Science & Society

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

More Stories in Science & Society

  1. Health & Medicine

    A messed-up body clock could be a bigger problem than lack of sleep

    For a good night of sleep, consider getting your circadian rhythm back in sync with the sun. Here’s how to do it.

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  2. Artificial Intelligence

    Tech billionaires’ vision of an AI-dominated future is flawed — and dangerous

    Adam Becker’s new book, More Everything Forever, investigates the dangers of a billionaire-driven tomorrow, in which trillions of humans live in space, served by AI.

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  3. Science & Society

    Federal cuts put help for mental health and drug addiction in peril

    SAMHSA’s work is crucial to suicide and drug overdose prevention and mental health care. It may fall victim to changes to public health infrastructure.

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  4. Artificial Intelligence

    Spotting climate misinformation with AI requires expertly trained models

    When classifying climate misinformation, general-purpose large language models lag behind models trained on expert-curated climate data.

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  5. Science & Society

    ‘Pseudoscience’ digs into the allure and dangers of believing fake science

    In their new book, Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen survey flat Earth theory, fake moon landings and other scientific myths and why people believe them.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    A shadowy market for weight-loss drugs has emerged online

    People are buying semaglutide and tirzepatide, the key ingredients in Ozempic and Zepbound, from unconventional sources. Doctors have safety concerns.

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  7. Neuroscience

    Memory manipulation is the stuff of sci-fi. Someday it could be real

    Experiments point to how scientists can strengthen or weaken memories, which may eventually lead to treatments for Alzheimer’s disease or PTSD.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    How U.S. public health cuts could raise risks of infectious diseases

    Deep funding cuts and widespread layoffs impact everything from local public health outreach to global disease surveillance, making us more vulnerable, experts warn.

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  9. Physics

    Calls to restart nuclear weapons tests stir dismay and debate among scientists

    Many scientists say “subcritical” experiments and computer simulations make nuclear weapons testing unnecessary.

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