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NASA's DART Mission Could Help Cancel an Asteroid Apocalypse

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November 19, 2021

Planetary Science

NASA's DART Mission Could Help Cancel an Asteroid Apocalypse

Our planet is vulnerable to thousands of "city-killer" space rocks. If—when—one is found on a collision course with Earth, will we be ready to deflect it?

By Robin George Andrews

Biotech

Gel-Based Sensor Continuously Monitors Wounds for Infection

The device can sit beneath a bandage and send infection alerts directly to a smartphone

By Sophie Bushwick

Vaccines

COVID Quickly, Episode 19: Mandate Roadblocks, Boosters for All, and Sickness in the Zoo

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American's senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between.

You can listen to all past episodes here.

By Josh Fischman,Tanya Lewis,Jeffery DelViscio | 09:08

Ecology

Newfound Ocean Hotspot Draws Millions of Migrating Birds Each Year

Scientists hope to protect these critical international waters

By Rebecca Dzombak

Fitness

Texting Thumb, Trigger Finger, Gamer's Thumb and Other Smartphone Injuries

What causes them and how to protect yourself 

By Carolyn Barber

Climate Change

Fearing Liability, U.S. Resists U.N. Fund for Climate Damages

The relucatance reflects long-standing concerns over climate-related litigation

By Jean Chemnick,E&E News

Climate Change

Watch These 5 Key Issues in 2022 to See if COP26 Climate Promises Are Kept

Increasing financial commitments and strengthening emissions reduction targets are crucial steps

By Rachel Kyte,The Conversation US

Diet

The Weight Game: How Body-Size Bias Can Hold Back Health Science

For decades, assumptions about weight have clouded our view of health

By Kelso Harper

Cancer

The Colon Cancer Conundrum

Colorectal cancer rates in younger adults are climbing. The race is on to figure out why

By Cassandra Willyard

Animals

Mystery of Doomed Sardine Migration Is Finally Solved

Pulses of cold seawater mislead millions of sardines into swimming along the South African coast to their death

By Nikk Ogasa

Reproduction

California Plans for a Post-Roe World as Abortion Access Shrinks Elsewhere

Abortion providers are preparing for a surge in demand from other states if the Supreme Court overturns the landmark ruling

By Rachel Bluth,Kaiser Health News

Cancer

The COVID Cancer Effect

Oncologists are grappling with predicting—and mitigating—the effects of the pandemic

By Usha Lee McFarling

Inequality

Lost Women of Science, Episode 3: The Case of the Missing Portrait

A missing portrait of physician and pathologist Dorothy Andersen takes us on a journey into the perils of memorialization—and who gets to be remembered. Pediatric intensivist Scott Baird hunts for the portrait, and psychiatry resident Nientara Anderson and emergency medicine resident Lizzy Fitzsousa, both former medical students at Yale University, explain how, in today's diverse communities, "dude walls" can have an insidious effect on those who walk past them every day

By Katie Hafner,The Lost Women of Science Initiative
FROM THE STORE

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FROM THE ARCHIVE

Why an Asteroid Strike Is like a Pandemic

Both are low-probability but catastrophic events—and both can be mitigated if we act early enough

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"If it's one less thing that anxious people have to worry about when they're trying to sleep, I think that's worth it...It's one less piece of existential dread."

Andy Rivkin, a planetary astronomer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

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