Science
News and updates from the science team. Topics include genetics, infectious disease, psychology, and more.
![Will AI ever become conscious? It depends on how you think about biology.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/VOX-AI_Consciousness-Final-copy.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.8125%2C0%2C84.375%2C100&w=2400)
The debate that will steer the future of consciousness — and us.
![Will AI ever become conscious? It depends on how you think about biology.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/VOX-AI_Consciousness-Final-copy.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.8125%2C0%2C84.375%2C100&w=2400)
The debate that will steer the future of consciousness — and us.
![The staggering death toll of scientific lies](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/GettyImages-1494529981.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![The staggering death toll of scientific lies](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/GettyImages-1494529981.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Scientific fraud kills people. Should it be illegal?
![Antibiotics are failing. The US has a plan to launch a research renaissance.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-1026582844.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=19.463636363636%2C0%2C61.072727272727%2C100&w=2400)
![Antibiotics are failing. The US has a plan to launch a research renaissance.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-1026582844.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=4.1954545454545%2C0%2C91.609090909091%2C100&w=2400)
But there might be global consequences.
![Why does it feel like everyone is getting Covid?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-2154183194.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![Why does it feel like everyone is getting Covid?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-2154183194.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Covid’s summer surge, explained
The latest in Science
![Earthquakes are among our deadliest disasters. Scientists are racing to get ahead of them.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25332741/GettyImages_2031349416.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.67%2C0%2C66.66%2C100&w=2400)
![Earthquakes are among our deadliest disasters. Scientists are racing to get ahead of them.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25332741/GettyImages_2031349416.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.0050000000000026%2C0%2C99.99%2C100&w=2400)
Japan’s early-warning system shows a few extra seconds can save scores of lives.
![The only child stigma, debunked](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/LedeImage_OnlyChild.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
Being an only child doesn’t mess you up for life. We promise.
![We have a drug that might delay menopause — and help us live longer](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/iStock-1495516791.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=21.875%2C0%2C56.25%2C100&w=2400)
![We have a drug that might delay menopause — and help us live longer](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/iStock-1495516791.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.8125%2C0%2C84.375%2C100&w=2400)
Ovaries age faster than the rest of the body. Figuring out how to slow menopause might help all of us age better.
![Ditching factory farming can help prevent another pandemic](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/MarkHarris_Vox_AnimalWelfare.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
The neglected environmental and health benefits of fighting Big Meat — for humans.
![These reviled birds of prey literally save people’s lives](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-1241170086.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![These reviled birds of prey literally save people’s lives](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-1241170086.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
When vultures died off in India, people died too.
![Why two astronauts are stuck in space](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-2155551243.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.67%2C0%2C66.66%2C100&w=2400)
![Why two astronauts are stuck in space](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-2155551243.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.0050000000000026%2C0%2C99.99%2C100&w=2400)
The Starliner test mission is just one of Boeing’s many woes.
![What if colon cancer screening didn’t involve poop?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1364905839.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![What if colon cancer screening didn’t involve poop?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1364905839.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Blood-based biopsies could make screening less icky — if we can make them more accurate.
![Storm chasing has changed — a lot — since Twister](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/2571_D038_00042_0034R_COMP.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.672046481601%2C0%2C66.655907036798%2C100&w=2400)
![Storm chasing has changed — a lot — since Twister](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/2571_D038_00042_0034R_COMP.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.0080697224015509%2C0%2C99.983860555197%2C100&w=2400)
These days, anyone can follow a tornado, but you’ll want to leave that to the professionals.
![How public universities hooked America on meat](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/JoeGough_Vox_LandGrant_Final.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=13.767447916667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
University scientists helped build factory farming. Now, some want to protect its “social license to operate.”
![What if absolutely everything is conscious?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/OhniLisle_Vox.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
Scientists spent ages mocking panpsychism. Now, some are warming to the idea that plants, cells, and even atoms are conscious.
![How dangerous is it really to have a baby in America?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-1802092951-2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![How dangerous is it really to have a baby in America?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-1802092951-2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
The debate over maternal deaths, explained.
![Noise canceling can help save your ears](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-2155765168.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.669802445908%2C0%2C66.660395108184%2C100&w=2400)
![Noise canceling can help save your ears](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-2155765168.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.0047036688617084%2C0%2C99.990592662277%2C100&w=2400)
We’re probably all listening to music too loudly, alas.
![Drug-resistant bacteria are killing more and more humans. We need new weapons.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/OhniLisle_Vox_Microbes.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![Drug-resistant bacteria are killing more and more humans. We need new weapons.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/OhniLisle_Vox_Microbes.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Scientists are testing futuristic tools to dismantle antibiotic resistance.
![There’s a secret wildlife wonderland hidden in the US — and it’s in danger](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Lede_EDIT_M8A1177.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
Countless rare animals lurk under the logs in the Appalachian Mountains.
![Do we have Alzheimer’s disease all wrong?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-512298231.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![Do we have Alzheimer’s disease all wrong?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-512298231.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Retracted studies and new treatments reveal the confusing state of Alzheimer’s research.
![Korean sunscreen is all the rage. If you’re American, you might be out of luck.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25428627/Vox_Sunscreen_QA.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
Lighter, less greasy, more effective sunscreen exists. So what’s the hold up stateside?
![Who’s the father? For these baby animals, one doesn’t exist.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25441726/VartikaSharma_Vox.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
More animals can occasionally reproduce asexually than scientists realized.
![Elephants have names — and they use them with each other](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/gettyimages-453762890.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.73%2C0%2C66.54%2C100&w=2400)
![Elephants have names — and they use them with each other](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/gettyimages-453762890.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.095000000000006%2C0%2C99.81%2C100&w=2400)
A new study reveals elephants are more like humans than we realized. What does that mean for the movement for their rights?
![What if you could have a panic attack, but for joy?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25408474/Lina_Vox_Jhanas.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=21.875%2C0%2C56.25%2C100&w=2400)
Mindfulness is one thing. Jhāna meditation is stranger, stronger, and going mainstream.
![The surprisingly subtle recipe making heat waves worse](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24745203/GettyImages_1258647280.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=17.785234899329%2C0%2C64.429530201342%2C100&w=2400)
![The surprisingly subtle recipe making heat waves worse](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24745203/GettyImages_1258647280.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=1.6778523489933%2C0%2C96.644295302013%2C100&w=2400)
The anatomy of a heat wave, from “heat domes” to megadroughts.
![This changed everything](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/HudsonChristie_Vox_TurningPoints_static_e50056.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=11.510416666667%2C2.6367599493742%2C63.22109375%2C94.833122392537&w=2400)
![10 big things we think will happen in the next 10 years](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/08-Future.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=15.271875%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
Obesity will go down, electric cars will go up, and a nuclear bomb might just fall.
![The last 10 years, explained](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/06-BlurbsLede_d4d42b.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=13.961979166667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![The internet peaked with “the dress,” and then it unraveled](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/05-TheDress.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=18.53359375%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
The ominously perfect meme marked the splintering of our shared reality.
![The science of near-death experiences](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-685023099.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![The science of near-death experiences](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-685023099.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
![Dopamine, explained](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25457320/Final_Hoi_Chan.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
Dopamine deto xing, hacking, and fasting: Is any of it real?
![How worried should we be about Russia putting a nuke in space?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/gettyimages-1239929502.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=18.794040668412%2C0%2C62.411918663177%2C100&w=2400)
![How worried should we be about Russia putting a nuke in space?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/gettyimages-1239929502.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=3.1910610026173%2C0%2C93.617877994765%2C100&w=2400)
It’s not there yet — but we should be concerned.
![Massive invasive snakes are on the loose and spreading in Puerto Rico](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25440273/Lead_BenjiJones.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
Runaway pets — and possibly some zoo escapees — have fueled the spread of invasive snakes across the island. It’s an environmental catastrophe in the making.
![Psychedelics could treat some of the worst chronic pain in the world](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25447512/GettyImages_1496585851.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10%2C100%2C80&w=2400)
![Psychedelics could treat some of the worst chronic pain in the world](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25447512/GettyImages_1496585851.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C23.333333333333%2C100%2C53.333333333333&w=2400)
Decades of citizen science are finally translating into clinical trials for psychedelic pain treatments.
![Why we’ve been seeing the northern lights so often lately](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25447987/GettyImages_2152138633.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.669816669817%2C0%2C66.660366660367%2C100&w=2400)
![Why we’ve been seeing the northern lights so often lately](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25447987/GettyImages_2152138633.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.0047250047250103%2C0%2C99.99054999055%2C100&w=2400)
Scientists are getting better at predicting the sun’s antics.
![Why aren’t we vaccinating birds against bird flu?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25445860/482951406.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C16.6625%2C100%2C66.675&w=2400)
![Why aren’t we vaccinating birds against bird flu?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25445860/482951406.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C27.775%2C100%2C44.45&w=2400)
It’s not as complicated as it seems, but there’s one key hurdle.
![How the White House just made the world a little safer from biorisks](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25440544/GettyImages_1245615267.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![How the White House just made the world a little safer from biorisks](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25440544/GettyImages_1245615267.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
New regulations are a win for safe synthetic DNA.
![Your guide to 2024’s rare cicadapocalypse](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25435934/2150500271.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![Your guide to 2024’s rare cicadapocalypse](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25435934/2150500271.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
In forests across the United States, two “broods,” of these noisy insects will crawl out from their underground dwellings to sprout wings, mate, lay eggs, and die.
![Watch Sir David Attenborough seduce a cicada with the snap of his fingers](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22530364/1233012966.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=15.744680851064%2C0%2C66.755319148936%2C100&w=2400)
![Watch Sir David Attenborough seduce a cicada with the snap of his fingers](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22530364/1233012966.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.066401062417%2C100%2C99.867197875166&w=2400)
How to summon a cicada.
![Should humans get their own geologic era?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432128/VDC_XEC_040_anthropocene_thumb_syn.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=27.135416666667%2C0%2C56.25%2C100&w=2400)
![Should humans get their own geologic era?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432128/VDC_XEC_040_anthropocene_thumb_syn.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.8125%2C0%2C84.375%2C100&w=2400)
The debate over the Anthropocene epoch, explained.
![Where billions of cicadas will emerge this spring (and over the next decade), in one map](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25242389/Periodical_Cicada_Broods_of_the_United_States__1_.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=11.239449133718%2C0%2C77.521101732563%2C100&w=2400)
![Where billions of cicadas will emerge this spring (and over the next decade), in one map](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25242389/Periodical_Cicada_Broods_of_the_United_States__1_.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C7.0009551098376%2C100%2C85.998089780325&w=2400)
Cicadas will hear the call of spring. And then you’ll hear their mating calls, too.
![Could bird flu cause a human pandemic?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25427072/1255046695.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![Could bird flu cause a human pandemic?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25427072/1255046695.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Here’s what’s worrying experts right now about H5N1’s spread among dairy cows — and what isn’t.
![The failed promise of egg freezing](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25420151/GettyImages_1486000980__1_.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=10%2C0%2C80%2C100&w=2400)
The costly procedure was supposed to give women a new kind of freedom. Is that what it really offers?
![We could be heading into the hottest summer of our lives](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25420518/1653666068.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.732804232804%2C0%2C66.534391534392%2C100&w=2400)
![We could be heading into the hottest summer of our lives](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25420518/1653666068.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.099206349206355%2C0%2C99.801587301587%2C100&w=2400)
High temperatures across the US have the potential to increase risks for drought, wildfires, and hurricanes.
![The unexpected joy of the Squirrel Census](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25405125/24_vox_squirrel_main_v2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=21.875%2C0%2C56.25%2C100&w=2400)
How a neighborhood project to count squirrels bound me to my wild kin.
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