If anybody understands the difficult of studying LSD’s effects on humans, David Nutt does. In the US and the UK, this psychedelic is a Schedule…
POLARIZING DEBATE
Should your baby share your bed?
It’s an emotive and divisive debate. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says that letting an infant child sleep in her parents’ bed “remains [the]…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Chinese researchers have genetically modified human embryos—yet again
Less than a year ago, when a group of leading researchers was calling for a moratorium on the use of a revolutionary technology, Chinese researchers…
WATER INEQUALITY
In drought-ridden Maharashtra, some residents are given four times as much water as others
India’s richest state is suffering its worst drought in 100 years. But not everyone is suffering equally. According to 2015 data, urban areas in Maharashtra…
XENOTRANSPLANTATION
A pig’s heart can now live inside a baboon—and the breakthrough could prove vital for humans needing organ transplants
Thousands die every year waiting for an organ transplant. There are, of course, a lot more humans dying than there are humans needing an organ.…
SCARLET FEVER
A 19th-century disease is on the rise in the UK—and nobody knows why
Scarlet fever struck fear in the hearts of Victorian-era Americans and Europeans. In the late 19th century, it was a leading cause of death in…
NANOBOTS
These tiny, autonomous robots don’t need computer programs to repair circuits
Not all autonomous robots need artificial intelligence to power them. At the molecular level, nanobots can do pretty impressive things without lines of code dictating…
QZ&A
A Cambridge professor on how to stop being so easily manipulated by misleading statistics
“There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Few people know the struggle of correcting such lies better than David Spiegelhalter. Since…
Synthetic Biology
Scientists have taken a huge leap toward creating artificial life
Humans have some 20,000 genes. The most well-studied microbe, E. coli, has some 4,000 genes. And the record for a free-living species is held by…
MYSTERY MICROBES
A rare infection has killed 18 people in two US states. What do we know about it so far?
Those named Elizabeth King won’t be pleased to read this story. What was to-date a rare bacteria, Elizabethkingia anophelis, has infected more than 50 people…
Steelier than steel
A new kind of metal could make nuclear reactors stronger and last longer
Despite opposition and safety concerns, nuclear power remains a big part of the world’s energy mix—providing about 10% of world’s electricity. And since nuclear reactors…
Zapped
A new performance enhancer for athletes boosts the brain—and is completely undetectable
Doping in professional sport is a cat-and-mouse game. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) bans a performance-enhancing drug, and athletes go on the hunt to find…
