Top 6 Two
Rethinking humanity’s origin story: Did all modern humans evolve from East Africa?
New evidence is prompting researchers to rethink Homo sapiens’ origin story—and what it means to be human ...
Best way for obese people to lose weight? Lifestyle change advocates debate gloomy prognosis linked to the role of genes
It's been a challenging few months for people with severe overweight issues mulling how best to shed what could be ...
Regulatory inconsistency and the precautionary principle: Why the European Court ruling limiting neonicotinoid pesticide use is misguided
Important questions loom, now that European sugar beet and oilseed rape farmers face a potential ban on the use of ...
Part I: Europe’s rewilding movement — A victory for environmentalism or a romantic, scientifically-debatable notion that does not revive ancient ecosystems? Or both?
It’s less than half a mile from the crowded marina to the site of cannibalistic excess — at least, that’s ...
Viewpoint: Could crop biotechnology mitigate dislocations from climate change? Anti-GMO activists say ‘no’. Here’s why they are wrong
We’ve heard a lot about climate change, and its impact on crops, especially in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the ...
‘Mania of zero risk’: How environmentalists inflame concerns about farm chemicals, increasing anti-GM food rejectionism and the degradation of waterways
Food Watch warns, wrongly, that trace amounts of mineral oil can get into our food and seriously endanger consumers, calling ...
‘Free to fabricate’ or ‘barred from teaching’? Discord over COVID underscores threats to academic freedom — and the public
Two scientists. Two prominent institutions. One is a tenured professor running a microbial research laboratory where she investigates mechanisms of antibiotic ...
Part II: Jewish skeletal remains in a Norwich well — Do they undermine the controversial theory of ‘Jewish IQ’?
Gregory Cochran, Jason Hardy and Henry Harpending, co-authors of “Natural History of Ashkenazi Intelligence”, did not clearly address how disease ...
Viewpoint: Reject GM crops because they’re ‘not natural’? Here’s a primer on 9,000 years of human tampering with our food supply
One of the most frequently cited concerns about ‘genetically modified’ food is that it is ‘unnatural’ or as the then ...
Genetically modified crops and sustainability: 25 years since their widespread introduction, yields are higher and the environmental footprint is smaller
Genetically modified (GM) crops have increased global food, feed and fiber production by nearly 1 billion tonnes (1 tonne equals ...
Viewpoint: 10 claims by anti-GMO African campaigners on why crop biotechnology advances should be rejected – and why they are wrong
Over 20 years, Africa’s foray into genetic modification (GM) crop development has faced stiff resistance from anti-GMO lobby groups that ...
The increasingly bushy human family tree and five other paradigm-altering changes in our understanding of human evolution
From archaeological reconstructions of Neanderthals as stooped, hairy and brutish, to “cavemen” movies, our ancient ancestors got a bad press ...
Viewpoint: Ideology not science — Here’s why NBC News’ factually inaccurate reporting on the ‘dangers’ of the weedkiller glyphosate sets a dangerous precedent
What happens when an online information resource leans into clickbait? It’s annoying but generally harmless entertainment. When it’s a resource ...
Gene therapy approvals now at four with treatments for inherited anemia and degenerative brain condition — but costs are stratospheric. Why?
The FDA recently approved two gene therapies with hefty price tags, the first for an inherited anemia and the second ...
Growing rice in the ocean? CRISPR might be utilized to tweak ancient genes could be a future superfood
Around 75 million years ago, a remarkable group of flowering plants known as seagrasses migrated back into the oceans from ...
Crucial misrepresentations about glyphosate continue to threaten agriculture. This scientist explains how the UN agency IARC likely manipulated the data
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup, was introduced over forty-five years ago and is the most widely used ...
Viewpoint: Mandatory labeling of crop biotechnology-derived foods is a failed regulatory policy. Here’s why
Proponents of mandatory labeling of foods containing or derived from genetically modified (GM) crops have long claimed that their primary ...
Viewpoint: ‘Would they know it if they saw it?’ Judge who ruled glyphosate could be carcinogenic demonstrates ignorance of science
A high-profile judicial decision in a federal appeals case has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revisit its finding that ...
Australia’s rabbit invasion: DNA analysis reveals how the European rabbit ‘colonized’ a continent
COVID and monkeypox seem to have come out of nowhere and exploded across continents. But the phenomenon of natural selection ...
What is the hottest temperature and highest humidity the human body can tolerate?
Heat waves are becoming supercharged as the climate changes – lasting longer, becoming more frequent and getting just plain hotter. One question ...
How and why gene editing faces fewer global regulations than GMOs
After they were introduced in the mid-1990s, GMO crops were met with a buzzsaw of regulations and skepticism because they ...
Revising my genetics textbook: A PC exercise or an appropriate evolution of science and sensitivity? Or both.
Beyoncé is facing a lot of criticism for using an ableist slur in her new co-written song Renaissance. She used ...
Viewpoint: Non-GMO Project promotes genetically-modified seedless watermelon
As summer grinds on, the Non-GMO Project is here to reassure consumers that seedless watermelon is not genetically modified. “Are ...
Viewpoint: Switching to organic food because it’s healthier, safer and better for the environment? Think again
Many consumers are committed to organic products for reasons that are more emotional than logical. They frequently define their purchasing ...
The hapless male Y chromosome finally has a purpose
I’ve never been fond of the human Y chromosome. Yes, the all-important SRY gene sets the early embryo on a path towards ...
Deep voice, height, testosterone levels, angular face, finger digit ratio, muscularity: Which male trait best predicts finding a partner and having children?
In a massive meta-analysis that was years in the making, psychologists from the University of Durham and the University of ...
Humans sleep away ⅓ of their lives, but it’s a lot less than other primates. Here’s why
Research has shown that people in non-industrial societies — the closest thing to the kind of setting our species evolved ...
