Science & Society

  1. Physics

    Common campfire build confirmed as best

    A standard method for building fires, making the height about equal to the width, is the most efficient structure for stoking the hottest flames, calculations show.

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  2. Science & Society

    Quantum meets chemistry, opening galaxy of possibility

    Chemistry's quantum revolution opens the door for limitless new compounds, and the scientific community scrambles to counteract the spread of a vicious disease.

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  3. Animals

    Wealth of cephalopod research lost in a 19th century shipwreck

    Nineteenth-century scientist Jeanne Villepreux-Power sent her research papers and equipment on a ship that sank off the coast of France, submerging years’ worth of observations on cephalopods.

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  4. Science & Society

    Attempt to shame journalists with chocolate study is shameful

    Journalist John Bohannon set out to expose poor media coverage of nutrition studies. In the process, he lied to his own profession and the public.

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  5. Genetics

    White House hits pause on editing human germline cells

    The White House has hit pause, for now, on clinical experiments that could alter the human germ line.

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  6. Science & Society

    Nash’s mind left a beautiful legacy

    The death of game theory pioneer John Nash ends a dramatic story of genius.

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  7. Science & Society

    Here’s what game theory says about how to win in semifinals

    Game theory informs competitors facing off in a semifinal whether to go all out or save energy for the final.

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  8. Science & Society

    Gene therapy, Gattaca-style, poses ethical issues

    Gene therapy becomes more sophisticated, and the debate over the ethics of DNA tinkering grows.

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  9. Plants

    The art and science of the hedgerow

    Spiky hawthorn trees have found many uses despite their unforgiving nature, Bill Vaughn writes in ‘Hawthorn.’

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  10. Science & Society

    Histories left behind by the dispossessed

    ‘Dispatches from Dystopia’ chronicles adventures in modernist wastelands to recount tales of the invisible and the overlooked, the exiled and the dispossessed.

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  11. Science & Society

    The Dress divided the Internet, but it’s really about subtraction

    People really do see different colors in the same photo of a dress, suggesting that our internal models shape color perception far more than has been recognized.

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  12. Science & Society

    Working together doesn’t always work

    Working as a team is a great way to gather information, but innovative solutions come best from small groups or individuals, a new study suggests.

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