Science & Society
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Is taking birth control as a teen linked to depression? It’s complicated
As researchers sift through conflicting data, no clear answers emerge on whether birth control during teenage years can cause depression later.
- Earth
Critics say an EPA rule may restrict science used for public health regulations
Editors of six major scientific journals argue that a rule proposed by the U.S. EPA may keep key data from factoring into environmental regulations.
- Climate
Most Americans now see signs of climate change where they live
In a Pew Research survey, most Americans said the U.S. government isn’t doing enough to counter climate change amid local weather extremes.
- Science & Society
A Dallas museum hosts rare hominid fossils from South Africa
Fossils of the South African hominids Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi are on display at the Perot Museum of Science and History in Dallas.
- Science & Society
Why a warrant to search GEDmatch’s genetic data has sparked privacy concerns
A search warrant issued by a state judge in Florida gives police access to DNA profiles of over a million Americans in a public genealogy database.
- Humans
The medieval Catholic Church may have helped spark Western individualism
Early Catholic Church decrees transformed families and may help explain why Western societies today tend to be individualistic and nonconformist.
- Science & Society
Can neighborhood outreach reduce inner-city gun violence in the U.S.?
While mass shootings grab U.S. headlines, the steady scourge of inner-city gun violence gets less attention — and fewer solutions.
- Tech
Here’s what it will take to adapt the power grid to higher wildfire risks
Better sensing tech on power lines and reliance on more local power sources could help avoid vast power outages like those in California in October.
- Science & Society
Alaska’s free money for residents hints at how universal basic income may work
Since 1982, Alaskans have gotten an annual oil dividend. Scientists say that program hints at the pros and cons of a universal basic income.
- Science & Society
Bias in a common health care algorithm disproportionately hurts black patients
A machine-learning program that uses past medical costs to identify patients for extra care favors white patients over black patients, a study finds.
- Life
A peek inside a turtle embryo wins the Nikon Small World photography contest
The annual competition highlights the wonders to be found when scientists and photographers zoom in on the world around us.
- Science & Society
Economics Nobel goes to poverty-fighting science
Three scientists share the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for developing real-world interventions for tackling poverty.
