Science Literacy Project Daily Digest
‘Ruining the magic of breeding’? Cloning’s okay but gene-edited horses threaten to upend the pedigreed world of Polo
While Argentina, regarded as the global capital of polo, has long welcomed reproductive technologies – including cloning – to breed ...
Why do some people gain weight more easily or develop liver problems while others don’t, even when they eat similar diets?
Our bodies follow a natural 24-hour cycle known as the circadian rhythm that influences everything from sleep to metabolism. While ...
Common wisdom: Westerners are overweight because they are not active enough. Study finds that’s not true
For decades, common wisdom and public health messaging have assumed that people in highly developed nations, like the United States, ...
Speed breeding: AI pollinating CRISPR gene-edited flowers are in development
For millennia, developing resilient crops relied on pollination by nature or humans—making the process long and often costly. Now, scientists ...
Mining nuclear waste may power the future of nuclear power
Today’s nuclear power plants generate energy through a process called nuclear fission. ... This fission chain reaction provides a steady ...
25 years ago, India approved GMO rice and was poised to be the developing world’s crop bioengineering innovator. What went awry?
In the early 2000s, India’s fields promised to become laboratories of the future. When genetically modified (GM) cotton was approved ...
Resilience, sufficiency, efficiency: Balancing the challenges facing modern agriculture
There’s no shortage of opinions when it comes to the future of agriculture. Across Europe and beyond, the debate is ...
Is sunscreen bad for your health? MAHA and social media disinformation threatens a resurgence in skin cancer
Sunscreen protects the skin by either absorbing or reflecting ultraviolet rays that can cause sunburn, premature aging and skin cancer ...
The science skinny on synthetic food dyes: There is no evidence they are unsafe but they do make some unhealthy food more enticing
The appeal of a brightly colored candy, the vibrant hue of your mouthwash, the pigment of your sports drinks — ...
Trump shutdown of LGBTQ+ suicide hotline sparks panic in many states
On July 17, the option shut down for LGBTQ+ youth to access specialized mental health support from the national 988 ...
‘A historic failure’: MIT management professor who falsely claimed Covid shots were ineffective and deadly appointed head of CDC vaccine oversight
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory group has long had a work group in place to ...
Just because a chemical ingredient used in food is found in household products or medicine does not mean its unsafe
"Many food-grade additives share names with industrial products, but concentration makes all the difference," said Jessica Steier, a public health ...
Viewpoint: Profiling Dr. David Geier, the anti-vax quack who is guiding RFK, Jr.’s vaccine policy
By Jessica SteierGraphics by Sara Chodosh and Taylor Maggiacomo Dr. Steier is a public health scientist who specializes in science ...
Viewpoint: Thirst for revenge—What Jay Bhattacharya has in common with Stalin’s crackpot science seer Trofim Denisovich Lysenko
An insecure and inept but ambitious scientist climbs out of obscurity up a ladder of political favor in a burgeoning ...
Appeal to Nature Fallacy: Understanding soaring chemophobia from the ideological left and right
Chemophobia is complicated, but, in short, it’s a distrust or fear of chemicals and appears in many of aspects of ...
How pioneering technology transformed Israel’s desert into an agricultural oasis
Agriculture in Israel transformed in the early 20th century, marked by the rise of wheat, citrus, and other vegetable cultivation ...
‘He’s weaponizing public health’: RFK, Jr.’s hand picked CDC in disarray as three members resign and Trump fires the director
The White House on Wednesday fired Susan Monarez as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after she ...
Certain foods naturally contain chemicals that help us sleep better. Here are some of them
Research shows that the most beneficial diet for sleep seems to be a plant-based diet that includes lots of wholegrains, dairy ...
RFK, Jr. says ‘let measles run its course’. That’s what some said in 1990, and we had an urban health crisis
Few expected a major return of measles to the United States this year, a quarter-century after it was declared eliminated here. But return ...
Can bacteria replace synthetic fertilizer?
Synthetic fertilizer is a modern wonder, helping to feed billions of people, but it’s not without its costs. Fertilizer runoff ...
CRISPR for ‘stronger, sweeter’ cocoa: Mars bets on gene editing technology to future-proof chocolate supply
Candy maker Mars said ... it has partnered with biotech company Pairwise to speed up the development of more resilient ...
New moms suffering from postpartum depression turn to psychedelics for relief
 84 women across the country [participated] in a clinical trial that hopes to produce the first federally approved psychedelic treatment ...
Viewpoint: Can regenerative agriculture spark the beginning of the end for carbon intensive conventional farming?
Today, techniques such as cover-cropping and integrated pest management are being embraced not only by environmental activists but also by ...
Bill Ackman’s Alpha School: No to DEI, yes to AI
Billionaire Bill Ackman has a new fascination: a fast-growing private school that eschews lessons on diversity, equity and inclusion and ...
Mixed results: Lung from a genetically modified pig transplanted into a human
[I]n the first procedure of its kind, Chinese scientists on Monday reported transplanting a lung from a pig into a brain-dead ...
Mazzenga’s 20-year old muscles: How a still-going-strong 92-year old sprinter wins every race she enters
By some measures, [Emma Maria Mazzenga] appears to have the cardiorespiratory fitness of someone in their 50s and her muscle’s ...
In a dramatic shift to a more science-based food policy, Europe eases restrictions on importing GMO feed grain from the U.S.
The EU's 2025 approval of GM corn imports reflects a pragmatic recalibration of its regulatory framework. While the EU remains ...
