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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.

Technology writer Nicholas Carr contends in “Superbloom” that our obsession with digital technology is causing us to live in a perpetual state of sensory and communication overload. In the process, our devices are exacting a large toll, altering how we think, act, and communicate with one another.

In February, the White House issued an executive order meant to protect access to in vitro fertilization and reduce costs for IVF treatments. But it doesn’t address the emotional burden often interwoven with fertility challenges. Clinics should provide more mental health support to their patients.

With crumbling public health infrastructure, county health departments in Texas face steep challenges. Aging infrastructure, a dearth of primary care providers, and long distances between testing sites and laboratories plague many rural areas in the state, where the measles outbreak has concentrated.

Elon Musk’s agency froze most spending above $1 on federal credit cards. Now, officials and researchers at science agencies are struggling to order basic supplies and carry out the main functions of their jobs. “The longer this disruption lasts, the more the system will break,” said one USDA official.

When the National Institutes of Health announced on social media that it would reduce funding for biomedical research grants, the agency pointed to elite universities and their hefty endowments. But less-wealthy institutions may be particularly hard hit by the proposed changes.

Is it possible that many scientists and the news media got the Covid-19 response all wrong? Political scientists Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee, the authors of “In Covid’s Wake,” argue that many pandemic-era policies were not grounded in evidence and did not properly weigh their potential to cause harm.

Layoffs and funding freezes have struck a blow to the U.S. scientific enterprise. Selective Pressure columnist C. Brandon Ogbunu argues that to mitigate the damage, scientists need to swiftly adopt a harm reduction model and build a different profession — one still capable of defending and practicing science.

The existing legal framework over who owns genetic resources was not designed for the digital age. And although international negotiators have wrangled over digital sequence information for many years, they have yet to reach a consensus.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said the Trump administration would liberate Americans from the FDA’s “aggressive suppression” of vitamins, dietary supplements, and other substances. The $70 billion industry is now likely to push for bolder health claims, government and insurance payments for unproven products, and looser restrictions.

Since the 1990s, more than two dozen drugs have been approved to treat multiple sclerosis. But a question looms: For older adults — who are less likely to suffer the disease’s hallmark flare-ups, and more likely to experience troublesome side effects from the drugs themselves — does there come a time to quit?

Historian Rebecca Charbonneau, in “Mixed Signals: Alien Communication Across the Iron Curtain,” examines an unusual alliance of interests during the Cold War, when Soviet and American scientists worked together to search for extraterrestrial life despite the gaping political divide on Earth.

In early 20th century, public health had great success in preventing disease and death. But in the decades that followed, progress stalled when its attempts to integrate with medicine failed. One public health official writes that we need to understand this past to find the way toward a healthier nation.

Over the last few decades, there’s been a shift in the types of diseases causing the most harm around the world: Chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, and metabolic disorders have overtaken infectious diseases. Scientists at a new research center say the trend is due to corporate-produced risk factors.

Investigative journalist Charles Piller, in “Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s,” examines compelling evidence that dozens of renowned neuroscientists appear to be responsible for problematic images used in their published studies into the disease.

A list compiled by a group of Senate Republicans last fall, and released to the public earlier this month, identifies thousands of federally-funded projects as “woke DEI” research driven by “far-left” agendas. Many researchers are baffled by their inclusion — and concerned about what the report portends.

Despite containing language about scientific progress and the pursuit of truth, several of the White House’s recent executive orders contradict biological evidence on sex, gender, and race. One geneticist writes that these false claims serve to worsen inequity and cause harm to marginalized groups.

The Plan Nacional de Búsqueda, or National Search Plan, is a highly anticipated initiative harnessing new technologies and scientific techniques to uncover the remains of Chileans abducted and likely killed as part of Pinochet’s infamous, post-coup purge. But the project is plagued by decades of missteps.

In nearly a dozen states with abortion bans, government officials claimed that zero or very few abortions occurred in 2023, the first full year after the Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion rights. For some data scientists, these statistics suggest a troubling trend: the politicization of vital statistics.

In recent years, media coverage has suggested that attacks on science eroded confidence in institutions. But did they? According to the latest research, public trust in scientists mostly survived the first Trump administration — though did take a hit during the Covid-19 pandemic. What will happen to it now?

In an interview with Undark, legal expert Ari Cohn says we are heading into uncharted waters in regard to First Amendment rights as social media giants expand their reach and the distinction between public and private actors becomes blurrier on our tech-mediated town squares.

Bird flu has been spreading through U.S. farms, prompting public health departments to prepare for a potential pandemic. Transforming animal agriculture could reduce the risk of such emergencies and align with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pledge to “Make America Healthy Again,” writes one county official.

A recent survey found that one in eight U.S. adults has tried a GLP-1 drug. (Think Wegovy or Zepbound.) The drugs can be effective against obesity and other indications, but high prices and patchy insurance coverage have left them out of reach for many. What would it take to expand access?

The fusion industry is small but expanding. Over the past few years, nearly 50 fusion companies have sprung up, supported by billions of dollars from investors. But it remains to be seen whether these startups will be able to build a reactors the near future capable of generating hundreds of megawatts.