Science & Society

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

More Stories in Science & Society

  1. 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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  2. 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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  3. 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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  4. 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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  5. 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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  6. 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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  7. 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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  8. Genetics

    What 23andMe’s bankruptcy means for your genetic data

    As 23andMe prepares to be sold, Science News spoke with two experts about what’s at stake and whether consumers should delete their genetic data.

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  9. Climate

    Buying carbon credits to fight climate change? Here’s what to know

    Carbon credits sold on the voluntary market are under scrutiny for not offsetting greenhouse gas emissions as claimed.

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