Science & Society
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Psychology
Decision tree for soldiers could reduce civilian deaths
A new, three-part decision formula may help soldiers save civilians’ lives.
- Tech
‘Monsters’ examines a history of technological hubris
Drawing on the Hindenburg disaster, a science writer develops criteria for recognizing risky technology.
- Tech
Moving exhibit pays tribute to lost space shuttles’ crews
At Kennedy Space Center, pieces of wreckage from the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia are on public display for the first time.
- Science & Society
A few key signs betray betrayal
Like many relationships that collapse after betrayal, teasing out what goes wrong and who is at fault in betrayal isn’t so easy.
- Oceans
Ocean current simulations could narrow Flight 370 search
Aircraft debris found on Réunion Island in the western Indian Ocean could originate from the northern half of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370’s search area, ocean simulations show.
- Health & Medicine
How trans fats oozed into our diet and out again
Trans fats are no longer “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA. In a world where we want to have our doughnuts and eat them, too, it’s back to the drawing board, and back to butter.
- Science & Society
Autism’s journey from shadows to light
Science writer Steve Silberman considers autism in the modern era of neurodiversity - a movement to respect neurological differences as natural human variation - framing the relatively progressive autistic experience of today against the the conditions oppressed past.
- Health & Medicine
Bystanders deliver on CPR
People suffering from cardiac arrest are more likely to survive without brain damage if a bystander performs CPR, new studies suggest.
- Science & Society
Microbes may be a forensic tool for time of death
By using an ecological lens to examine dead bodies, scientists are bridging the gap between forensic science and the ecological concept of succession.
- Science & Society
A brief history of timekeeping
For millennia, humans have harnessed the power of clocks to schedule prayers, guide ocean voyages and, lately, to chart the universe.
- Science & Society
How English became science’s lingua franca
A new book explores the roles of war, politics and economics in the rise of English in scientific communication.
- Math
Top 10 ways to save science from its statistical self
Saving science from its statistical flaws will require radical revision in its methods.
