Can Laws be Medicines?
During a 5-year span between 1970 and 1975, 29 states in the United States lowered the legal age for drinking…
Writings
Explore the 10 nearest stars
If you want to study the stars, there’s no better place to start than close to home. After all, the…
Peering inside the black box of AI
Five years ago, computer scientist Alan Fern and his colleagues at Oregon State University, in Corvallis, set out to answer…
Should We Be Testing Everyone’s DNA?
Kelly Kashmer credits genetic testing with saving her life. In 2014, during a routine medical appointment, a physician’s assistant began…
Space trash could kill satellites, space stations — and astronauts
Seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station woke to unwelcome news on the morning of November 15, 2021. NASA, the…
Virtual reality helps shape and respond to artistic impulses
In February 2020, weeks before the pandemic made such a thing nearly impossible, the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, UK,…
The 100-Day Vaccine
The first vaccine for COVID-19 broke records: Only 342 days passed between the virus being sequenced and an FDA-authorized vaccine.…
Coping with Chemo Brain
BEFORE MEGAN-CLAIRE CHASE received her first round of chemotherapy in October 2015, her oncologist told her that side effects of cancer…
The New Math of Wrinkling
A few minutes into a 2018 talk at the University of Michigan, Ian Tobasco picked up a large piece of paper and…
Will Transformers Take Over Artificial Intelligence?
Imagine going to your local hardware store and seeing a new kind of hammer on the shelf. You’ve heard about…