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
Kids with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder have explosive outbursts well past toddler age. Scientists are trying to work out the causes and what treatments help.
Unusual variations in the cellular protein factory can skew development, help cancer spread and more. But ribosome variety may also play biological roles, scientists say.
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.
Population and animal studies suggested it could treat cancer, but the clinical trials were a bust. Here’s what happened and what potential may remain.
Cuckoos, cowbirds and other species outsource their parental duties. Scientists are uncovering new twists in this sneaky — and often treacherous — game of survival.
To understand the origins of multicelled life, researchers are studying a motley assortment of simpler animal relatives. The commonalities they’re unearthing offer a trove of clues about our mutual past.
Soldiering through nightly suspended animation, a (nearly) all-sugar diet, backwards flight and long migrations, the birds’ tiny physiques prove mighty
VIDEO: Knowable Magazine’s interviews with experts during the pandemic revealed many missed opportunities and blunders in the US response to Covid-19, which was marked by excess American deaths and disability. The experience does offer lessons on how to better prepare for what scientists call the inevitable emergence of the next global health emergency.
VIDEO: Tens of millions of people are living with long Covid. Yale immunologist Akiko Iwasaki explains the current state of play in the search for causes of, and treatments for, this potentially debilitating illness.
VIDEO: Even a mild SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause inflammation that disrupts neural communication, says Stanford neurologist Michelle Monje. Her concern is that Covid-19 may leave millions dealing with cognitive problems, from a loss of mental sharpness to lapses in memory, that prevent them from returning to their previous level of function.
VIDEO: Where do new diseases come from? As people increasingly push into remote areas, the risk of encountering new pathogens increases, says wildlife epidemiologist Jonna Mazet.
VIDEO: In August 2020, the Dome Fire burned more than 40,000 acres of the iconic species’ range in the Mojave Desert, leaving a graveyard of blackened trees. A massive replanting effort now underway hopes to return life to the fragile ecosystem by boosting numbers of the climate-threatened plant.
VIDEO: Delays, errors and a fragmented response initially kept public health officials in the dark about the spread of SARS-CoV-2. More tests and easy access could still play a critical role in slowing the virus.
VIDEO: New York Times science reporter Apoorva Mandavilli chronicles the rise of the delta variant, the latest of many twists in the pandemic that she’s covered since it began. Delta has left parents in an especially tough spot, with schools opening but young children still vulnerable.
VIDEO: The pandemic has highlighted the complex links between inequality, racism and disease risk in America. Harvard public health scholar David Williams explains.
VIDEO: Scientists expected the novel coronavirus would mutate and change. But its runaway spread means new, more dangerous variants are more likely to emerge. Harvard computational geneticist Pardis Sabeti explains.
Some people of West African descent face a higher risk of renal failure. New drugs based on gene research may help right the ship — if they can reach everyone who needs them.
It’s clear that genes, receptors and neurons all play a role in detecting odors. But much of how we make sense of what we sniff remains mysterious. A neuroscientist explains.
Regulatory hurdles, industry objections and legal fights have gone on for decades over traditional tobacco. What’s in store for the next generation of smoking?
I bought a glowing plant. It led me down a rabbit hole of radiant mushrooms, 19th century experiments and a modern rivalry between scientists in Russia and the Americas.
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