Science & the Public
Where scienceand society meet
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Agriculture
Dirt Is Not Soil
Probing the distinction in what you call the stuff that mud is made of.
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- Chemistry
The Goop in Our Air
Emerging data indicate that tiny and toxic particles polluting urban air chemically morph from hour by hour, depending on what other pollutants these particles encounter during journeys that can run hundreds of miles.
- Chemistry
CO2: Only One Flavor
Federal climate policymakers should have a grounding in basic chemistry.
- Health & Medicine
One Downside to Sushi
Uncooked fish can host detectable concentrations of potentially toxic chemicals — pollutants that cooking can make disappear,
- Humans
Toxic yes: Toxins? No
Yet another news story baits us with the promise of reading about noxious toxins – and doesn't deliver.
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- Ecosystems
Aspiring to Save the Planet
The failure of the G-8 Summit to put some teeth in greenhouse-gas limits suggests it may be time for a global climate czar.
- Health & Medicine
Animal rights and wrongs
Featured blog: Some animal-rights activists are taking a page out of the anti-abortionists' playbook and now bully animal researchers at home.
- Humans
Data Recycling and Other No-No’s
At least one editor argues that maintaining the ethical behavior of journal authors requires constant policing.
- Agriculture
Fishy Data on Weed Killer
A popular weed killer can feminize wildlife by tinkering with a gene that indirectly affects the production of sex hormones.
- Science & Society
Climate Threatens Living Fossil
Thanks to global warming, within the lifetimes of certain reptiles in the South Pacific, all members of their species could be born male.
