Mar 27 How the U.S.-China trade war could damage the Amazon rainforest By Gretchen Frazee Increased soybean production in Brazil could cause up to 32 million acres of deforestation in the Amazon, more land than in New York state. Continue reading
Mar 27 Citing measles emergency, this county just banned unvaccinated children from public places By Helen Branswell, STAT Schools, houses of worship, shopping malls — anywhere that people who are not related to one another congregate indoors — will be off limits for unvaccinated children in Rockland County, New York. Continue reading
Mar 25 The human brain never stops growing neurons, a new study claims By Karen Weintraub, Scientific American A new study points toward neuron formation in the human brain’s hippocampus up through the ninth decade of life, which implications for memory and disease. Continue reading
Mar 21 Genetic research has a white bias, and it may be hurting everyone's health By Vicky Stein Around 80,000 years ago, a small group left Africa and radiated around the globe, taking with them a subset of their ancestors' genetic variation. Now, that subset dominates genetic and health studies worldwide. Continue reading
Mar 20 Which came first: society or a fear of god? By Nsikan Akpan Religion is a fundamental feature of humanity, but did our ancestors need it to form complex societies?… Continue reading
Mar 20 Watch 5:59 Can Uganda block Ebola's spread from neighboring Congo? By Fred de Sam Lazaro, Sarah Clune Hartman Eastern parts of Democratic Republic of Congo are suffering from the second-worst outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in history, with more than 500 dead so far. Neighboring Uganda is watching with concern as the crisis unfolds, wary of allowing… Continue watching
Mar 18 Why everyone should stand still on an escalator By Lesley Strawderman, The Conversation The best way to ride an escalator isn't what you'd expect, but it's 27 percent more efficient. Continue reading
Mar 17 Watch 5:55 Uncovering the history of Earth's climate By Hari Sreenivasan, Sam Weber, Connie Kargbo, Theresa Lewis To understand the history of climate change, researchers are digging underneath the ocean floor where organisms and plants have accumulated in sediment over millennia. Maureen Raymo studies this science of paleoclimatology using a vast collection of materials at Columbia University’s… Continue watching
Mar 17 Softer, processed foods changed the way ancient humans spoke By Steven Moran, Balthasar Bickel, The Conversation Considering language from a biological perspective led researchers to the idea that new food processing technologies affected neolithic human beings' jaws – and allowed new language sounds to emerge. Continue reading
Mar 15 How the New York pizza slice became universal By Nsikan Akpan, Jamie Leventhal A new book explains how simple inventions, like the New York City pizza oven, allow certain food producers to dominate their global supply chains. Continue reading