Archivo: The Atlantic
Taking the Uncertainty Out of Genetic Screening for Cancer Risk
A new technique will help genetic-test users make more informed decisions about their health.
How People Living at Earth’s Extremes Reveal the Genome’s Best Tricks
Evolution has sculpted the human genome to cope with Earth’s toughest climates, inadvertently pointing geneticists towards medically important genes.
How Wasps Use Viruses to Genetically Engineer Caterpillars
And caterpillars might be using the same viral genes to defend themselves against other viruses
How Reliable Are Psychology Studies?
A new study shows that the field suffers from a reproducibility problem, but the extent of the issue is still hard to nail down.
One Head, Two Brains
How a radical epilepsy treatment in the early 20th century paved the way for modern-day understandings of perception, consciousness, and the self
The Women Who Rule Pluto
The New Horizons team may include more women staffers than any other NASA project in history.
The Selfie and the Self
At the end of June, millions of Facebook users changed their profile pictures to rainbows to show support for same-sex marriage—rooting themselves in a portraiture tradition that’s long used symbols to define and express identity.
Objects in Brain May Be Bigger Than They Appear
Scientists still don’t know what causes the mysterious Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, in which people, usually children, suddenly see things change size
The ‘Supplement’ Illusion
Products labeled «ginseng,» «echinacea,» and «ginkgo biloba» often contain no trace of these substances.