Feature
- Health & Medicine
Smruthi Karthikeyan turned to wastewater to get ahead of COVID-19
Smruthi Karthikeyan’s system for tracking the coronavirus gives lifesaving public health measures a head start.
- Science & Society
Big questions inspire the scientists on this year’s SN 10 list
These scientists to watch study climate change, alien worlds, human evolution, the coronavirus and more.
- Anthropology
Tina Lasisi wants to untangle the evolution of human hair
Tina Lasisi is pioneering studies of human variation in an ethical and scientifically sound way.
- Earth
Jacky Austermann looks to the solid earth for clues to sea level rise
Jacky Austermann’s work could help inform practical climate change solutions for at-risk coastal cities.
- Particle Physics
Carlos Argüelles hunts for particles beyond the standard model
Carlos Argüelles overcame hardship and discrimination to pursue a passion for physics.
- Chemistry
Josep Cornella breaks boundaries to make new and better catalysts
Josep Cornella reinvents chemical reactions essential for agriculture and the pharmaceutical industry.
- Computing
Huijia Lin proved that a master tool of cryptography is possible
Cryptographer Huijia Lin showed that the long-sought “indistinguishability obfuscation” is secure from data attacks.
- Ecosystems
A Caribbean island gets everyone involved in protecting beloved species
Scientists on Saba are introducing island residents to conservation of Caribbean orchids, red-billed tropicbirds and urchins.
- Life
Has AlphaFold actually solved biology’s protein-folding problem?
An AI called AlphaFold predicted structures for nearly every protein known to science. Those predictions aren’t without limits, some researchers say.
- Climate
How Kenyans help themselves and the planet by saving mangrove trees
Communities in Kenya took action to restore their coastal mangrove forests, reaping economic and environmental benefits. Others are following suit.
- Climate
How to make recyclable plastics out of CO2 to slow climate change
Companies are turning atmospheric CO2 from smokestacks and landfills into plastics to shrink their carbon footprint.
- Climate
A carbon footprint life cycle assessment can cut down on greenwashing
As companies try to reduce their carbon footprint, many are doing life cycle assessments to quantify the full carbon cost of their products.
