Repeated studies have shown that physical inactivity, and the occurrence of obesity to which it is linked, increases the risk for many chronic diseases, including breast and other cancers.

In fact, the evidence is so compelling that the...

When asked about major threats to their country, Europeans are more likely than Americans to cite global climate change, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Just 56 percent of Americans see climate change as a major threat, versus an average of 64 percent of Europeans surveyed.

Wh...

The Nobel Foundation statutes decree that “in no case” can a Nobel Prize be divided between more than three people. So it may not raise many eyebrows that the 2017 award in physics went to just three scientists on the LIGO team for...

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, reporters warned of a “stew of toxic chemicals, sewage, debris and waste” in Houston’s floodwaters.

It isn’t just Harvey. Hurricanes Irma and Maria and other floods and storms heighten the risks for contamination, environmental hazards and dis...

“00O made it!” There was some news to celebrate on Sept. 28 in the email chain of scientists who work at the Cayo Santiago Field Station. Cayo Santiago is a 38-acre tropical island off the coast of Puerto Rico and home to approximately 1,500 rhesus monkeys, earning it the local...

What self-driving cars want, and what people want from them, varies widely. And often these desires are at odds with each other. For instance, carmakers – and the designers of the software that will run autonomous vehicles – know that it’s safest if...

The recent mass shooting in Las Vegas that left dozens of people dead and hundreds injured raises two important questions: How do dangerous people get their guns? And what should the police and courts be doing to make those transactions more difficult?

The fact is that, even leaving aside the assault in Las Vegas and terrorist attacks like the...

Circadian rhythms control when we’re at our peak performance physically and mentally each day, keeping our lives ticking in time with Earth’s day/night cycle. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three American...

Editor’s note: This is a roundup of gun control articles published by scholars from the U.S. and two other countries where deadly mass shootings are far less common.

An underresearched epidemic

Guns are a leading cause of death of Americans of all ages, including children. Yet “while gun violence is a public health problem, it is not...

By now, most people are aware of the enormity of the opioid epidemic. In 2015, over 33,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose – more from opioid pain relievers than heroin.

Just because someone experiments with opioids doesn’t mean that he or he will become addicted. However,...