All Stories

  1. Science & Society

    Will the Endangered Species Act survive Trump?

    President Trump has already begun to introduce changes that weaken the Endangered Species Act, a cornerstone of U.S. conservation law.

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  2. Artificial Intelligence

    Are AI chatbot ‘personalities’ in the eye of the beholder?

    Defining AI chatbot personality could be based on how a bot “feels” about itself or on how a person feels about the bot they’re interacting with.

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  3. Quantum Physics

    Quantum mechanics was born 100 years ago. Physicists are celebrating

    Quantum physics underlies technologies from the laser to the smartphone. The International Year of Quantum marks a century of scientific developments.

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  4. Planetary Science

    The moon’s two grand canyons formed in less than 10 minutes

    Two gargantuan canyons on the moon were carved by a hailstorm of rocks — and that’s good news for future lunar astronauts.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Toxic dangers lurk in LA, even in homes that didn’t burn

    Urban wildfires like LA’s make harmful chemicals from burning plastics and electronics that can make indoor air dangerous for months.

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  6. Life

    A new book explores the evolutionary romance between plants and animals

    Riley Black’s new book, When the Earth was Green, uses the latest research to envision the ancient worlds of our favorite prehistoric animals.

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  7. Math puzzle: Imagine there’s no zero

    Solve the math puzzle from our February 2025 issue, based on the number system of mathematician James Foster.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Plastic shards permeate human brains

    A study of microplastics and nanoplastics in brains shows an astonishing increase over time.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Welcome to The Deep End, a new podcast about brain implants and depression

    This new six-part podcast follows the lives of people with severe depression who volunteered for deep brain stimulation.

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  10. Anthropology

    An African strontium map sheds light on the origins of enslaved people

    While genetic tests can reveal the ancestry of enslaved individuals, strontium analysis can now home in on where they actually grew up.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    A new kind of non-opioid painkiller gets FDA approval

    The new drug, called Journavx, is a non-opioid for treating short-term moderate to severe pain.

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  12. Animals

    Hotter cities? Here come the rats

    Well, rats. A study of 16 cities shows that higher ambient temperatures and loss of green space are associated with increasing rodent complaints.

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