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Science

News and updates from the science team. Topics include genetics, infectious disease, psychology, and more.

Will AI ever become conscious? It depends on how you think about biology.
Future Perfect

The debate that will steer the future of consciousness — and us.

By Oshan Jarow
Will AI ever become conscious? It depends on how you think about biology.
Future Perfect

The debate that will steer the future of consciousness — and us.

By Oshan Jarow
Colonial solutions to climate change aren’t workingColonial solutions to climate change aren’t working
Climate

What Indigenous knowledge could mean in the fight to curb global warming.

By Paige Vega and Joseph Lee
Your mind needs chaosYour mind needs chaos
Audio
The Gray Area

The human mind is designed to predict, but uncertainty helps us thrive.

By Oshan Jarow
Why we’ve been seeing the northern lights so often latelyWhy we’ve been seeing the northern lights so often lately
Science

Scientists are getting better at predicting the sun’s antics.

By Umair Irfan

The latest in Science

Why don’t your psychiatric drugs work better?Why don’t your psychiatric drugs work better?
Future Perfect

Billions of dollars later, neuroscientists are still struggling to address the mental health crisis.

By Celia Ford
Why absolutely everyone is obsessed with Moo DengWhy absolutely everyone is obsessed with Moo Deng
Science

(And wait until you hear about Pesto the penguin.)

By Li Zhou
An alternative to antibiotics could work wonders in Africa. It isn’t being used.
The HighlightMember Exclusive

Bacteria-eating viruses might be able to fight antibiotic resistance where new treatments are most needed.

By Jess Craig
Why Hurricane Helene is a wake-up call Why Hurricane Helene is a wake-up call 
Natural Disasters

This storm showed us how mega-storms are worsening. And how unprepared we are.

By Lavanya Ramanathan and Umair Irfan
DNA from wild organisms could save your life — but there’s a catch
Down to Earth

Inside the extremely messy, profoundly confusing fight over who should profit from non-human DNA.

By Benji Jones
Why the SpaceX spacewalk is such a huge dealWhy the SpaceX spacewalk is such a huge deal
Science

The mission tested lots of new technology for future, longer missions.

By Ellen Ioanes
Science has a short-term memory problemScience has a short-term memory problem
Future Perfect

Scientists are trapped in an endless loop of grant applications. How can we set them free?

By Celia Ford
Shrinking the economy won’t save the planetShrinking the economy won’t save the planet
Future Perfect

561 research papers in, the case for degrowth is still weak.

By Kelsey Piper
Animal testing, explained
Future Perfect

Is anything really “cruelty-free”?

By Celia Ford
Two astronauts are stranded in space. This one is jealous.Two astronauts are stranded in space. This one is jealous.
Audio
Today, Explained podcast

February?! Until February?!?! Boeing slip leaves astronauts in limbo.

By Sean Rameswaram and Avishay Artsy
SpaceX’s risky mission will go farther into space than we’ve been in 50 yearsSpaceX’s risky mission will go farther into space than we’ve been in 50 years
Science

The privately funded venture will test out new aerospace technology.

By Ellen Ioanes
The staggering death toll of scientific liesThe staggering death toll of scientific lies
Future Perfect

Scientific fraud kills people. Should it be illegal?

By Kelsey Piper
Big Pharma claims lower prices will mean giving up miracle medications. Ignore them.Big Pharma claims lower prices will mean giving up miracle medications. Ignore them.
Future Perfect

The case against Medicare drug price negotiations doesn’t add up.

By Dylan Scott
Antibiotics are failing. The US has a plan to launch a research renaissance.
Future Perfect

But there might be global consequences.

By Jess Craig
Why does it feel like everyone is getting Covid?Why does it feel like everyone is getting Covid?
Covid-19

Covid’s summer surge, explained

By Ellen Ioanes
Earthquakes are among our deadliest disasters. Scientists are racing to get ahead of them.Earthquakes are among our deadliest disasters. Scientists are racing to get ahead of them.
Natural Disasters

Japan’s early-warning system shows a few extra seconds can save scores of lives.

By Umair Irfan
Earthquakes are among our deadliest disasters. Scientists are racing to get ahead of them.
Natural Disasters

Early warnings save lives. A recent quake provides a helpful case study.

By Umair Irfan
The only child stigma, debunked
Parenting

Being an only child doesn’t mess you up for life. We promise.

By Charley Locke
We have a drug that might delay menopause — and help us live longerWe have a drug that might delay menopause — and help us live longer
Future Perfect

Ovaries age faster than the rest of the body. Figuring out how to slow menopause might help all of us age better.

By Celia Ford
Ditching factory farming can help prevent another pandemic
Future Perfect

The neglected environmental and health benefits of fighting Big Meat — for humans.

By Jonathan Safran Foer and Aaron Gross
These reviled birds of prey literally save people’s livesThese reviled birds of prey literally save people’s lives
Future Perfect

When vultures died off in India, people died too.

By Dylan Scott
Why two astronauts are stuck in spaceWhy two astronauts are stuck in space
Science

The Starliner test mission is just one of Boeing’s many woes.

By Ellen Ioanes
What if colon cancer screening didn’t involve poop?What if colon cancer screening didn’t involve poop?
Science

Blood-based biopsies could make screening less icky — if we can make them more accurate.

By Charlotte Hu
Storm chasing has changed — a lot — since TwisterStorm chasing has changed — a lot — since Twister
Culture

These days, anyone can follow a tornado, but you’ll want to leave that to the professionals.

By Alex Abad-Santos
How public universities hooked America on meat
Future Perfect

University scientists helped build factory farming. Now, some want to protect its “social license to operate.”

By Grace van Deelen
What if absolutely everything is conscious?
Science

Scientists spent ages mocking panpsychism. Now, some are warming to the idea that plants, cells, and even atoms are conscious.

By Sigal Samuel
How dangerous is it really to have a baby in America?How dangerous is it really to have a baby in America?
Health

The debate over maternal deaths, explained.

By Anna North
Noise canceling can help save your earsNoise canceling can help save your ears
Today, Explained newsletter

We’re probably all listening to music too loudly, alas.

By Caroline Houck
Drug-resistant bacteria are killing more and more humans. We need new weapons.Drug-resistant bacteria are killing more and more humans. We need new weapons.
Future Perfect

Scientists are testing futuristic tools to dismantle antibiotic resistance.

By Cecilia Butini
There’s a secret wildlife wonderland hidden in the US — and it’s in danger
Down to Earth

Countless rare animals lurk under the logs in the Appalachian Mountains.

By Benji Jones
Do we have Alzheimer’s disease all wrong?Do we have Alzheimer’s disease all wrong?
Future Perfect

Retracted studies and new treatments reveal the confusing state of Alzheimer’s research.

By Dylan Scott
Korean sunscreen is all the rage. If you’re American, you might be out of luck.
Culture

Lighter, less greasy, more effective sunscreen exists. So what’s the hold up stateside?

By Alex Abad-Santos
Who’s the father? For these baby animals, one doesn’t exist.
Audio
Unexplainable

More animals can occasionally reproduce asexually than scientists realized.

By Byrd Pinkerton
Elephants have names — and they use them with each otherElephants have names — and they use them with each other
Future Perfect

A new study reveals elephants are more like humans than we realized. What does that mean for the movement for their rights?

By Celia Ford
What if you could have a panic attack, but for joy?
Future Perfect

Mindfulness is one thing. Jhāna meditation is stranger, stronger, and going mainstream.

By Oshan Jarow
The surprisingly subtle recipe making heat waves worseThe surprisingly subtle recipe making heat waves worse
The Vox guide to extreme heat

The anatomy of a heat wave, from “heat domes” to megadroughts.

By Umair Irfan
This changed everything
Life

The turning points that defined the last 10 years.

By Vox Staff
10 big things we think will happen in the next 10 years
Future Perfect

Obesity will go down, electric cars will go up, and a nuclear bomb might just fall.

By Bryan Walsh, Dylan Matthews and 4 more
The last 10 years, explained
Life

The (wild! scary! surprising!) moments that mattered.

By Vox Staff
The internet peaked with “the dress,” and then it unraveled
Science

The ominously perfect meme marked the splintering of our shared reality.

By Brian Resnick