The global scourge of discarded plastic—from macro- to microscopic—is finally starting to get the attention it deserves.

The idea of matter as the basis of everything may seem beyond question. But a solely material view of the world doesn’t fill the enduring human need to understand why we’re here and what it all signifies.

Millions of people now use assisted reproductive technologies to have children. How will IVF and embryo screening affect the future of family and society?

Medical doctor Robert Klitzman talks about our increasing ability to design babies to our personal specifications.

Researchers and policy makers around the world struggle to lead human germ-line editing into the future.

In vitro fertilization has opened the path to a new era of reproductive interventions. How did we arrive at a point where we could soon be creating designer babies?

Stanford neuroscientist William B. Hurlbut talks about his dealings with the Chinese researcher who created the world’s first gene-edited babies, and about the implications of that experiment.

In the face of new technology allowing scientists to manipulate genes in human embryos, how will we move forward?

Historian Lisa Vox argues for finding a way to address the threats that face us all. It starts, she says, with not condemning others for holding a different worldview.

Technology gives us access to the universe while at the same time creating risks to our continued existence. Does humankind’s best hope for long-term survival come down to leaving Earth behind?

The chief engineer for NASA’s robotic Mars Exploration Program talks about what it would take to put people on the Red Planet. Will Mars be humanity’s lifeboat?

Mexico City is one of the world’s biggest population centers, yet the city’s infrastructure is extremely unstable. The resulting challenges serve as a warning—and a lesson—to the rest of our urbanizing world.

From genes to geophysics, our world is increasingly what we make it. But environmental philosopher Christopher Preston urges restraint.

If our reliance on technology has accelerated climate change, maybe technology can fix the problem too. Would it work? Should we try it?

Why does America’s Christian Right take such an active interest in how we view and use scientific findings—to the point of creating its own version of science?

Immortality may not be an option, but can degeneration and the terrors of aging be lessened or even eliminated? These authors think so.

Neurobiologist Michael Fossel explains how people’s healthy life spans can be extended and how he believes Alzheimer’s will soon be cured.

As biotechnology marches us toward a world of new and improved human genetics, should we be optimistic—or concerned?