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Book Review: A New Chapter in the Quest for a Longer Life

Can scientists unlock the keys to a longer life? The field is flush with hope and hype. In “Why We Die,” biologist and Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan explores the science of aging, and helps readers make sense of billionaire antics, breathless…

19/04/2024

AI Won’t Fix Animal Agriculture

Precision livestock farming tools that make use of artificial intelligence offer a way to continuously and precisely monitor animals in real time. But to a group of scientists who advocate for a move to plant-based diets, such technologies won’t…

18/04/2024

Brushing with Bacteria: The Debate Over a GMO Tooth Microbe

One startup has said a genetically modified microbe could prevent cavities. Experts, though, have safety and ethical concerns: The treatment has never been tested on humans in a clinical study. There’s also no data about whether it could spread…

17/04/2024

Low-frequency Noise is Pervasive. Does That Matter?

Unlike high-frequency sounds, low-frequency waves can penetrate walls and carry farther distances. The research on low-frequencies is also thinner, but some experts say they can be a health hazard, causing headaches, anxiety, and sleep troubles —…

15/04/2024

When Dementia Strikes a Beloved Writer

Beloved Nobel Prize-winning writer Gabriel García Márquez wanted his last book — which he wrote as dementia set in — to be destroyed. But “Until August” was posthumously published last month, providing a glimpse into how cognitive decline impacts…

12/04/2024

Can a ‘Net-Zero’ World Lead to True Sustainability?

Ambitious plans to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions across the economy focus on engineering solutions such as carbon capture. But to achieve true sustainability, society must look beyond decarbonization and toward more holistic approaches, says…

11/04/2024

The Genetic Net: Tracking Insects — and Biodiversity — with eDNA

Few tools measure biodiversity on a grand scale, and there’s still much scientists don’t know despite the intrinsic role that insects, particularly pollinators, play in the ecosystem. Most of those insects have neither a name nor a formal…

08/04/2024

As Farmers Face a Warmer Future, an Ancient Grain Shows Promise

The United Nations has declared 2023 the International Year of Millets, which are a type of small grain mostly grown in parts of Asia and Africa. The highly resilient and cost-friendly grains could become a useful crop for the Midwest in the midst…

30/05/2023

In Brazil’s Favelas, Green Roofs Might Help Relieve the Heat

Low-income neighborhoods are more likely to face extreme heat — and its negative health effects. One nonprofit in Rio de Janeiro teamed up with researchers to adapt green roof technology for their overlooked neighborhood. Could it offer a model for…

22/05/2023

Why Singapore Is Breeding Millions of Mosquitoes

Dengue is a common scourge in Singapore. To slow the spread, a government lab infects mosquitoes with a bacterium called Wolbachia. When the males mate with wild females, the eggs don’t hatch. So far, this effort has helped suppress wild insect…

13/02/2023

Experts Debate the Risks of Made-to-Order DNA

The U.S. imposes few security regulations on synthetic DNA providers. It’s perfectly legal to make a batch of Ebola or smallpox genes and ship it to a U.S. address, no questions asked. Whether that’s a serious cause for alarm, however, is under…

21/12/2022

STEM Graduate Programs Should Embrace Failure

My Ph.D. research culminated in a published article that was a success by any metric. I couldn’t have done it without hitting some dead-ends first. Departments push for quantity over quality, often requiring a number of publications before…

10/11/2022

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