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How a Carnivorous Mushroom Poisons Its Prey

In the 1980s, scientists discovered that oyster mushrooms are carnivores. The delicious, inescapable inference is that they’re the only vegan…

4 years ago

Pressure Builds on Congress to Help People Afford Pricey Flood Insurance

Congress is under pressure to subsidize flood insurance costs for low-income households after the federal government announced last week that…

4 years ago

Why People Won’t Rethink Holiday Plans during a Pandemic

In November and December of 2020, with COVID cases rising across the nation, state and city leaders across the U.S.…

4 years ago

Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Would Make Electricity Carbon-Free by 2035

The backbone of President Biden's plan to use infrastructure spending to advance climate policy is a clean electricity standard for…

4 years ago

Scandal over COVID Vaccine Trial at Peruvian Universities Prompts Outrage

A clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccines in Peru has sparked outrage and triggered a series of high-profile resignations at universities…

4 years ago

Data and Technology Can Help Us Make Progress on COVID Inequities

The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest chapter in the “Tale of Two Health Systems” saga that has played out in…

4 years ago

The Coronavirus Variants Don’t Seem to Be Highly Variable So Far

No doubt you’ve heard about the novel coronavirus variants that are evolving around the world. There now appear to be…

4 years ago

How to Photograph a (Possible) Alien Artifact

It is often said that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” In my case, a picture is worth 66,000…

4 years ago

Was the Interstellar Object ‘Oumuamua a Nitrogen Iceberg?

The Oort cloud, postulated in 1950 by the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, defines the periphery of the solar system—extending out…

4 years ago

AI Can Now Debate with Humans and Sometimes Convince Them, Too

Pakinam Amer: This is a Science Talk podcast from Scientific American. I'm Pakinam Amer.  It’s as old as ancient Greece,…

4 years ago