Despite the uncertainties – and dangers – of retaliating against suspected cyberattackers, a surprising number of companies and countries are exploring doing just that.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Analysis and Comment
Teens get a bad rap as selfish, dangerous risk-takers. But neuroscience and psychology research is revising that image: Adolescents are primed to help those around them, with positive benefits for all.
Throughout the world, unique sites of natural and cultural heritage are protected for future generations. But what about sites on the moon that represent the beginning of the human space age?
When it comes to picking a new password, people's resistance to change can make them less secure online.
Every device that you use, every company you do business with, every online account you create – they all collect data about you and analyze it to figure out minute details of your life.
Russia's efforts to sow discord, discontent and chaos extend far beyond the US, including into leading media outlets in the Arab world.
Left off publications due to Nazi prejudice, this Jewish woman lost her rightful place in the scientific pantheon as the discoverer of nuclear fission.
A brief line in the State of the Union address hints at an exciting year for commercial spaceflight companies in the US. After an eight year lull, US rockets will again carry astronauts into space.
Will your marriage be better if you and your partner are genetically compatible? Is there any evidence that certain genes make someone a better or worse partner? And if so, which genes should we test?
Predictions suggest that Africa will suffer dramatic losses of crops and productive land as the climate warms. Perhaps adopting GM crops designed to tolerate stress can save the continent from famine.
2019 is the International Year of the Periodic Table. The person who typically gets credit for its creation is Dimitri Mendeleev. But there were many more chemists who should be recognized.
It's 2019. And yet faxing is still often more secure, easier to use and better suited to existing work habits than computer-based messaging.
Blockchain technology was supposed to make trust unnecessary – but that turns out not to be true. Most people will want laws and regulations to help make blockchain-based systems trustworthy.
Virtual private network companies make lots of promising claims about their services. Most people don't have the skills to double-check their providers. So this group of researchers did the testing.
When it snows, it pours – but why do municipalities treat the roads with salt? A chemist explains how salt affects water and ice.
Facebook's focus on personalizing ads has created new tools for businesses to interact with customers and to connect coworkers.
Science of love
Even when everything's going great in your relationship, you likely harbor some ambivalence toward your partner deep down. Psychology research suggests it's not just OK, but normal.
It might be human nature to undervalue what's chugging along doing fine while imagining there's a mythical 'best' partner out there somewhere. A psychology researcher has advice.
A cold, logical list of attributes sought in a partner is cast aside by the hot emotions that come up in real life. A psychology researcher explains how this 'hot-cold empathy gap' works in dating.
Facebook at 15
Facebook users no longer see the site as a confidant. They're struggling with how to deal with a messy codependence – and whether to just break up and move on with healthier friends.
Facebook's focus on personalizing ads has created new tools for businesses to interact with customers and to connect coworkers.
Gene-editing people
The announcement of the birth of babies with edited genes has been met by a deluge of scientific and ethical criticism. Public discussion focuses on risks and benefits – was breaking this taboo worth it?
A Chinese scientist has revealed he edited the DNA of twin girls born through in vitro fertilization. These girls are designed to be resistant to HIV. Is the edit a medical necessity or an enhancement?
Research and Expert Database
Many researchers have studied the impact of carbon dioxide and heat on crop growth inside greenhouses. But what happens in the real world? One team has just done this and the results are surprising.
The cloud lies under the ocean. Thin cables about as big around as a garden hose traverse the Earth's oceans carrying all our intercontinental internet data.
When geneticists create mice with special traits, there is no way to be sure that they will be inherited by the offspring. But a new genetic tool called a gene drive may fix the problem.
When you're warm and cozy inside, it can be natural to wonder if the animals you see outside your window this winter are doing OK. Don't worry – they're doing better out there than you would.
If you want to really learn your way around a new place, paper maps still trump digital options.
It's all about mating success.
Forests in the US face many threats: climate change, invasive species, pests and pathogens. Could genetically engineering trees make these plants more resilient?
Big lines and long distances to walk have plagued airports since the dawn of the jet age. New designs and technologies haven't helped much, even if they're visually impressive.
What you remember of your last meal affects when and how much you eat next time around. Neuroscientists have now identified neurons in the brain's hippocampus that are crucial to this process.
Researchers found that aggressive messaging and framing current events as a 'war on science' had different effects on how liberals and conservatives felt about scientists' credibility.
Museums' collections are a priceless resource for scientists, but they're not easy to access. Digitizing specimens – like the 700 bat skulls the author studied – is a way to let everyone in.
Eight decades after missing aviator Amelia Earhart was declared dead, technologies still don't quite track every airplane all over the globe.
Many of the crop plants that feed us waste 20 percent of their energy, especially in hot weather. Plant geneticists prove that capturing this energy could boost crop yields by up to 40 percent.
Sociologists know what conditions make it more likely a mass delusion will take hold and spread through a group – whether adherence to a fashion fad or belief in a doomsday cult.
Scholars and skeptics warned about Facebook long before its founder was even born. Technology companies keep asking for more and more data and proving they can't be trusted.
Most Read past week
- Your relationship may be better than you think – find the knot
- Who’s stronger? An immunological battle of the sexes
- Most Americans don’t realize what companies can predict from their data
- Salt doesn’t melt ice – here’s how it actually makes winter streets safe
- How your genes could affect the quality of your marriage
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