Science & Society

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Science & Society

    Federal cuts put help for mental health and drug addiction in peril

    SAMHSA’s work is crucial to suicide and drug overdose prevention and mental health care. It may fall victim to changes to public health infrastructure.

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  2. Artificial Intelligence

    Spotting climate misinformation with AI requires expertly trained models

    When classifying climate misinformation, general-purpose large language models lag behind models trained on expert-curated climate data.

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  3. Science & Society

    ‘Pseudoscience’ digs into the allure and dangers of believing fake science

    In their new book, Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen survey flat Earth theory, fake moon landings and other scientific myths and why people believe them.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    A shadowy market for weight-loss drugs has emerged online

    People are buying semaglutide and tirzepatide, the key ingredients in Ozempic and Zepbound, from unconventional sources. Doctors have safety concerns.

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  5. Neuroscience

    Memory manipulation is the stuff of sci-fi. Someday it could be real

    Experiments point to how scientists can strengthen or weaken memories, which may eventually lead to treatments for Alzheimer’s disease or PTSD.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    How U.S. public health cuts could raise risks of infectious diseases

    Deep funding cuts and widespread layoffs impact everything from local public health outreach to global disease surveillance, making us more vulnerable, experts warn.

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  7. Physics

    Calls to restart nuclear weapons tests stir dismay and debate among scientists

    Many scientists say “subcritical” experiments and computer simulations make nuclear weapons testing unnecessary.

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  8. Genetics

    What 23andMe’s bankruptcy means for your genetic data

    As 23andMe prepares to be sold, Science News spoke with two experts about what’s at stake and whether consumers should delete their genetic data.

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  9. Climate

    Buying carbon credits to fight climate change? Here’s what to know

    Carbon credits sold on the voluntary market are under scrutiny for not offsetting greenhouse gas emissions as claimed.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Brain implants don’t change a person’s sense of self. Hear why

    In the fifth episode of The Deep End, volunteers describe what it’s like to live with the stigma of depression and the treatments they seek for it.

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  11. Science & Society

    5 years after COVID-19 became a pandemic, are we ready for what’s next?

    We’ve learned a lot about COVID-19 over the last five years, but big questions remain. Recent federal actions may hinder the disease’s management.

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  12. Science & Society

    It’s ‘personal.’ What the Stand Up for Science rally meant for attendees

    Stand Up for Science rallies in Washington, D.C., and across the United States drew crowds of people worried about cuts to scientific funding.

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