Stay updated with the latest public health research, commentary, and field notes from our editorial team.
July 28, 2025 · 5 min read
I just spent a week at the beach staring at the ocean and really starting to think: Why is a sip from the ocean a terrible idea, while lake water (if clean) is okay? In this post, we’ll dive (pun intended) into what sets freshwater and saltwater apart, why the Earth has both types, how […]
If you’ve ever walked past a bakery and suddenly needed a pastry, you know how powerful smell can be in jump-starting hunger. But what if I told you that in fruit flies, smell doesn’t just tickle the nose—it actually activates their taste buds? That’s the wild takeaway from a new study on Drosophila melanogaster (our […]
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What if an algorithm could tell us if our drinking water is safe before it’s tested in a lab? A new study shows how advanced machine learning can predict water quality with near-perfect accuracy, making clean water monitoring faster, cheaper, and smarter. 1. AI Can Predict Water Quality Better Than Experts Researchers trained a “stacked […]
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A few years ago, I got into ultra-low-budget found footage movies. You know the convention. Someone is recording while a disaster or horror is unfolding. Think Blair Witch. This article, coincidentally, also takes place in Maryland. So, imagine that a small town on the Chesapeake Bay’s eastern shore is plagued by mutant parasites, turning the […]
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Not a great week for science policy, with news of NASA’s refocusing away from climate research. There’s also some chatter about comet 3I/Atlas, though Avi Loeb’s recent track record is a little fuzzy. Here’s what’s been showing up in the research. Trends in the News And what’s showing up in the news. The future of […]
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Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are transforming the way we search, write, and create. They can summarize research, draft articles, generate code, and even answer complex questions. But they have a serious flaw: they sometimes make things up. This flaw is called hallucination. This is when an LLM generates text that […]
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Picture this: A person you love is in a hospital bed. Their eyes might open, but they don’t respond. Weeks turn into months. Doctors say they’re in a “disorder of consciousness”—a condition where the brain can’t fully switch back on after severe injury. There are no proven treatments. Families are left hoping for a miracle. […]
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In the face of growing ecological challenges, scientists have developed an intriguing solution that could revolutionize agriculture: an artificial superfood designed specifically for bees. Honeybees, crucial pollinators in ecosystems, are facing numerous threats from pesticides, habitat loss, and climate change. The creation of a superfood that bolsters bee health and reproduction could be a major […]
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In 2017, California’s Oroville Dam nearly failed, forcing 180,000 people to evacuate. In 2020, two Michigan dams collapsed, flooding entire towns. And just last year, a dam in North Carolina overtopped during Hurricane Helene. These aren’t rare “once-in-a-lifetime” events anymore—they’re becoming warning flares for a growing national problem: America’s dams are aging, and extreme weather […]
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In the fight against climate change, Earth’s carbon sinks — the vast expanses of forest, ocean, and soil that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere — play a vital role. However, recent findings indicate that these crucial systems are under siege, suffering from the effects of climate change feedback loops that exacerbate environmental degradation, according […]
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