Science & Society

Science & Society

California’s long-standing affirmative action ban hints at what’s to come

Alternative race-neutral polices to affirmative action have fallen short in encouraging diversity in California schools, research shows.

Animals

These researchers are reimagining animal behavior through a feminist lens

Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer are working to overturn biased, outdated views in biology.

Psychology

Boys experience depression differently than girls. Here’s why that matters

Boys’ depression often manifests as anger or irritability, but teen mental health surveys tend to ask about hopelessness.

Science & Society

Humans exploit about one-third of wild vertebrate species

An analysis of nearly 47,000 vertebrate animal species reveals that using them for food, medicine or the pet trade is helping push some toward extinction.

Paleontology

Paleontology has a ‘parachute science’ problem. Here’s how it plays out in 3 nations

When researchers study fossils from lower-income countries, they often engage in dubious or illegal practices that can stifle science.

Genetics

Daphne Martschenko is a champion for ethical, inclusive genomics research

A bioethicist focused on the genomics revolution, Daphne Martschenko fosters open discussion through “adversarial collaboration”

Animals

When and why did masturbation evolve in primates? A new study provides clues

In a first-of-its-kind comparative study, researchers show that primates were masturbating 40 million years ago and that the behavior may help males keep their sperm fresh.

Science & Society

Anténor Firmin challenged anthropology’s racist roots 150 years ago

In The Equality of the Human Races, Haitian scholar Anténor Firmin showed that science did not support division among the races.

Science & Society

Deliberate ignorance is useful in certain circumstances, researchers say

The former East German secret police, the Stasi, spied on people for years. But when given access to the Stasi files, most people didn’t want to read them, researchers found.

Math

‘Once Upon a Prime’ finds the hidden math in literature

In her new book, mathematician Sarah Hart explains how math shapes all sorts of literary works, from nursery rhymes to Moby-Dick.

Health & Medicine

San Francisco airport will monitor plane waste for COVID-19 variants

The airport, working with the CDC and a biotech company, will be the first in the United States to regularly test plane sewage.

Math

How Pythagoras turned math into a tool for understanding reality

Reality was made of numbers, Pythagoras said, and he employed numbers to explain the “harmony of the heavens.”