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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Paleontology
Paleontology has a ‘parachute science’ problem. Here’s how it plays out in 3 nations
When researchers study fossils from lower-income countries, they often engage in dubious or illegal practices that can stifle science.
- Climate
It’s possible to reach net-zero carbon emissions. Here’s how
Cutting carbon dioxide emissions to curb climate change and reach net zero is possible but not easy.
- Climate
Extreme weather in 2022 showed the global impact of climate change
Heat waves, floods, wildfires and drought around the world were exacerbated by Earth’s changing climate.
- Health & Medicine
The U.S.’s alcohol-induced death rate rose sharply in the pandemic’s first year
Studies suggested cases of alcoholic liver disease rose in the first pandemic year, and new data show the death rate from alcohol use climbed too.
- Health & Medicine
Where are the long COVID clinics?
For people with long COVID, finding a place to get appropriate medical care is a challenge.
- Science & Society
Mass shootings and gun violence in the United States are increasing
In the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, a gun violence researcher shares what can be done to reduce gun violence deaths.
- Climate
How much does eating meat affect nations’ greenhouse gas emissions?
How much meat eating affects worldwide greenhouse gas emissions comes clear in new country-by-country analyses.
- Health & Medicine
COVID-19 testing in schools works. So why aren’t more doing it?
School COVID-19 testing programs can keep kids in class and safe, but face challenges ranging from deciding on a testing strategy to parental buy-in.
- Humans
Fossils and ancient DNA paint a vibrant picture of human origins
Paleoanthropologists have sketched a rough timeline of how human evolution played out, centering the early action in Africa.
- Science & Society
How science museums reinvented themselves to survive the pandemic
The pandemic forced science museums to reach out to their communities, and some built a wider following.
- Health & Medicine
The surge in U.S. coronavirus cases shows a shift in who’s getting sick
Younger, unvaccinated people are a rising share of COVID-19 cases, raising concerns anew that lack of vaccine access may hit minority populations hard.
- Particle Physics
How matter’s hidden complexity unleashed the power of nuclear physics
In the last century, physicists learned to split atomic nuclei and revealed a complex world of fundamental particles.
