Science Literacy Project Daily Digest
Genetically modified pig organ transplants may soon save thousands every year
Towana Looney can hardly contain her anticipation as she waits to get wheeled to an operating room at the NYU ...
‘People don’t always realize they are creating a human being and not a piece of furniture’: What’s the psychological health of the first generation of designer babies?
People who have children this way often place too much importance on genes while ignoring the environment. It’s like, “This ...
What is the future of no-till farming?
No-till farming holds significant promise as a sustainable agricultural practice that can help address some of the key challenges facing ...
GLP-1 Friendly: How Big Food is trying to leverage the GLP-1 weight loss drug fad
Packaged-food giant Conagra Foods is hoping to appeal to people taking weight-loss drugs with frozen entrees like chicken fettuccini alfredo ...
Say good-bye to vegan shrimp: Boom in vegan alternatives sputters out
What is made from seaweed, peas, and konjac root? That's right: vegan shrimp – or «vrimp,» as Nestlé called the ...
Viewpoint: Here’s why gene drives are crucial to fight malaria-carrying mosquitoes
Mosquitoes carry some of the world’s deadliest diseases ... but challenging geography, conflict, budgets, and insecticide resistance are among the ...
Breast cancer requires surgery, right? Not so fast
When a woman learns she has breast cancer, her reaction is often: take it out. Now doctors say that might ...
Lawyer set to become advisor to RFK Jr. if he’s approved as HHS director on record asking the FDA to revoke polio vaccine approval
The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pick federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has petitioned the government ...
AI can help accelerate the transition to regenerative farming
Slightly preceding the global momentum towards regenerative agriculture has been a focus on the digitalization of agriculture. It offers benefits ...
Viewpoint: The case for gene editing in New Zealand
Gene editing and plant domestication are essential to protect food supplies in a worsening climate, according to an international team ...
Plants, cells, and microbes could help clean the environment but consumers seem indifferent
The challenge of our food system’s climate impact is only getting more tricky: richer countries tend to eat more meat, and ...
AquaBounty collapses: Its fast growing salmon—the first approved genetically-modified animal to come to market—couldn’t fend off anti-biotech activist smears
AquaBounty Technologies – the Massachusetts-based company that claimed to have found “a better way to feed the world” with a ...
If you develop health problems from eating ultra-processed food, who’s responsible—you or the companies that make it?
Coca-Cola and 10 other major food companies are accused in a lawsuit from a Pennsylvania teenager of "engineering" ultra-processed products to ...
Viewpoint: Back to the 1980s—Federal suit won by anti-crop biotechnology activists could cripple US agricultural gene editing innovation
On December 2, the Northern California District Court vacated rules adopted in 2020 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through ...
How close is AI to creating a catastrophic bio weapon—or causing other superhuman damage?
The release of ChatGPT ... set off fears that AI could soon be capable of surpassing human intellect—and with that ...
Can chimpanzees develop a human-like culture?
Chimpanzees may refine cultural behaviors over time, with advanced toolsets spreading through migrating females, suggesting early stages of cumulative culture ...
Hydroponics: Can growing food without soil be mass scaled?
Growing plants in water rather than soil actually uses a small fraction of the water used in traditional farming—since there’s ...
Teen and tween rush: Now you and your kids can both get a sugar fix at Starbucks
Starbucks said it doesn’t share what percentage of its sales are attributable to customers under 18, but the menu is ...
Dinosaurs got dumber over time. Could it happen to humans (is it already?)
Horned dinosaurs saw a decline in their intelligence, hearing, and sense of smell as they grew larger over the course ...
Can a transplanted organ bring with it a memory from a donor?
The question of whether transplanted organs can transfer memory has cropped up for many ... organs, but according to a ...
Why 2025 will be a turning point for AI
2025 will be a defining year for AI, shifting from generalized applications to enterprise-focused solutions. Businesses will refine their strategies ...
Are ultra-processed foods ‘addictive’? It depends
Are some foods actually addictive? The answer is straightforward and, you might think, inconsequential: It depends entirely on your definition ...
Islamic eco-systems a millennium ago supported farming in marginal desert environments but were largely abandoned. They could be sustainability models today
As global water resources become more strained, the insights gained from traditional agricultural systems could pave the way for the development of ...
Bernie Sanders says RFK, Jr. is ‘exactly correct in criticizing the food industry but his views on health are ‘extremely dangerous’
Sen. Bernie Sanders praised Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s message on food issues ... and said he had not [decided] whether ...
How many ways can a human laugh?
[People] can chortle, chuckle, titter, hoot, giggle, snigger, howl, or guffaw. This richness of language may suggest to some that ...
We are well on our way to automating science
Many scientists are already excited about AI. In a Nature survey of 1,600 scientists published in September 2023, more than half of ...
Memory of obesity: Fat cells are at war with your diet
Even after drastic weight loss, the body’s fat cells carry the ‘memory’ of obesity, research shows — a finding that ...
