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Fieldwork is vital to scientific research. But difficult conditions at remote research sites can increase workers’ vulnerability and put them under physical, mental, and emotional strain. A shift in the culture is needed to improve field workers’ access to mental health resources and support systems.

Scientists have long debated the scale of intentionally set fires, particularly in the woodlands of eastern North America. And a dust-up over a 2020 journal article on prescribed burning illustrates the debate’s nuances.

Officials have asked staff at the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program to draft a rule that will drastically reduce data collection. Climate experts expressed shock and dismay at the move. “It would be a bit like unplugging the equipment that monitors the vital signs of a patient that is critically ill,” one said.

Lobotomies left thousands of patients disabled in the 1950s. But with advances in treatment, some surgeons now say that, for a small group of patients, removing brain tissue can help patients with OCD and other disorders. But other experts are hesitant to recommend the procedures without more data.

In “A History of the World in Six Plagues,” science historian Edna Bonhomme investigates the racial and class inequalities, and the injustices of confinement, that have hampered official responses to cholera, Ebola, AIDS, Covid-19, and other epidemics.

The impending bankruptcy of genetic testing company 23andMe prompted worries about consumers’ personal data being sold. It has also raised the argument that genetic data shouldn’t be treated as assets for generating profit but rather as biospecimens that require individual consent before being bought or sold.

Apps that help track health information, provide diagnostic assistance, and facilitate care may have benefits, but with a patchwork of regulations, there’s potential for harm. Experts say more oversight is needed.

Academic surveys suggest that as many as one in five preteens in the U.S. now take melatonin at least occasionally, and that some younger children consume it multiple times per week. Companies and influencers increasingly market the hormone online. The trend has unsettled many childhood sleep researchers.

In Washington state, The closely-spaced deaths of two cougars who tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu suggest the virus is likely more widespread than thought. “There’s just so much about this virus and the epidemiology and disease ecology of it that we don’t understand,” one wildlife veterinarian said.

Even among the most durable migratory bird pairings, sexual exclusivity is rarely part of their relationship. One of the most remarkable evolutionary strategies is brood parasitism, or the sneaking of eggs into other birds’ nests in an attempt to steal parental care.

More than five years ago, the Covid-19 virus reached U.S. shores. Talking about the pandemic has become overwhelming, writes columnist C. Brandon Ogbunu. But now is the time to extract meaningful lessons from the ordeal that can be applied to other infectious disease scenarios, and to science and society as a whole.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration supports everything from emergency preparedness to weather apps to climate science. Many meteorologists say that recent reductions in funding and staffing will make it difficult for the federal agency to carry out its mission.

The move — along with the CDC’s explanation — is a sign that the nation’s top public health agency may be falling in line under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines.

Some experts say the online abuse of children is rampant, and that police and lawmakers need more tools to catch perpetrators. Now, researchers in several countries are training artificial intelligence systems to help prevent predatory conversations. Will the tools work?

In “Ends of the Earth,” popular science writer and paleontologist Neil Shubin travels north and south to explore the frontiers of polar research, as well as the extraordinary biological adaptations of plants and animals and what today’s rapidly changing arctic environment can tell us about the planet’s future.

A recent drop in the number of opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. has puzzled researchers. But results from a recent study on drug addiction suggest how to keep that downward trend going: by engaging diverse local coalitions to take the lead in addressing the challenges in their communities.

Researchers are, by and large, dubious of efforts to demonstrate a genetic basis for racial or ancestral-group differences in intelligence. The current tools, they say, simply aren’t equipped to explain such complex traits. But there’s no guarantee that this state of affairs will hold forever.

Though the fungi await FDA approval, state regulators are issuing licenses for providing psychedelic mushrooms in mental health treatment and are planning to authorize “healing centers.” These are some of the first locations in the U.S. to administer mushrooms outside of clinical, religious, or illicit settings.

Recent lawsuits against the American Chemical Society and the University of Pennsylvania join a recent uptick in legal action against programs intended to promote diversity in academia. Many legal scholars and scientists say that such cases will hurt the scientific community.

In “The Power of Nuclear,” Dutch journalist Marco Visscher lays out the reasons why widespread fears and hesitations about atomic energy are misguided, illogical, and propelled by unscientific thinking, offering instead “the incredible story of a technology that was misunderstood from the beginning.”

Herbicides pose risks to the environment and to human health, but they are also the best tool land managers have for controlling invasive plants, which themselves can cause harm to ecosystems. One Mississippi State University graduate student in forestry looks toward potential solutions to this conundrum.

Norway may not be the first country that comes to mind when thinking of the space industry. But it has quietly emerged as a ground-station powerhouse, supporting some of the world’s most important science-seeking satellites. Experts, though, worry about its proximity to Russia.

When foreign aid was halted in February, diplomats in Vietnam warned that defunding the clean up of a massive deposit of postwar pesticides would be a catastrophe for public health. Now, companies in charge of remediation are scrambling to secure the site before torrential rains flood nearby communities with contaminated soil.

For years, scientists have explored ways to cool the planet through geoengineering. Now a little-known, well-financed startup, Stardust, is aiming to develop a proprietary geoengineering technology, seemingly for government clients.