Peppered moth (Biston betularia)

Humans As Drivers of Evolution

“Anthropogenic,” meaning of human causes, is generally used to refer to climate change. But it also covers the powerful evolutionary force that is humanity.
An image generated using Adobe Firefly

AI and the Creative Process: Part One

How does generative artificial intelligence upend conventional understandings of who is and what makes for a true artist?
Title page for Sinners in the hands of an angry God, 1741

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: Annotated

Jonathan Edwards’s sermon reflects the complicated religious culture of eighteenth-century America, influenced not just by Calvinism, but Newtonian physics as well.
Beth Macy and the cover of her book Raising Lazarus

Beth Macy’s Raising Lazarus on the Overdose Crisis

Dopesick author Beth Macy takes a deeper look at the opioid crisis in Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis.
"Freya" correctly detects a sample of malaria from a row of sample pots at the "Medical Detection Dogs" charity headquarters on March 27, 2020 in Milton Keynes, England.

Why Aren’t There More Dogs at the Doctor’s Office?

Dogs can use their superb sense of smell to identify disease in human patients. What’s keeping them from using this ability in the healthcare industry?
Concept image of people rejecting a vaccine injection

Why Do Vaccination Rates Plateau?

Two experts discovered a paradox that can lead people to think disease isn't a problem.
The Bitter Potion by Adriaen Brouwer, ca. 1636 - 1638

Is Disgust Related to Morality?

The disgust response acts as a behavioral immune system, protecting us from disease, but produces strong reactions to perceived out-groups.
Actress Dorothy Tutin having an anti-flu injection, 1969

How Scientists Tried to Find a Universal Flu Vaccine

The quest to “conquer” influenza with a shot that could be used every year started out with high hopes, and ended up a hot mess.
fire lights the hills from a controlled burn off of maize stubble on a farm property at Makikihi in South Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand.

The Global Suppression of Indigenous Fire Management

Indigenous peoples' techniques to manage and benefit from fire are threatened, even as wildfires burn more frequently and intensely.
Coronavirus

A Science Reader for COVID-19

Covering concepts from spillover to virus mutation, this collection of free-to-access readings provides scientific context around the COVID-19 pandemic.