adopter of digital education, but in 2023, the Nordic nation decided to pivot. The country is now investing heavily in physical books and returning to pens, pencils, and paper. What’s behind the policy change, and will the U.S.…

01/04/2026