Science & Society
- Chemistry
Moisture, not light, explains why Munch’s ‘The Scream’ is deteriorating
Edvard Munch’s 1910 “The Scream” is famous for its loud colors. New insight into paint preservation could keep those pigments from fading out.
- Climate
These 6 books explore climate change science and solutions
Science News staff read recent books about climate change to help guide you to which ones you might like.
- Climate
How to protect your home from disasters amplified by climate change
How people can make their homes and communities more resilient to the effects of climate change, including floods, fires, heat and drought.
- Climate
What Michael Moore’s new film gets wrong about renewable energy
Michael Moore’s Planet of the Humans challenges renewable energy’s ability to fight climate change, but it’s riddled with errors and old information.
- Health & Medicine
Florence Nightingale understood the power of visualizing science
Florence Nightingale showed simple sanitation measures could stop infectious diseases’ spread, a timely message given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
- Psychology
A simple exercise on belonging helps black college students years later
Black college freshmen who did a one-hour training on belonging reported higher professional and personal satisfaction years later.
- Humans
It’s time to stop debating how to teach kids to read and follow the evidence
Most children need help learning to read, but there’s long-standing disagreement on how best to help them. Decades of research have identified the most effective approaches.
- Environment
50 years ago, American waterways were getting more protections
A 1970 bill that became the Clean Water Act helped to double the number of U.S. waterbodies clean enough for swimming and fishing. In January, the U.S. administration changed how waters were defined, effectively removing those protections for half the country’s wetlands.
- Health & Medicine
Why African-Americans may be especially vulnerable to COVID-19
African-Americans are more likely to die from COVID-19 than white Americans, data show. Experts blame long-standing health disparities.
- Science & Society
How materials science has changed humankind — for better and worse
As people began wielding new materials, the technologies fundamentally changed humankind, the new book ‘The Alchemy of Us’ argues.
- Science & Society
The U.S. has resisted the metric system for more than 50 years
Australia adopted the metric system 50 years ago. The United States tried by passing legislation for a voluntary conversion that was largely ignored.
- Health & Medicine
How coronavirus control measures could affect its global death toll
Slowing the virus’ spread will save millions of lives, but differences among countries could vary the pandemic’s toll in different places.
