by Wei Lifigures by Wei Wu Trigger warning: this article contains mentions of suicide. What do the lead scientists behind the COVID-19 vaccine, the current first lady of the United States, and the students at Science in the News have in common? They all did (or are currently doing) academic research in graduate schools. Academic research is undeniably important to society. For example, much of … Continue reading The Mental Health Crisis in Science
by Katherine Wu My freshman year of college, I was given a choice: techie or fuzzy? And, before you ask, no, it wasn’t about creepy role-play. It was worse: my major. At Stanford, there were two kinds of people: those who studied the technical, hard science, and mathematics-based majors were “techie,” and those pursuing the humanities, arts, and social sciences were “fuzzy.” I chose biology … Continue reading How to be a Socially Conscious Scientist
Update: Since the writing of this article, Donald Trump has picked Scott Gottleib as FDA commissioner. -SITN editorial staff by Linda Honaker figures by Rebecca Clements Donald Trump will soon pick a new commissioner for the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). The choice will likely be someone who will try to make the administration’s drug approval requirements less rigorous in order to get drugs on the … Continue reading Make the FDA Great Again? Trump and the future of the drug approval process
Image Credit: Kristen Seim Jane eats organic foods, avoids plastic containers and switched to plant-based shampoo and cosmetics. “You have no idea how clean my home is, but I still don’t feel protected,” Jane told me. Like many other expectant mothers, Jane is stressed about protecting her baby’s health. We all have reasons to be worried about man-made chemicals in our environment, even if we … Continue reading Call for the pass of chemical safety reform
“The Future of Brain Implants”, psychologist Gary Marcus and neuroscientist Christof Koch took one step further, unfolding a future where a chip can be implanted into healthy brains to achieve superpower. Although there are still technical hurdles and risks, it is not unreasonable to stay optimistic as scientific breakthroughs are often beyond our wildest imagination. Continue reading Changing our mind with implants and light.
Science produces knowledge about our world, while also forming the basis for technologies, medicines and applications that are instrumental to tackling the many problems facing our society. Because of its enormous impact, it is critical that science be built on firm foundations. One of the most crucial differences distinguishing science from pseudoscience (such as many forms of alternative medicine) or non-scientific forms of evidence (such … Continue reading House of Cards: Is something wrong with the state of science?
The degree to which we use energy has far-reaching consequences. For example, the simple act of driving to work uses fuel that is ultimately tied to both international conflict and global climate change. The success of modern civilization is fundamentally linked to our ability to harness energy, primarily in the form of fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas. As shown in Figure 1, … Continue reading Why We Need Sustainable Energy
Last year, the world invested more money in renewable energy than ever before, at over $257 billion [1]. There is no question that renewable energy projects need finance to develop and commercialize. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), $37 trillion of investment will be needed in the world’s energy supply system over 2012-2035, of which a growing component will be in renewable energy [2]. … Continue reading Beyond the Debate: The role of government in renewable energy finance