Science & Society

  1. Humans

    ‘Period’ wants to change how you think about menstruation

    Kate Clancy offers fascinating science and history about the uterus and menstruation in her book, Period: The Real Story of Menstruation.

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  2. Science & Society

    The Smithsonian’s ‘Lights Out’ inspires visitors to save the fading night sky

    The exhibition examines how light pollution harms astronomy, ecosystems and human cultures. But it also offers hope.

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  3. Math

    Dense crowds of pedestrians shift into surprisingly orderly lines. Math explains why

    New research into collective behavior adds to decades of study on the wisdom of crowds.

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  4. Climate

    How an Indigenous community in Panama is escaping rising seas

    The Indigenous Guna peoples' relocation from Panama could offer lessons for other communities threatened by climate change.

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  5. Climate

    Baseball’s home run boom is due, in part, to climate change

    Higher air temperatures led to an average of 58 more home runs each MLB season from 2010 to 2019, a study shows.

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  6. Science & Society

    Here are the Top 10 threats to the survival of civilization

    These aren’t just movie scenarios. From aliens and asteroids to pandemics, war and climate change, civilization as we know it is at risk.

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  7. Space

    ‘Off-Earth’ asks how to build a better future in space

    As humans prepare to live in space someday, ethics should be as much of guide as science and technology, an astrophysicist argues in a new book.

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  8. Genetics

    Why experts recommend ditching racial labels in genetic studies

    Racial labels don’t explain biological and genetic diversity but do cause stigma. They belong “in the dustbin of history,” a panel of experts says.

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  9. Particle Physics

    ‘Ghost Particle’ chronicles the neutrino’s discovery and what’s left to learn

    Author James Riordon discusses his new book, why neutrinos are so important and how physicists are on the verge of making big discoveries about them.

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  10. Environment

    Air pollution made an impression on Monet and other 19th century painters

    The impressionist painting style can be partly explained by the reality of rising air pollution from the industrial revolution, an analysis finds.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Trauma distorts our sense of time and self. A new therapy might help

    The therapy has helped veterans struggling with mental illness imagine their future selves.

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  12. Science & Society

    Lots of people feel burned out. But what is burnout exactly?

    Researchers disagree on how to define burnout, or if the phenomenon is really another name for depression. Helping people cope at work still matters.

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