Science & Society
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Delve into the history of the fight for Earth’s endangered creatures
The new book ‘Beloved Beasts’ chronicles past conservation efforts as a movement and a science, and explores how to keep striding forward.
- Health & Medicine
COVID-19 has exacerbated a troubling U.S. health trend: premature deaths
The pandemic played into already rising death rates from obesity, drugs, alcohol and suicide.
- Neuroscience
Catnip repels insects. Scientists may have finally found out how
The plant deters mosquitoes and fruit flies by triggering a chemical receptor that, in other animals, senses pain and itch.
- Physics
Black hole visionaries push the boundaries of knowledge in a new film
‘Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know’ follows researchers with the Event Horizon Telescope and other physicists working to understand black holes.
- Science & Society
‘Gory Details’ dives into the morbid, the taboo — and our minds
Erika Engelhaupt explores creepy insects, fecal transplants, cannibalism and more in her new book.
- Space
Solar storms can wreak havoc. We need better space weather forecasts
Solar storms can devastate power grids and other systems on Earth. We need better forecasting
- Health & Medicine
Redefining ‘flesh-colored’ bandages makes medicine more inclusive
Peach-colored bandages label dark-skinned patients as outside the norm, says med student Linda Oyesiku. Brown bandages expand who gets to be normal.
- Health & Medicine
How 5 universities tried to handle COVID-19 on campus
U.S. colleges opened in the fall with a patchwork of control measures to keep COVID-19 at bay.
- Psychology
In the social distancing era, boredom may pose a public health threat
Boredom contributes to pandemic fatigue and may account for why some people don’t follow social distancing rules.
- Science & Society
Black, Hispanic and female police use force less often than white male officers
A case study of Chicago policing suggests that diversifying to include more Black, Hispanic and female officers may improve how civilians are treated.
- Science & Society
Can privacy coexist with technology that reads and changes brain activity?
An onslaught of new technology aims to listen to — and maybe even change — your brain activity. Readers, scientists and ethicists grapple with the ethical implications of new ways to get inside the skull.
- Science & Society
‘Under a White Sky’ explores whether we must tinker with nature to save it
In ‘Under a White Sky’, Elizabeth Kolbert examines the technological innovations we might need to save a planet we are actively destroying.
