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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.

Researchers and scientists are increasingly worried about the fate of federal government health data after the Trump administration took databases and surveys offline in late January, and they fear other federally maintained databases could be the next to vanish.

In “Seven Deadly Sins,” neurologist and sleep doctor Guy Leschziner combs through the science underlying the greatest transgressions in Dante’s Inferno: wrath, lust, pride, greed, envy, sloth, and gluttony. His goal is to “to gain insights into why we do what we do: the biology of being human.”

The president’s executive orders to freeze federal funding and communications have thrown U.S. scientists into uncertainty, signaling the start of a major conflict around the practice of science. C. Brandon Ogbunu writes that defending that practice will require dealing with some uncomfortable truths.