When Susan Monarez took the helm of the beleaguered US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in late July, she had her work cut out for her. Public trust in the agency had dropped considerably since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who oversees the CDC,…
Image Professionals GmbH/Alamy Climate change deniers love to point out that plants flourish when carbon dioxide levels rise. As we burn fossil fuels, their thinking goes, the Earth will become greener and even more supportive of life than it is now, soaking up more carbon – so what is all the fuss about? As is…
October 7, 2025 2 min read Scientists Perform First-of-Its-Kind Transplant Using Kidney with a Converted Blood Type A man diagnosed with brain death received a kidney that was modified to be type O, which is compatible with all blood types By Rachel Fieldhouse & Nature magazine Pouches of donated blood in a hospital. ER Productions…
Sleep can be experienced very differently from one person to the next PeopleImages/Shutterstock Different people may experience one of five types of sleep, and these profiles each highlight how our shut-eye affects our health. Previous research has found associations between sleep and cognition, mental health and physical conditions, such as heart disease. But these studies often…
Antarctic krill keep revealing new superpowers. Euphausia superba, the Southern Ocean’s ubiquitous krill species, sequester large amounts of carbon via their profuse poop. Now, scientists have identified another way in which the swimming crustaceans may modulate Earth’s climate: by sending their leftovers down to the bottom of the sea. Laboratory observations of krills’ filter feeding…
October 7, 2025 2 min read Supreme Court Weighs Ban on Scientifically Discredited ‘Conversion Therapy’ The U.S. Supreme Court will determine whether Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy, an ineffective and often harmful practice targeting LGBTQ+ youth, violates a therapist’s right to free speech By Allison Parshall Demonstrators protest against conversion therapy outside the U.S. Supreme…
Could this be an illustration of the entire universe? Arlume / Alamy The following is an extract from our Lost in Space-Time newsletter. Each month, we hand over the keyboard to a physicist or mathematician to tell you about fascinating ideas from their corner of the universe. You can sign up for Lost in Space-Time here….
The longest woolly rhino horn ever found is providing new insights into the lives of these now extinct animals. The horn — found preserved in Siberian permafrost — stretched over 1.6 meters, nearly the size of a small adult human and a full 30 centimeters longer than the previous record holder, researchers report September 12…
October 7, 2025 3 min read Babies’ Brains Recognize Foreign Languages They Heard before Birth Babies process foreign languages they heard in utero much like their mother tongue, researchers find By Meghie Rodrigues edited by Allison Parshall Babies start processing language before they are born, a new study suggests. A research team in Montreal has…
Senior physics writer Emily Conover has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago. She is a two-time winner of the D.C. Science Writers’ Association Newsbrief award and a winner of the Acoustical Society of America’s Science Communication Award.
