Atlantic
For AI to succeed, computers need to think more like humans
Imagine if every time you learned something new, you completely forgot how to do a thing you'd already learned. Finally ...
Why do so many Americans fear Ebola, but reject vaccines?
Sitting and talking about the 10,000 people so-far killed by Ebola hemorrhagic fever in West Africa, it's easy to feel ...
Injury-prone? Your genes might explain why
Injury is a fact of life for most athletes, but some professionals—and some weekend warriors, for that matter—just seem more ...
How Food Babe mobilized an army against GMOs and chemicals
Over the past three years, Vani Hari has rapidly become one of the most popular voices on nutrition in mainstream ...
What does genome testing mean for questions of Native American ancestry?
The genetic sequencing company 23andMe recently tapped into its vast bank of data to release a study on genetic origins, ...
How the bioengineered uterus is transforming surrogacy and childbirth
When I suffered my third consecutive miscarriage this past May, my mom said she wanted to help me out however ...
What world has learned about limits of science and medicine from Ebola epidemic
People in affected communities were understandably fearful; some were distrustful of health workers and resisted going to treatment centers, where ...
DNA structure co-discoverer James Watson to sell Nobel Prize amid backlash against racial remarks
James Watson, the famed molecular biologist and co-discoverer of DNA, is putting his Nobel Prize up for auction. This sad ...
Babies’ DNA lingers in mom after birth, may offer health boost
In pregnancy, women are shape-shifters, their bellies waxing like the moon. After delivery, they hold another kind of magic: microchimerism, ...
As 60 becomes new definition of middle-aged, how is human society changing?
For millennia, if not for eons—anthropology continuously pushes backward the time of human origin—life expectancy was short. The few people ...
Human ‘angry face’ knows no cultural divide, rooted in DNA
In the U.S., the thumbs-up is typically a gesture that everything’s just hunky-dory—but in the Middle East, it implies that ...
Female athlete teaches herself genetics, cracks her own rare disease
Kim Goodsell was running along a mountain trail when her left ankle began turning inward, unbidden. A few weeks later ...
How data mining targets pregnant mothers
For me, like most potential parents, the first test I took was not genetic. Instead it was a simple pregnancy ...
Why is the myth we only use 10 percent of our brain so hard to bust?
By now, perhaps you’ve seen the trailer for the new sci-fi thriller Lucy. It starts with a flurry of stylized ...
Don’t pick on three-parent IVF: We already create ‘designer’ children
A new type of in-vitro fertilization procedure allows doctors to transfer the mitochondrial DNA from one woman into the egg ...
Knowledge of evolution gains ground among public
Since Gallup started polling Americans about the origins of man in 1982, creationists have stayed pretty faithful to their views ...
Atlantic: GMO labeling grassroots movement not supported by science
In more than 30 years in politics, Bobby Starr had never seen anything like it. The Vermont state senator, a Democrat, ...
Is it riskier to give children experimental treatments, or not to?
In Colorado, a scientist places a needle in a developing embryo. He removes the cells and melts them to isolate ...
Horshoe crabs bleed for biomedicine
The bright blue blood of horseshoe crabs is a biomedical treasure, but harvesting the blood of these unique creatures seems ...
Uzbekistan testing children for athletic potential
The idea of using genetic testing to spot future world-class athletes has been bandied about for years. Now, Uzbekistan hopes ...
We can test for Alzheimer’s genes. When will we be able to treat it?
Recently, my father subscribed to a service that allowed us to mail in a cheek swab to learn about our ...
New technologies demand update to ethics on future genetic testing
As prenatal testing continues to advance, expectant parents are presented with more genetic information than ever before. But how should ...
Right or left, politics may be in the genes
While we all pride ourselves on having developed our political identity after a lengthy period of thoughtful contemplation, it turns ...
Could humans communicate with dolphins in the near future?
Animal researchers are working on a project that would allow humans to communicate with free-swimming dolphins in real time ...
Are Republicans really anti-science?
For years, the Republicans have been labeled the "anti-science" party. But, a new article explores and challenges the basis for ...
Can your genes predict your politics?
Among the first scientists to dig for the roots of political orientation were a couple of pioneering psychologists in California ...
Glowing bunnies: Why they matter
The technique behind glowing rabbits may someday create animals that make biological pharmaceutical products ...
How gene therapy helped one bubble boy
Two-year-old Jameson Golliday was born with X-SCID, or "bubble boy disease," which means he has no immune system. At birth he had ...
