There’s a simple story of the greenhouse effect: A blanket of carbon dioxide envelops the planet, letting sunlight in but trapping its heat. As a result, Earth warms. But how does this actually work? Carbon dioxide amounts to only a tiny smattering of gas molecules — 0.042%, or roughly 420 parts per million — in… Continue reading The Quantum Mechanics of Greenhouse Gases
Why U.S. Public Health Needs Employers at the Table
The U.S. economic engine runs on the health of its workforce. Yet, for all the talk about GDP growth and global competitiveness, we ignore the role of public health in sustaining economic vitality. It’s time to change that. U.S. employers should become central players in the public health system, not just passive beneficiaries. The CDC,… Continue reading Why U.S. Public Health Needs Employers at the Table
The Climate Change Paradox | Quanta Magazine
The Earth’s atmosphere is nothing but freely roaming molecules. Left alone, they would drift and collide, and eventually even out into a mixture that’s dynamic, yet stable and broadly unchanging. The sun’s rays complicate things. Energy enters the Earth system in daily cycles, the bulk of it going to whichever half of the planet is… Continue reading The Climate Change Paradox | Quanta Magazine
Protecting the Public from the Risk of Political Violence
The attack on Charlie Kirk was not just a murder. It was an assault on the thousands of attendees who were there, victimizing them by making them unwilling participants in a sniper assassination. More broadly, it was an attack on civic participation and open debate—the lifeblood of democratic governance. There is, unfortunately, a risk of… Continue reading Protecting the Public from the Risk of Political Violence
Photos Capture the Extreme, Beautiful Work of Climate Science
Nearly 170 years ago, a scientist named Eunice Foote discovered a fundamental truth about the gases that surround us. In her home laboratory in New York, she filled one glass cylinder with carbon dioxide and another with regular air, placed a thermometer in each and left them out in the sun. Less than 20 minutes… Continue reading Photos Capture the Extreme, Beautiful Work of Climate Science
Los Angeles Is Getting Hotter: How to Keep Renters Cool
This commentary was originally published by Los Angeles Times on September 15, 2025. Sweating inside your apartment as the temperature climbs is becoming ever more common in Los Angeles and, as extreme heat keeps intensifying, more dangerous. Last month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that will require landlords to ensure… Continue reading Los Angeles Is Getting Hotter: How to Keep Renters Cool
Tiny Tubes Reveal Clues to the Evolution of Complex Life
Intermediate Interest The eukaryotic cell, in some ways, looks as though it came out of nowhere. Unlike bacteria and archaea, which are much older forms of life called prokaryotes, a eukaryotic cell has a double membrane of lipids around it. It also has mitochondria — remnants of formerly free-living bacteria — providing energy, a nucleus… Continue reading Tiny Tubes Reveal Clues to the Evolution of Complex Life
Revival: Americans Heading Back to the Hinterlands
This is the second of a two-part series on the Great Dispersion of Americans across the country. Read the first installment here. The famous New Yorker magazine cover showing much of civilization ending at the Hudson River, save for Chicago, D.C., and then the West Coast, had more than a grain of truth for much of… Continue reading Revival: Americans Heading Back to the Hinterlands
One Woman’s Pharmaceutical Journey to a Good Night’s Sleep
This Nature Outlook is editorially independent, produced with financial support from Avadel. I never had issues with sleep until the COVID-19 pandemic. A couple of months into lockdown in 2020, I found myself unable to fall or stay asleep. My worries played on an unstoppable loop, and the longer I lay in bed, the more… Continue reading One Woman’s Pharmaceutical Journey to a Good Night’s Sleep
How to Scale Up AI in Government
State and local governments are experimenting with artificial intelligence but lack systematic approaches to scale these efforts effectively and integrate AI into government operations. Instead, efforts have been piecemeal and slow, leaving many practitioners struggling to keep up with the ever-evolving uses of AI for transforming governance and policy implementation. While some state and local… Continue reading How to Scale Up AI in Government