Animal organs are one potential solution. But it’s not easy to overcome the human body’s natural revolt against them. For example, sugars on the surface of pig tissue can send our immune... Read more »

Access to abortion care has narrowed dramatically in the US. But there’s been one big shift in the other direction: the ability to access care without leaving home. In 2021, during the... Read more »

Chip companies such as Intel and Arm have long kept their blueprints proprietary. Customers would buy off-the-shelf chips, which may have had capabilities irrelevant to their product, or pay more for a... Read more »

Today, scientists can even analyze microscopic traces of DNA found in dirt Neanderthals urinated in—no teeth or bones required. In November, the field now known as paleogenetics took center stage when Svante... Read more »

Recycling may help. Older methods of processing spent batteries struggled to reliably recover enough of these individual metals to make recycling economical. But new approaches have swiftly changed that, enabling recyclers to... Read more »

For decades, high-end precision-strike American aircraft, such as the Predator and Reaper, dominated drone warfare. The war in Ukraine, however, has been defined by low-budget models made in China, Iran, or Turkey.... Read more »

A mix of forces has propelled the vehicles from a niche choice to a mainstream option.  Governments have enacted policies compelling automakers to retool and incentivizing consumers to make the switch. Notably,... Read more »

Japan has been developing robots to care for older people for over two decades, with public and private investment accelerating markedly in the 2010s. By 2018, the national government alone had spent... Read more »

—Jessica Hamzelou This story is from The Checkup, Jessica’s weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things biotech. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. You may... Read more »