imperfect, but improving!
is my weekly newsletter, containing two scientific deep dives each week, with a focus on gratitude for how far we've come, and optimism for where we're going. Plus, some bite-sized science to keep it fun.​
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Newsletters
All previous issues of my newsletter.
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Human hobbits: A new fossil offers clues about the shortest hominid species ever discovered.
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Panting pines: Some trees can ‘hold their breath’ during forest fires.
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The Plastic Paradox:
Examining our love-hate relationship with plastic.
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The Placebo Pathway: Scientists have identified how the placebo effect reduces pain.
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Mr. Marmoset: New evidence shows that marmosets use distinct names.
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Longer lives:
Eradicating an inflammatory marker extends mice lifespan by 25%, plus an introduction to the most promising longevity drug.
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Psychedelic speedbump: What the FDA’s ruling on MDMA means for psychedelic therapy.
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Preventing pain: A new type of painkillers have shown promising results.
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Lunar haven: A newly mapped moon cave could harbor a moon base.
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Comfortably compostable: Bacteria-derived enzymes enable more compostable packaging.
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Conscious comas: Landmark study shows many comatose patients are likely conscious.
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Energy under-the-sea: Green energy investors aim to share energy between the Eastern US and the UK.
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Intelligence in the clear: High IQ doesn’t correlate with mental health disorders.
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Synthetic supply: The state of artificial blood, and why it will save lives.
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Ant amputation: Florida carpenter ants know when amputation is necessary.
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Swamp thing: A 280 million year old apex predator fossil challenges amphibian evolution.
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Integrated prostheses: A new bionic limb design enables natural movement.
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Retail meat: Lab-grown meat is available for retail purchase in Singapore.
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Psychedelic science: Funding is pouring in for modified and novel psychedelics.
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Hybrid hatchlings: Cross-species songbirds learn to sing faster, and with more range.
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Ape antidotes: Chimps possess remarkable knowledge of medicinal plants.
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RNA everywhere: Most of our DNA codes for... RNA?
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Mosquitoes in Maui: Scientists are releasing mosquitoes in Hawaii to save birds.
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Voyager’s vitality: Humanity's most distant traveler is fully operational again.
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Deathly distinction: DNA analysis of sacrificed Mayans yields surprising results.
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IBD inducer: A sequence of DNA has been identified as a driver of IBD.
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Dumbo ain't dumb: Elephants seem to call one another by name.
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Supernova ‘scars’: Supernovae shower Earth surprisingly often.
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Dad's diet: A male's weight and diet impacts their childrens’ epigenetics.
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Giga-goose: Giant prehistoric bird skull found, and it looks like a big goose.
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Wasp warfare: Some wasp species have domesticated viruses as bioweapons.
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Bouba/Kiki in birds: Newly hatched chicks equate "Bouba" with round shapes.
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Foreign features: Viral DNA insertions have shaped evolution - and us.
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Counting caws: Crows are the first animal we have documented to count aloud.
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Facing fears: Experiences that occur on the knife's edge between life and death have surprisingly positive effects.
Newsletter 20 - May 19th
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Fish stock status: Our seafood sources have changed, and that helps fish stocks.
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Speaking whale: Scientists have found new complexities in sperm whale communication.
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Transforming transfusions: A gut bacteria enzyme can transform blood types.
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Inflammation administration: Scientists identify nerve bundles that control inflammation.
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Hastened healing: Our time perception has a physiological effect on the body.
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Noisy nesting: City soundscapes have significant effects on developing birds.
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Time warping: The clutter and scale of an image affects our time perception.
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Critter consciousness: A new Declaration on invertebrates' ability to experience.
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Directing dreams: Dream engineering hopes to modify dreams for the better.
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Teacher toads: Scientists save an apex predator in Australia from cane toads.
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Sweeping slumber: Sleep started before the brain.
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Sustainable snakes: Pythons are surprisingly efficient livestock.
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Aquatic carbon capture: Startups are trying to sequester carbon from seawater.
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3D-printed pine: Scientists successfully create 3D-printing ink from natural wood.
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Bird body-language: Symbolic gestures have been directly observed in birds.
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Refreshing reforestation: Decades of reforesting work are cooling the East US.
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Supple solar: Truly flexible solar cells are quickly moving from sci-fi to reality.
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Decreasing divorce: Divorce rates have been trending downwards for decades.
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Abundance mindset: Most Resources have become less scarce over time.
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A plant's best friend: Predators are essential in ecosystem restorations.
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Wild dreams: There is potential for wild mammal populations to rebound.
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Hungry hounds: 25% of labradors have a gene that makes them hungrier.
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Mammal metamorphosis: The balance of mammals on Earth has changed.
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A clucking connection: Humans can intuit chicken emotions just by listening.
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Ancestral footprint: How many Earths would a more primitive lifestyle require?
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VRats: Clever study proves rats can imagine.
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Terminating tropical diseases: Our first vaccine for malaria.
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Inverted vision: We can adapt to an upside down world, but flies can't.
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Conscious creatures: What do scientists think about animal minds?
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A scythe to sickle-cell: CRISPR has been used in a clinical application.
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Abundance mindset: Most Resources have become less scarce over time.
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A plant's best friend: Predators are essential in ecosystem restorations.
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Peak child: There probably won't be as many people as we thought.
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AI in the jungle: Recording soundscapes is a good way to track biodiversity.
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Solar's time to shine: renewable energy grew 50% faster in 2023 than in 2022!
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Migration alteration: Humans arrived in the Americas earlier than we thought.
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Infant mortality: babies are getting better at living.
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Surf on Turf: shrimp, discovered on land!
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Understanding the two deadliest viruses humanity has ever faced.
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An alternative to needles for injections.
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Citizens in refugee-recipient nations are still supportive of refugees.