Ethics

Organized crime is mining sand from rivers and coasts to feed demand worldwide, ruining ecosystems and communities. Can it be stopped?

The world has launched into an era of injectables not just to treat obesity but to manage weight. Is that all good news?

Today’s Silicon Valley billionaires grew up reading classic American science fiction. Now they’re trying to make it come true, embodying a dangerous political outlook

Research on morality shows that it can counterintuitively impede peace and progress

A new tool based on machine learning uses features of writing style to distinguish between human and AI authors

Physicians need to be aware of how their choice of words and patient labels affect patients

The furor over a Nobel Prize winner’s derailed career lets scientists off the hook for their own responsibilities to fix a broken academic reward system

Nobel laureates sometimes wait 20 years or more after making their award-worthy discovery to receive the prize

Controversial policy proposals such as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) are making headway across the country, but there are other ways to help protect young people in the digital world

What does it take to correct the scientific record? And who—and what—stands in the way? The answer to both questions is: everyone

Some fear that artificial intelligence will threaten humanity’s survival. But the existential risk is more philosophical than apocalyptic

The massive search for a missing submersible was a stark contrast to the treatment of a ship packed with people fleeing conflict