News

STEM Education Needs a Course Correction

By Ainissa Ramirez For the past several years, I’ve lived as a science evangelist, crisscrossing the country and preaching the gospel of the importance of getting a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. My work began with my TED talk in 2012, when I exchanged the security of a lab bench for an assortment […]

News

Our Trust in Science Is Complicated

Science is supposedly based on evidence, but in reality, for most people, it is based on trust. Scientific evidence is mostly inaccessible. Scientific journals are difficult to obtain and their articles are written in a specialized language that is incomprehensible to all but a few experts in the field. We trust what those experts say […]

News

High-Tech Ghost Ships Will Set Sail sans Sailors

Ships without sailors could keep humans out of harm’s way, and that possibility is not their only potential benefit. Without crews, shippers could save money normally spent on salaries, keep boats away from shore for longer and, without wasting room on accommodations, try more efficient designs that would emit less pollution. The autonomous shipping market […]

News

Map Reveals Hidden U.S. Hotspots of Coronavirus Infection

The U.S. currently has the most confirmed COVID-19 infections of any country, with more than 203,000 cases as of Wednesday. New York City has emerged as the outbreak’s newest focal point, with more than 44,900 people testing positive as of that time. And major outbreaks are underway in cities such as Seattle and New Orleans. […]

News

Chalk in Bread Causes Kidney Stones

Originally published in June 1968 Credit: Scientific American Advertisement “The disappearance of stones in the urinary tract is particularly well documented in England. Between 1772 and 1816 one in every 38 patients at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital was under treatment for bladder stones. In the same period so many of the boys at the […]