Science

America's archaeology data keeps disappearing – even though the law says the government is supposed to preserve it

By Keith Kintigh, The Conversation

About 30,000 legally mandated archaeological investigations are conducted each year in the U.S. These projects are usually documented only in so-called “gray literature” reports that, in most cases, are not readily accessible, even to professional archaeologists.

With genome sequencing, some sick infants are getting a shot at healthy lives

By Meghana Keshavan, STAT

Scientists say the data show over and over that early diagnosis of genetic disorders not only saves lives, but can keep long-term health care costs down.

How winning Mega Millions could lead to bankruptcy

By Jay L. Zagorsky, The Conversation

Looking at lottery winners approximately 10 years after winning showed they saved just 16 cents of every dollar won.

How the Smithsonian helped the FBI in the case of stolen ruby slippers

By Julia Griffin

Conservators put the FBI’s slippers through a battery of scientific tests. Their conclusion? These weren’t just any pair of heels.

Nonprofit helping low-income patients describes itself as 'Match.com meets the Peace Corps'

By Cat Wise

Physician shortages, as well as cost and distance, can make specialty care prohibitive for many low-income patients. A nonprofit aims to tackle those challenges by utilizing telehealth technology and retiring, volunteer doctors. Special correspondent Cat Wise explores “The MAVEN Project.”…

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Rewriting reproduction: With stem cells and CRISPR, scientists breed mice with same-sex parents

By Andrew Joseph, STAT

For the first time, scientists said Thursday that they had bred mice with two genetic fathers.

This leather substitute is grown in a New Jersey lab

By Sam Weber, Connie Kargbo, Christopher Booker

Modern Meadow, a New Jersey-based startup, is using biotechnology to produce material that looks and feels similar to leather. The company says that producing this leather-like material, made of lab-grown collagen, carries a lower environmental impact than other means of…

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DNA ancestry searches can now identify most white Americans. Here's why that's legally questionable

By Nsikan Akpan

Police identified the Golden State Killer with a genetic ancestry search for his distant relatives. These two studies show how easy that could be done for anyone.

A quiet rise in unvaccinated children could put the U.S. at risk of outbreaks

By Jamie Leventhal

For the third consecutive year, unvaccinated communities have grown, the CDC reported Thursday. One school in Oregon has toddler vaccination rates lower than those in Venezuela.