Science & Society

  1. Psychology

    Psychology has struggled for a century to make sense of the mind

    Research into what makes us tick has been messy and contentious, but has led to intriguing insights.

    By
  2. Health & Medicine

    6 answers to parents’ COVID-19 questions as kids return to school

    Universal masking in schools could prevent a bumpy 2021–22 schoolyear and keep kids, many of whom are too young to be vaccinated, safe, experts say.

    By
  3. Earth

    A new book reveals stories of ancient life written in North America’s rocks

    In ‘How the Mountains Grew,’ John Dvorak probes the interlinked geology and biology buried within the rocks of North America.

    By
  4. Life

    ‘Wild Souls’ explores what we owe animals in a human-dominated world

    The new book Wild Souls explores the ethical dilemmas of saving Earth’s endangered animals.

    By
  5. Physics

    With Steven Weinberg’s death, physics loses a titan

    The Nobel laureate advanced the theory of particles and forces, and wrote insightfully for a wider public.

    By
  6. Science & Society

    What 20th century science fiction got right and wrong about the future of babies

    A century of science has pushed the boundaries of human reproduction even beyond writers’ imaginations.

    By
  7. Science & Society

    How science overlooks Asian Americans

    Existing scientific datasets fail to capture details on Asian Americans, making it hard to assess the group’s overall well-being.

    By
  8. Science & Society

    The gap in parenting time between middle- and working-class moms has shrunk

    Some well-educated mothers are spending less time with their kids than before, while some less-educated mothers are spending more, a new study shows.

    By
  9. Earth

    Invisible bursts of electricity from volcanoes signal explosive eruptions

    Mysterious “vent discharges” could help warn of impending explosions, a study of Japan’s Sakurajima volcano shows.

    By
  10. Health & Medicine

    How COVID-19 vaccines were made so quickly without cutting corners

    Usually it takes years to get both test results and FDA authorization, but speedy spread of the virus and eager volunteers shrunk the shots’ timeline.

    By
  11. Science & Society

    An ecologist’s new book gets at the root of trees’ social lives

    In ‘Finding the Mother Tree,’ Suzanne Simard recounts how she discovered hidden networks in forests.

    By
  12. Animals

    ‘Fathom’ seeks to unravel humpback whales’ soulful songs

    The film ‘Fathom’ on Apple TV+ follows the quest of researchers on the ocean’s surface to decipher the eerie symphony of humpback whale calls below.

    By