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Great articles, every Saturday.

Sections

Science

Science

Genetic Mapping

On the questions DNA tests answer and the new ones they create.

Emma Gilchrist Maisonneuve Apr 2021 30min Permalink

Best Article Science

52 Blue

The story of the loneliest whale in the world.

Read more

The Longform Guide to Sea Creatures

Leslie Jamison The Atavist Magazine Aug 2014 50min Permalink

Science

Why Animals Don't Get Lost

Birds do it. Bees do it. Learning about the astounding navigational feats of wild creatures can teach us a lot about where we’re going.

Kathryn Schulz New Yorker Mar 2021 25min Permalink

Science

The ‘Green Energy’ That Might Be Ruining the Planet

The biomass industry is warming up the South’s economy, but many experts worry it’s doing the same to the climate. Will the Biden Administration embrace it, or cut it loose?

Michael Grunwald Politico Mar 2021 30min Permalink

Science

How Elizabeth Loftus Changed the Meaning of Memory

The psychologist taught us that what we remember is not fixed, but her work testifying for defendants like Harvey Weinstein collides with our traumatized moment.

Rachel Aviv New Yorker Mar 2021 35min Permalink

Science World

Lab Leak: A Scientific Debate Mired in Politics—and Unresolved

More than a year into the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, some scientists say the possibility of a lab leak never got a fair look.

Charles Schmidt Undark Mar 2021 20min Permalink

Science Health

The Coal Plant Next Door

Near America’s largest coal-fired power plant, toxins are showing up in drinking water and people have fallen ill. Thousands of pages of internal documents show how one giant energy company plans to avoid the cleanup costs for coal ash.

Max Blau Georgia Health News, ProPublica Mar 2021 40min Permalink

Science

The Crow Whisperer

What happens when we talk to animals?

Lauren Markham Harper's Mar 2021 20min Permalink

Best Article Science

The Identity Hoaxers

What if people don’t just invent medical symptoms to get attention—what if they feign oppression, too?

Helen Lewis The Atlantic Mar 2021 Permalink

Science

The Demise and Potential Revival of the American Chestnut

Before a disastrous blight, the American chestnut was a keystone species in eastern forests. Could genetic engineering help bring it back?

Kate Morgan Sierra Magazine Mar 2021 15min Permalink

Science World

Fish Farming Is Feeding the Globe. What’s the Cost for Locals?

In the small coastal country, an exploding industry has led to big economic promises, and a steep environmental price.

Ian Urbina New Yorker Mar 2021 Permalink

Science

Missing a Beat

Millions of hearts fail each year. Why can’t we replace them?

Joshua Rothman New Yorker Mar 2021 35min Permalink

Science Health

How to Remember a Disaster Without Being Shattered by It

A plane crash survivor and trauma researcher turns her attention to the memories we’re making now.

Erika Hayasaki Wired Feb 2021 Permalink

Politics Science

How Vulnerable Is the World?

Sooner or later a technology capable of wiping out human civilization might be invented. How far would we go to stop it?

Nick Bostrom, Matthew van der Merwe Aeon Feb 2021 15min Permalink

History Science

An Ecology of Disturbance

“Around here the land swallows things.”

Claire Thompson Terrain Feb 2021 15min Permalink

Science Health

Attack of the Six-Foot Woman

On body horror, ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Woman,’ and the growing pains of being the tall girl.

Hannah Walhout Catapult Feb 2021 20min Permalink

Science

The Cats and Dogs Who Eat Cats and Dogs

Apex predators, feeding on pests and pets, teem in suburban Dallas and other American cities.

Clinton Crockett Peters Terrain Feb 2021 15min Permalink

Science World

A Thin Green Line With Global Impact

During a decade when Cascadia’s governments flouted their carbon emissions goals, activists fighting fossil fuel exports exceeded their wildest expectations.

Robert McClure Investigate West Jan 2021 15min Permalink

Science

Where Now Grizzly Bear?

After centuries of persecution, brown bears are showing up in some unexpected places.

Brian Payton Hakai Magazine Jan 2021 15min Permalink

History Science

The Terrifying Warning Lurking in the Earth’s Ancient Rock Record

Our climate models could be missing something big.

Peter Brannen The Atlantic Feb 2021 Permalink

Best Article Science Health

The Forgotten Sense

Could the pandemic teach us why our sense of smell matters?

Brooke Jarvis New York Times Magazine Jan 2021 35min Permalink

Science Health

What If You Never Get Better From Covid-19?

Thousands of patients report lingering symptoms. Can research into another mysterious syndrome help?

Moises Velasquez-Manoff New York Times Magazine Jan 2021 Permalink

Science

Animal Planet

An ambitious new system will track scores of species from space—shedding light, scientists hope, on the lingering mysteries of animal movement.

Sonia Shah The New York Times Magazine Jan 2021 15min Permalink

Science World

The Climate Crisis Is Worse Than You Can Imagine. Here’s What Happens If You Try.

A climate scientist spent years trying to get people to pay attention to the disaster ahead. His wife is exhausted. His older son thinks there’s no future. And nobody but him will use the outdoor toilet he built to shrink his carbon footprint.

Elizabeth Weil ProPublica Jan 2021 15min Permalink

Science World Food

Seeding the Ocean

Inside a Michelin-starred chef’s revolutionary quest to harvest rice from the sea.

Matt Goulding Time Jan 2021 20min Permalink

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