Science & Society
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Chemistry
Marie Maynard Daly was a trailblazing biochemist, but her full story may be lost
Marie Maynard Daly was the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry, but her own perspective on her research is missing from the historical record.
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Science & Society
‘Fresh Banana Leaves’ shows how Western conservation has harmed Indigenous people
Author and environmental scientist Jessica Hernandez discusses Indigenous displacement, conservation’s failures and how to improve the field.
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Science & Society
Nudge theory’s popularity may block insights into improving society
Small interventions that influence people’s behavior can be tested. But the real world requires big, hard-to-measure changes too, scientists say.
By Sujata Gupta -
Science & Society
Military towns are the most racially integrated places in the U.S. Here’s why
The military’s big stick approach allowed the institution to integrate troops and military towns. Can the civilian world follow suit?
By Sujata Gupta -
Science & Society
How we got from Gregor Mendel’s pea plants to modern genetics
Philosopher Yafeng Shan explains how today's understanding of inheritance emerged from a muddle of ideas at the turn of the 20th century.
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Health & Medicine
Will animal-to-human organ transplants overcome their complicated history?
The elusive goal of using animal organs for transplants could be within reach, but it’s too soon to tell.
By Laura Beil -
Science & Society
Here are the Top 10 science anniversaries of 2022
Insulin to treat diabetes, the slide rule and the birthdays of Gregor Mendel and Louis Pasteur make the list.
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Tech
Materials of the last century shaped modern life, but at a price
From our homes and cities to our electronics and clothing, the stuff of daily life is dramatically different from decades ago.
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Science & Society
Stuck inside this winter? Try an at-home citizen science project
Researchers are in search of volunteers to look for solar jets, transcribe old weather logbooks, listen for threatened frogs and more.
By Erin Wayman -
Climate
Intense drought or flash floods can shock the global economy
Rainfall extremes have powerful impacts on the global economy, affecting the manufacturing and services sectors more than agriculture.
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Math
Take an online journey through the history of math
‘History of Mathematics’ explores the origins of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and more.
By Erin Wayman -
Animals
Part donkey, part wild ass, the kunga is the oldest known hybrid bred by humans
Syria’s 4,500-year-old kungas were donkey-wild ass hybrids, genetic analysis reveals, so the earliest known example of humans crossing animal species.
By Jake Buehler