Science Stats

  1. Health & Medicine

    One in three U.S. adults takes opioids, and many misuse them

    More than a third of U.S. adults used prescription opioids in 2015, and nearly 13 percent of that group misused the painkillers in some way.

    By Kate Travis
  2. Ecosystems

    Earth’s dry zones support a surprising number of trees

    A Google Earth-based estimate of dryland forests adds serious leafage to Earth’s total tree count.

    By Beth Geiger
  3. Health & Medicine

    Global access to quality health care has improved in the last two decades

    Health care quality and availability improved worldwide from 1990 to 2015, but the gap between countries with the lowest and highest levels of care widened.