Policy16713 articles archived since 1845

Hurricane Maria Prompts Rare Investigation into Building Damage

The National Institute of Standards and Technology inquiry will also examine communications failures and the storms’ death toll

Humans Are Driving One Million Species to Extinction

Landmark UN-backed report finds that agriculture is one of the biggest threats to Earth’s ecosystems

Actually, We Should Not All Use They/Them Pronouns

A response to a recent Scientific American essay

To Prevent Women from Dying in Childbirth, First Stop Blaming Them

Two thirds of all U.S. maternal deaths are considered preventable. Racism—not race—is a critical factor

Naturally Occurring High Testosterone Shouldn't Keep Female Athletes out of Competition

It is unscientific and unfair to bar female athletes with elevated testosterone

Investors Start to Force Companies to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Investors are making companies act on global warming—and they can do even more

A Loaded Gun Can Be Dangerous Even If Only a Dog Is Near the Trigger

Even man’s most loyal companion can’t be trusted around guns

Government Attempts to Silence Science Are Revealed in Detail

A tracker reveals more than 300 government attempts to suppress knowledge

Having Cancer Is Bad. Having Cancer When You’re Poor Is Worse

People without resources have higher death rates

How to Get Away from Facebook’s “Emotion Pump”

Are there better social technologies than Facebook?

Unhealthful Data Gaps

Readers Respond to the January 2019 Issue

Letters to the editor from the January 2019 issue of Scientific American

Mining Silver from the Atomic Bomb; The Perennial Baby-Walker

Innovation and discovery as chronicled in Scientific American

New York Is Building “Living” Wave Barriers to Prepare for the Next Superstorm  

A project off Staten Island aims to dissipate wave energy hitting the shore

In Case You Missed It

Top news from around the world

Venezuela Is Unraveling—So Is Its Science

Research has ground to a halt, and many scientists have left the country out of desperation

In Reversal, Clean Car Rollback Will Target Potent Greenhouse Gas

The Trump administration has yet to take broader action to limit heat-trapping hydrofluorocarbons

Science News Briefs From All Over

A few brief reports about international science and technology from Liberia to Hawaii, including one on the discovery in Northern Ireland of soil bacteria that stop the growth of MRSA and other superbugs...

To Cut Emissions, China’s Global Infrastructure Plan May Need a Greener Path

Nations participating in the Belt and Road Initiative could do much to push low-carbon investments

Want to Come Study or Work in America? Not So Fast

We say we welcome skilled immigrants like doctors and engineers, but we don’t act that way