Science Literacy Project Daily Digest
‘Our planet is choking on plastics”—They are challenging to recycle, but what if we could vaporize them
Some of the worst [plastic] offenders, which can take decades to degrade in landfills, are polypropylene—which is used for things ...
How the brain predicts coming events
The human brain is constantly picking up patterns in everyday experiences — and can do so without conscious thought, finds ...
Viewpoint: Activist superstition drives the opposition to genetically modified and gene edited crops
GMO opponents in the United States and worldwide are not concerned with rationally managing risks to minimize potential concerns and ...
Viewpoint: The FDA should not be bullied into taking away consumer’s choice to eat cell-grown meat
Consumers might already be weirded out by the prospect of eating lab-grown animal products, so the ideal product should taste ...
Viewpoint: Africa’s opportunity to develop crops that can weather climate change depends whether it embraces gene editing
South Africa’s agriculture faces increasing climate challenges, particularly for vulnerable crops such as fruit. Dr Peter Johnston, a climate scientist, highlights ...
Viewpoint: Conspiracy thinking undergirds ‘woo woo’ alternative health advocates – and they could be in the next Trump administration
If Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were president, this is the kind of Cabinet he might appoint: Vani Hari, a.k.a. the ...
Elon Musk is getting jittery about meeting his self-imposed deadline for human flights to Mars
Elon Musk sounds like a man grappling with the reality that there are only so many trips left for him ...
Superintelligence: ‘Once AI learns how to master Artificial General Intelligence’, it will learn how to upgrade itself and blow right past us’
Right now, AI can’t tell the difference between a cat and a dog. AI needs thousands of pictures in order ...
What’s regenerative agriculture and what are its market prospects?
Regenerative agriculture focuses on improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, and enhancing ecosystem services while also producing food and fiber. This ...
Threat assessment that US could fall behind China in developing cell-based meat prompts some Republicans to reverse opposition
What would it take for a Republican to support cultivated meat? Could it be China’s progress in the sector? That’s ...
How do farmers in Bangladesh feel about genetically modified crops?—A survey
GM ... crops play a crucial role in feeding the global population and ensuring food security for a larger number ...
Disease-carrying mosquitoes are exploding in number globally and in the U.S. as the world heats up
West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), malaria and dengue are gaining new ground in the US. The mosquitoes that ...
Should we edit our genes to make space travel safer?
Long-distance space travel can wreak havoc on human health. There’s radiation and microgravity to contend with, as well as the ...
5 signs of dementia besides memory loss
Memory loss is the most well-known symptom of dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. But experts say there are other warning signs ...
Top 10 countries growing genetically modified (GM) crops
The United States had the largest area of genetically modified crops worldwide in 2023, at 74.4 million hectares, followed by ...
Viewpoint: Organic agriculture grain crisis?—What might be the impact if farming goes fully chemical-free organic?
[A] number of papers on going totally chemical-free suggest a significant impact. For instance, a meta-analysis from Nature concluded that ...
Will lab-based meat upend the trillion dollar global meat industry? Would it be any better for our health?
Worldwide, 80 billion animals are slaughtered every year for meat. Raising all those animals has already claimed most of the ...
Anti-science conspiracy theorists and alternative medicine believers are fueling medical misinformation
Just recently, in casual conversation, someone commented ... that “they” already have a cure for cancer but are hiding it ...
Viewpoint: ‘Negative eugenics is gathering like a very dark storm—darker and more dangerous than at any time since the rise of Adolf Hitler’
An efflorescence of eugenic thinking ... is found among those who explore and develop new technologies that can alter the ...
What happens if your child has a rare disease and the drug that could treat it is too expensive?
When his infant son was diagnosed with a rare disease, a Canadian father was dismayed to discover there was no treatment ...
‘I would never serve that slop to my kids’—Bipartisan support for Pennsylvania bill to ban cell-based meat
Seeking to protect the livelihood of farmers who produce meat products for Pennsylvania consumers, Rep. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Wyoming) is the ...
What separates human thinking from that of other animals and when did our uniqueness emerge?
The human mind is unlike any other. It’s the key that unlocked language, culture, abstract reasoning, long-term planning, and large-scale ...
Astronaut Frank Rubio made 5,963 circles of the Earth in more than a year of space travel. How did it effect him?
The record for a single trip into space currently stands at 437 days, but prolonged periods in orbit can alter ...
Soil footprint: Measuring soil degradation caused by farming
The “soil footprint” is emerging as a crucial concept in sustainable farming, measuring the impact of agriculture on soil erosion ...
Tastier and healthier Chardonnays in Italy: More sustainable fungal fighting gene-edited vines planted in Italian trial
“This is the first field trial with edited vines in Europe,” says Sara Zenoni, who teaches agricultural genetics at the ...
Infections can cause cancer? Yes, and here are four of them
Most cases of stomach cancer are caused by bacteria. A majority of cervical cancers, as well as some genital and ...
A single dose of psilocybin appears more effective than drugs in treating depression
A new study compares psilocybin — the active compound in magic mushrooms, with a common antidepressant medication. During 6 months ...
