Unravelling CRISPR In The Café
A sketch at a café meeting sets Jennifer Doudna on the path to developing one of the most consequential gene editing tools.
How To Have A Dinner Party In Space
Astronaut Leland Melvin recounts daily life aboard the International Space Station, including a communal dinner, celebrating a birthday, and the challenges of trying to sleep in microgravity.
In A Decimated World, Biotech Life Is Borne
In his new novel, Jeff VanderMeer imagines how humans must survive in a city ruined by biotechnology… and a gigantic, genetically engineered bear.
How Poorly Designed Studies Hurt ALS Patients
Author Richard Harris explains the sometimes hasty and inefficient scientific process that could be prolonging the search of a cure for ALS.
What Would Happen If You Slipped on a Banana Peel?
Cartoons aren’t kidding about the slipperiness of banana peels.
Why Infinity Is No Ordinary Number
The idea of infinity is easy to come up with, but we must be careful what we do with it.
Making It in a Futuristic, Flooded New York
Author Kim Stanley Robinson imagines a version of New York City that’s swamped by sea level rise.
The Stars Behind Our Stellar Classification System
Author Dava Sobel explains how a group of women astronomers helped develop the classification system that scientists use to identify stars today.
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The Best Science Books Of 2016
Time travel, microbes, black holes, and polar bears.
Earth’s Next Frontier: The Anthropocene
Scientists say the earth has entered a new geological epoch: The Anthropocene. Author David Biello on what humans will have to do to make the planet endure.