Policy
What Researchers Know about Gun Policies’ Effectiveness
Studies are ‘decades behind,’ owing to a lack of funding, but research is picking up
Stories by Lynne Peeples
Public Health
Rethinking Herd Immunity
The global rise of “vaccine hesitancy” is changing the landscape of disease transmission
Policy
What the Data Say about Police Shootings
How do racial biases play into deadly encounters with the police? Researchers wrestle with incomplete data to reach answers
Public Health
How the Next Recession Could Save Lives
Death rates have dropped during past economic downturns, even as many health trends have worsened. Researchers are scrambling to decipher lessons before the next big recession
Evolution
Rings and Worms Tell the Tale of a Shipwreck Found at Ground Zero [Slide Show]
Researchers were stunned to find an 18th-century ship that had been unearthed by construction workers at the World Trade Center where the Twin Towers once stood. With great care they followed clues in the well-preserved wood to trace the craft's history to the era of the American Revolution...
Health
Staying Negative: How an Unexpected Antiretroviral Result Is Reshaping the Battle Against AIDS
Success of a vaginal microbicide gel reveals how HIV-prevention strategies can emerge from progress in treatment
Environment
11 Surprising Natural Lessons from Mount St. Helens
What have scientists learned from 30 years of research and rebirth in the blast zone?
Health
Thin Wallets, Thick Waistlines: New USDA Effort Targets Link between Obesity and Food Stamps
Could added incentives and other changes to the federal food stamp program trim rampant obesity rates among low-income groups?
The Sciences
Making Scents of Sounds: Noises May Alter How We Perceive Odors
The neural basis for "smound" may have been uncovered
Environment
Are Coyotes or Humans the Perpetrators of Suburban Animal Attacks?
Research into both coyote and human behavior informs strategies to reduce urban-nature clashes and make peace with animal neighbors
Environment
The Bigger Kahuna: Are More Frequent and Higher Extreme Ocean Waves a By-Product of Global Warming?
Increasing maximum wave heights off the Pacific Northwest coast may pose a greater threat than rising sea levels
Environment
Baked Australia: Water Management Lessons for the World from Down Under
Australia is at the forefront of a global water crisis. Some of the management lessons learned there could help bail out California and other parched regions before they meet the same fate...
Environment
Greenhouse Rock: Stone-Cold Data from Ancient Glacial Deposits May Help Reveal Future Climate Change
Scientists are developing sophisticated tools to trace the paths of glaciers, unearthing previously unknown pieces of the climate record
Environment
iSniff: Pocket-Size Pollution Sensors Promise Big Improvement in Monitoring Personal Environment
Scientists are employing improved monitors in efforts to pinpoint air pollutants that cause childhood disease
Health
Going the 'last mile' to deliver better health to villages in the developing world
It's not always patents and price tags that keep lifesaving medicines from reaching people living in remote villages in the developing world. When donated medical supplies arrive in countries such as Mozambique, for instance, they are typically distributed to the provinces by national authorities...
Mind & Brain
Can fearful memories be erased?
In the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , Joel and Clementine's relationship ends so sourly that the couple elects to have their mutual memories swept away via a non-surgical procedure called "targeted memory erasure." No such tool actually exists...
The Sciences
The Real Sea Monsters: On the Hunt for Rogue Waves
Scientists hope a better understanding of when, where and how mammoth oceanic waves form can someday help ships steer clear of danger
The Sciences
Music to Monkeys' Ears? Try Metallica, or the Metro
Music is known to induce terror and tears, as well as inspire dance. Even basic human speech itself is laced with emotional direction: a musical pattern of long drawn out sounds versus short brief ones can be the difference between calming and exciting a child...
Technology
Faster, harder, louder: Are primitive grunts and futuristic gear changing the game of tennis?
Despite the tradition-steeped pageantry this week when many of the world's tennis stars take the court in Queens, N.Y., the athletes' experiences may be quite distant from their predecessors' polite volleys in the championship first contested more than 125 years ago...
Evolution
Did Lactose Tolerance First Evolve in Central, Rather Than Northern Europe?
Tolerance for cow's milk may have arisen in the Neolithic period among the Linearbandkeramik culture of central Europe, not with the Lutefisk-lovers of Scandinavia
