From discovering the first planets beyond our solar system to future plans for analyzing the atmospheres of these distant bodies, NASA and the European Space Agency have guided our search for habitable worlds beyond Earth.
Though the care we receive at the hospital can mean the difference between life and death, medical errors causing harm are more common than most of us imagine.
Environmental philosopher Christopher Preston offers an optimistic perspective on our relationship with nature in the face of profound damage and exploitation.
Using the supposed objectivity of DNA to establish human hierarchy may be the dream of eugenicists, but for Kathryn Paige Harden, the goal of having and using genetic information is exactly the opposite.
Science and religion each have a range of explanations for how life came to exist on Earth. On the scientific side, can a theory called panspermia upstage its Darwinian counterpart?
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?
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.
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?
