Lucy Tu is a freelance writer and a Rhodes Scholar studying reproductive medicine and law. She was a 2023 AAAS Mass Media Fellow at Scientific American.
The Push to Grant Fetuses and Embryos Legal Rights Is Threatening IVF Treatment
In the new book Personhood, historian and law professor Mary Ziegler explores how the push to grant embryos and fetuses full legal rights is reshaping U.S. reproductive health care, research and policy
Why This AI Gazes into Goat Faces
AI-based systems can help identify livestock’s early signs of distress
Book Review: How Our Love for Citrus Shaped the Modern World
A history of citrus fruits, from the Han Dynasty to the modern orange juice industry
Book Review: Cryptography Is as Much an Art as a Science
A delightful course on keeping (and cracking) secrets
Ultrasound Brain Stimulation Boosts Mindfulness
Study participants felt time distortion, fewer negative thoughts and greater detachment from feelings with a noninvasive ultrasound intervention
Review: How a Group of Women Launched Modern Cosmology
A new biography of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt celebrates meaning making in science
Rats, Gardens, and Stories from a "Post-Impact" Future
Rats as you’ve never seen them; the journey of restoring a garden; stories from a “post-Impact” future
A Black Physician Takes on Racism in Medicine
Physician Uché Blackstock talks about her experience of the huge health disparities faced by Black Americans in her new book Legacy
Should Insurance Cover Wegovy, Ozempic and Other New Weight-Loss Drugs?
Insurance plans could cover blockbuster weight-loss medications such as Wegovy and Ozempic, but the benefits may not be accessible to everyone
Science News Briefs from around the World: October 2023
Mammals munching on dinosaurs in China, Greenland’s melted past, coral catastrophe in Florida, and much more in this month’s Quick Hits
Some Metals Mysteriously Heal Their Own Cracks
Scientists accidentally discover metals that mend themselves without human intervention
What’s the World’s Oldest Language?
Debate rages over which languages can claim to have the earliest origin
Neuroscientists Re-create Pink Floyd Song from Listeners’ Brain Activity
Artificial intelligence has turned the brain’s electrical signals into somewhat garbled classic rock
How Advocates Pushed Big Pharma to Cut Tuberculosis Drug Prices
The world’s best TB drug was too expensive for sufferers—until advocates and a YouTube star changed almost everything
First Pill for Postpartum Depression Approved
The FDA approved zuranolone, a short-term oral medication that could help new parents who are struggling with depression after giving birth
Six Ways to Stay Safe Outdoors in Extreme Heat
As summers get hotter and longer, experts provide advice on how to survive heat-related emergencies
Here’s How AI Can Predict Hit Songs With Frightening Accuracy
New AI technology predicts hit songs—by listening to someone’s body.
Why Maternal Mortality Rates Are Getting Worse across the U.S.
A new study shows U.S. maternal mortality rates are increasing, and health care providers and advocacy groups are racing to build better care for new parents
Time Flowed Five Times Slower Shortly after the Big Bang
Voracious black holes feeding on matter in the early universe display the curious spacetime phenomenon known as time dilation
Better Ways Than BMI to Measure Obesity
A leading medical society says that the commonly used body mass index falls short, and it is time for alternative measures
Can Your Body’s Response to Music Predict Hit Songs? A New AI Study Claims It Can
A new study suggests AI can analyze cardiac activity to predict whether a song will be a hit before it’s released. But some hit-song scientists are skeptical
One Year after Dobbs, Abortion Bans Are Harming Reproductive Care, Ob-Gyns Say
The Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade is impacting health care well beyond abortion in states that have banned the practice
A Common Diabetes Drug May Prevent Long COVID in Some People
The drug metformin cut long COVID risk by 41 percent in both people who were overweight and those with obesity. But treatments remain elusive