Science & Society
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Science & Society
COVID-19 has killed a million Americans. Our minds can’t comprehend that number
We intuitively compare large, approximate quantities but cannot grasp such a big, abstract number as a million U.S. COVID-19 deaths.
- Science & Society
Pressure to conform to social norms may explain risky COVID-19 decisions
As a science reporter covering COVID-19, I knew I should mask up at Disney World. Instead, I conformed, bared my face and got COVID-19.
- Humans
Eating meat is the Western norm. But norms can change
A meat-heavy diet, with its high climate costs, is the norm in the West. So social scientists are working to upend normal.
- Science & Society
Why it’s so hard for a one-hit wonder to have a lasting music career
An analysis of nearly 3 million pop songs from 1959 to 2010 shows fame is a dance between similarity and innovation.
- Psychology
Latin America defies cultural theories based on East-West comparisons
Theories for how people think in individualist versus collectivist nations stem from East-West comparisons. Latin America challenges those theories.
- Health & Medicine
Why taking medications during pregnancy is so confusing
It's hard to know what new drugs are safe when medical research excludes pregnant people.
- Science & Society
‘Paradise Falls’ thrusts readers into the Love Canal disaster
‘Paradise Falls’ tells the story of the Love Canal environmental tragedy from the point of view of the people who lived near the former dump site.
- Science & Society
Ukrainian identity solidified for 30 years. Putin ignored the science
Social scientists have mapped Ukrainian allegiances shifting from Russia toward Ukraine since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
- Tech
50 years ago, the future of solar energy looked bright
In the 1970s, scientists and engineers were coming around to the idea of “farming” the sun’s energy on a large scale.
- Science & Society
Here are the Top 10 times scientific imagination failed
Some scientists of the past couldn’t imagine that atoms or gravity waves could one day be studied – or nuclear energy harnessed.
- Climate
Wally Broecker divined how the climate could suddenly shift
Wally Broecker’s insight into the shutdown of the great ocean conveyor belt spurred the study of abrupt climate change.
- Science & Society
How Science News has been a training ground for young science journalists
A long-standing internship along with informal mentorship are part of the tradition at Science News.
