WEIRD ANTHROPOLOGY
The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East via AP – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Published: 2026 Oct 06 – Conflicting information about the death of a lab worker at a Russian plague research institute has …
Chronic wounds, like diabetic foot ulcers, can take ages to heal and risk getting infected. Towfiqu Barbhuiya / Pexels – By Abhimanyu Ghoshal 2026 Oct 07 – Researchers have found that vanillin, the compound found in vanilla pods, is not only an aromatic flavoring agent …
Some molecules have ‘mirror images,’ and while one form can be helpful, the other can be harmful. BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images – By Sajish Mathew, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore Published: 2026 Oct 07 – The effects a drug …
A cube of natural uranium from the German nuclear project. John T. Consoli, University of Maryland College Park, MD. – By Mike McRae 2026 Oct 06 – In the final weeks of the Second World War, a team of Germany’s most gifted scientists threw …
Oura started it all in 2015. https://ouraring.com/blog/history-of-oura(Oura) – By Howard Armitage 2026 Oct 02 – There was a time when intelligent rings were what your level-three wizard wore in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Now Amazon will sell you one for less than a …
Women are taking a more active role in jihadi organizations. Syria Deeply/https://deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/syria – By Sara Harmouch, Research Fellow in Counterterrorism, George Washington University Published: 2026 Oct 01 – Khadra Essa, a Somali-born Dutch citizen operating in Syria under the name Umm Qaqa al-Somali, is …
Infecting female mosquitos with a common bacteria could stop them from reproducing. (Rollerblade/Canva) – By Emma Schneck 2026 Oct 01 – Earlier this summer, Google’s Debug program made headlines by applying to the EPA for permits to release droves of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes across …
Opioid epidemic has a new threat. (birgl/pixabay/Canva) – By Mike McRae 2026 Sep 29 – A synthetic opioid up to 10 times stronger than fentanyl is attracting attention as an emerging global threat, having been officially tied to more than 40 fatal overdoses over …
In the movie ‘War Games’ an AI plays a game with the real threat of triggering nuclear Armageddon. Courtesy of United Artists/Amazon MGM Studios – By Deven Desai, Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Associate Director for Law, Policy, and Ethics at the Machine …
AI has a concept of pain, and may hurt you to make it stop. (Shubham Dhage/Pexels/Canva) – By Mike McRae 2026 Sep 28 – A test of AI models has found that a handful will choose actions that harm the user if it makes …
