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DNA

Gene-replacement therapies are transforming children’s lives

23 December 2022

Several therapies to correct severe genetic disorders have been approved by medical regulators in 2022, and others have produced impressive clinical trial results


A person has their temperature checked before entering a market in Coata, Peru, in July 2020

Nearly 15 million excess deaths occurred globally in 2020 and 2021

14 December 2022

World Health Organization research suggests that during just the first two years of the pandemic, 14.83 million more deaths occurred worldwide than would otherwise have been expected


Logged forest

Tropical forests ravaged by logging can still have thriving ecosystems

14 December 2022

Logged forests in Borneo have more abundant birds and mammals than pristine forests, showing that conservationists should still try to protect these habitats


The drone pilot and other project engineers operated within a make-shift control room.

Drone used to map radioactive vault at former US weapons site

13 December 2022

A drone has mapped a vault full of radioactive powder as part of a decades-long project to clean up a former weapons and nuclear energy test site in Idaho


Why the tech apocalypse of 2022 was largely a good thing

Why the tech apocalypse of 2022 was largely a good thing

14 December 2022

With Twitter, FTX and Alexa all in the doldrums by the end of this year, Annalee Newitz explains why this is actually an encouraging sign for humanity


TOPSHOT - Staff members from the Hoshinoya Tokyo hotel demonstrate the "Lantern Dining Experience", where lanterns made by Kojima Shoten - a shop in Kyoto - are used to shroud diners for mask-free dining amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, during a media event at the hotel in Tokyo on February 28, 2022. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP) (Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)

The covid-19 pandemic’s third year saw countries adopt new approaches

14 December 2022

As the world faced the third year of the coronavirus pandemic, Iceland began 2022 by shifting towards "herd immunity" while China ended the year easing its zero covid approach


An aerial view shows the brine pools and processing areas of the Soquimich (SQM) lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat, the world's second largest salt flat and the largest lithium deposit currently in production, with over a quarter of the world's known reserves, in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, January 10, 2013. SQM fertilizer company has fired its chief executive after it became embroiled in an election campaign financing scandal that has rocked the Chilean establishment, tainting business leaders and politicians with close links to the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Picture taken January 10, 2013. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado (CHILE - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT POLITICS) - GM1EB3I04EU01

Drought, not lithium mining, is drying out Chile's largest salt flat

4 November 2022

Lithium mining has been blamed for the drying out of a region in the Andes where the metal is naturally found – but drought may be the culprit instead


UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 24: A couple arrives to vote the Anthem Center in Henderson, Nev., during early voting in Nevada on Monday, October 24, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

What US midterm elections mean for climate policy and public health

4 November 2022

The outcome of state and national elections on 8 November will shape the next two years of policy on climate change, abortion and covid-19


Keven Esvelt

Pandemic terrorism risk is being overlooked, warns leading geneticist

14 November 2022

Kevin Esvelt, who created the first artificial gene drive capable of wiping out an entire species, says the threat of a deliberately released virus causing a pandemic is being overlooked


Apple Brand M1 Model Macbook pro laptop computer

A stack of Apple laptops could work as a powerful supercomputer

16 November 2022

Supercomputers are expensive to buy and run, but connecting up lots of consumer Apple computers that contain M1 chips may be able to do the same job for less