What makes for a ‘great’ sex life?
By Nicola Jones Research into intimacy upends many popular notions about sexual fulfillment. One hint: It’s more about connection than technique. Read more
The rise of green hydrogen in Latin America
By Pablo Fonseca Q. In anticipation of future demand, several projects are underway in the region to produce this clean energy source Read more
From the archives
The January report of an outbreak of the virulent H5N1 bird flu on a Spanish mink farm has many scientists worried, Helen Branswell reports for STAT. Could a human outbreak be next? “I will never, ever, take H5N1 for granted,” says one infectious disease expert. “I just don’t know what it’s going to do.” To brush up on the evolution of viruses, including one we’re only too familiar with, read our comic and story.
Coronavirus evolving: How mutations arise and new variants emerge
By Diana Kwon and Maki Naro COMIC: As it spreads throughout the world, the virus that causes Covid-19 has been changing. Scientists are tracking those changes, hoping to stay one step ahead of worrisome strains. Read more
How viruses evolve: Lessons for the pandemic
By Bob Holmes Pathogens that switch to a new host species have some adapting to do. How does that affect the course of a pandemic like Covid-19? Read more
There’s an environmental movement afoot among Mormons living in Utah, home of the Great Salt Lake, an ecosystem that’s nearing collapse. Some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints see environmental stewardship as part of their history and doctrine, but others do not, writes Caroline Tracey in High Country News. Such tensions are present in many religions, especially in the era of climate change; learn more in our interview with religious studies scholar Willis Jenkins.
On whose green Earth?
By Stephanie Parker Are we supposed to take care of the planet or should it take care of us? Willis Jenkins explains how religion shapes the conflicting views over climate change and other environmental issues. Read more
What we are reading
Night moves
Fighting off crocodiles with what turns out to be your bedside table. Flinging a sack of potatoes at a bad guy and realizing you threw your pillow at your wife. Such physical acting-out of dreams is a sign of REM sleep behavior disorder and could be a precursor for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, reports Diana Kwon for Scientific American. Scientists are hoping that this newly appreciated advance warning could lead to early interventions, long before traditional symptoms appear, for what are currently untreatable neurological conditions.
Grass isn’t greener
If wasting water in a drought is a moral failing, then Sin City may deserve a new nickname. The desert metropolis, which gets 90 percent of its water from the over-tapped Colorado River, is being lauded for drastically cutting water use — southern Nevada’s per-capita consumption is down 48 percent since 2002. A series of changes, including embracing “a lawn-less lifestyle,” accounts for the conservation. And as Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Ian James report for the Los Angeles Times, Las Vegas is now pushing for a larger, regionwide program that encourages ditching the grass and make more drought-friendly choices.
Flush out
As the pandemic gained steam, a number of colleges and universities began monitoring Covid infections in their student populations by testing sewage lines coming from the dorms. Waste, it turns out, can be a great, noninvasive way to assess the health of an entire population. But some scientists raise concerns that this approach could become a tool for government surveillance, Meir Rinde writes for Distillations. Wastewater analyses have already been used to monitor a neighborhood’s drug use and even its ethnic makeup, raising questions about just how much information we flush away every day, who’s collecting it, and why.
Art & science
Excel-lent
At first glance, Tatsuo Horiuchi’s artwork looks like a manicured garden. But then you notice the dandelions growing unchecked beneath the trees. Rather than spoiling the vista, they add something unexpected — and there are more surprises: This isn’t a painting, it’s not even a physical piece of art. It’s a Microsoft Excel file. At My Modern Met, Emma Taggart rounds up some of the artists who’ve turned the ubiquitous spreadsheet into spectacular works of art. See more of Horiuchi’s “painted” panoramas and find tutorials on how to make your own digital masterpieces.
