Can AI review the scientific literature — and figure out what it all means?
Nature, 13 Nov 2024
Artificial intelligence could help speedily summarize research. But it comes with risks.
Scientists are building giant ‘evidence banks’ to create policies that actually work
Nature, 21 Sep 2024
Funders launch projects with US$70 million to develop tools that make rapid syntheses of the world’s science.
The science of protests: how to shape public opinion and swing votes
Nature, 26 Jun 2024
Demonstrations are on the rise, and scientists are revealing which types work best.
What’s the best way to tackle climate change? An ‘evidence bank’ could help scientists find answers
Nature, 06 Jun 2024
Synthesizing research on which policies are most effective is a key priority in climate science, advocates say.
The Science-Politics Power Struggle
Issues in Science & Technology, 05 Jun 2024
Book review of 'When Science Meets Power' by Geoff Mulgan.
The rise of eco-anxiety: scientists wake up to the mental-health toll of climate change
Nature, 10 Apr 2024
Researchers want to unpick how climate change affects mental health around the world — from lives that are disrupted by catastrophic weather to people who are anxious about the future.
How to find meaning in your science career: six expert tips
Nature, 26 Feb 2024
Philosophers, social scientists and a Nobel-prizewinning economist on how researchers can get satisfaction from their work — and make a difference to the world.
Medical-evidence giant Cochrane battles funding cuts and closures
Nature, 01 Sep 2023
The group that helped to revolutionize medical practice has lost key funding and is reorganizing — moves that concern some researchers.
COVID derailed learning for 1.6 billion students. Here’s how schools can help them catch up
Nature, 25 May 2022
The pandemic is the largest disruption to education in history. But research has identified ways to help children make up lost ground. Will they work in classrooms around the world?
How COVID broke the evidence pipeline
Nature, 12 May 2021
The COVID crisis exposed major weaknesses in the production and use of research-based evidence. Researchers have registered more than 2,900 clinical trials related to COVID-19, but the majority are too small or poorly designed to be of much use. Organizations worldwide have scrambled to synthesize the available evidence on drugs, masks and other key issues, but can’t keep up with the outpouring of new research, and often repeat others’ work. This story examines how COVID stress-tested the way in which the world produces evidence - and revealed all the flaws.
The other C word
Literary Review, 08 Mar 2021
In the last decade, CRISPR technology it has become one of the hottest fields in biological research on account of the powerful, sometimes controversial uses it could find, including the cure of genetic diseases and crop enhancement. This is the subject of The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson, which tells the story of the juicily competitive race to develop CRISPR technology.
Where does it all go?
Literary review, 05 Aug 2019
The Centre for Time Use Research at University College London has amassed a unique collection of time-use diaries from over twenty-five countries, including approximately one million days of data. This unique information bank forms the basis for the book What We Really Do All Day, reviewed in this article.
