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Pig organs in people: The future of cross-species transplants

Can genetically modified animals help ease the shortage of organs? After years of research into xenotransplantation, the field is at a turning point — yet risks and ethical issues remain.

Huh? The valuable role of interjections

Utterances like um, wow and mm-hmm aren’t garbage — they keep conversations flowing

Speech interjections aren’t throwaway lines

PODCAST: Turns out, the best listener isn't quiet, as our host learns in a chat with two linguists. All those ums, ohs and mm-hmms have unexpected value.

Moon rocks reveal hidden lunar history

As NASA astronauts aim for landings in 2027, geologists find surprises in recently retrieved samples from the far side

Quiet couples: Alone time together

The right kind of silence can be golden, revitalizing and strengthening a relationship

Return of the California condor

North America’s largest bird disappeared from the wild in the late 1980s. Reintroduction work in the United States and Mexico has brought this huge vulture back to the skies. This is the story of its comeback.

Bringing the hospital into the home

A movement to provide hospital-level care for sick patients in their own beds, in the comfort of familiar surroundings, is growing in the United States — a trend already embraced in some other countries

Solving renewable energy’s sticky storage problem

When the Sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, humanity still needs power. Researchers are designing new technologies, from reinvented batteries to compressed air and spinning wheels, to keep energy in reserve for the lean times.

Top science stories of 2024

This record-setting year for heat saw stunning auroras, a map of a brain, a Dengue epidemic, the first look at rocks from the far side of the Moon, an AI energy scramble and more

A devastating nerve disease stalks a mountain village

Neurologists have grappled with a cluster of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases in France, where a fondness for a toxic wild mushroom may hold the answer

The ones who need little sleep

Short sleepers cruise by on four to six hours a night and don’t seem to suffer ill effects. Turns out they’re genetically built to require less sleep than the rest of us.

The great green building makeover

Getting our homes and workplaces to be energy efficient has major benefits — but not when it is done one window at a time. Here’s why deep retrofits and biomaterials are key to more sustainable living.

Can desalination quench agriculture’s thirst?

Miles away from the ocean, projects are afoot to clean up salty groundwater and use it to grow crops. Some say it’s a costly pipe dream, others say it’s part of the future.

Bustling through the physics of crowds

COMIC: Using tools from fields like fluid dynamics to better understand how groups of people move around can improve flow and make large gatherings safer

How a child becomes bilingual — and what can be done to help them get there

Kids from immigrant backgrounds in the US often struggle to develop fluency in two languages. Many factors — parental misconceptions, the lack of support in schools and social attitudes — play a role.

The Cybathlon: Bionic athletes compete for the gold — and push assistive technologies forward

In the international competition, people with physical disabilities put state-of-the-art devices to the test as they race to complete the tasks of everyday life

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