Science & Society
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Tech
‘Ex Machina’ explores humanity as much as AI
Sci-fi thriller delves into hubris and power relationships.
- Neuroscience
Brain on display
In her online videos, Nancy Kanwisher goes where few other neuroscientists go.
- Chemistry
A chemistry card game forges bonds
A new card game lets players brush up on chemistry by making compounds out of ions. Form some bonds and have fun in the process.
- Science & Society
Sometimes it’s best to feed the trolls
There are people behind malicious comments on the Internet, and sometimes engaging with them can change their behavior, data suggest.
- Science & Society
A peer-reviewed study finds value in peer-reviewed research
The best scoring peer-reviewed grants are associated with more papers and patents, a new study finds. But whether peer review is the best system is another question entirely.
- Genetics
Gene in human embryos altered by Chinese researchers
Chinese researchers have genetically altered human embryos.
- Genetics
Genetic editing can delete deleterious mitochondria
A new technique slates mutant mitochondria for destruction.
- Science & Society
Old periodic table could resolve today’s element placement dispute
A little-known genius figured out where all the elements in the periodic table should be placed long before some of them were discovered.
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- Chemistry
Shipwrecked bubbly gives chemists a taste of the past
Champagne preserved at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for 170 years has given chemists a glimpse of past winemaking methods.
- Plants
Bits of bacterial DNA naturally lurk inside sweet potatoes
Samples of cultivated sweet potatoes worldwide carry DNA from Agrobacterium cousin of bacterium used for GMOs.
- Planetary Science
Before moon landings, scientists thought dust or crust might disrupt touchdown
Moon dust didn’t swallow spacecraft as was suggested in the 1960s. Successful exploration since that has changed our view of the moon.
