Science

David Attenborough at 100, an appreciation

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:24:41 GMT

Attenborough continues to explore new scientific opportunities and discoveries in covering all aspects of the natural world. His series are distinguished by a systematic approach, to groups of organisms or specific eco-systems, grounded in the history of science.

Global warming is heating rivers, endangering human food supplies

Wed, 27 May 2026 02:23:44 GMT

Rivers around the world are losing oxygen, which threatens resources on which millions depend.

California scholars demand accountability for death of Chinese researcher Danhao Wang

Wed, 20 May 2026 03:19:23 GMT

California Scholars for Academic Freedom's Professor Stephen Roddy opposes the McCarthyite witch-hunt targeting Chinese scientists at American universities and calls for transparency over the recent suicide at the University of Michigan of Danhao Wang.

Science magazine investigates FBI’s witch-hunt against Chinese researchers

Mon, 18 May 2026 03:31:36 GMT

Science magazine, one of the most prestigious peer-reviewed publications in the world, has published an investigative report titled “Researching While Chinese,” detailing the Department of Justice (DOJ) persecution of Chinese researchers at the University of Michigan and Indiana University.

WHO declares Ebola public health emergency as Trump cuts cripple global disease surveillance

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:46:40 GMT

The WHO's emergency declaration exposes a global health system in collapse, with surveillance programs terminated, WHO defunded and the CDC barred from international coordination.

What science knows about Andes hantavirus and why governments ignore it

Sat, 16 May 2026 04:51:53 GMT

The 2026 cruise ship outbreak has thrust into global view a pathogen with a 40 percent fatality rate, no approved treatment and a person-to-person transmission capability that capitalist governments chose to study as little as possible.

Socialism AI and the political education of the working class

Wed, 13 May 2026 04:49:44 GMT

This speech was delivered by Evan Blake, a Socialist Equality Party (US) National Committee member, at the 2026 May Day Online Rally, organized by the WSWS and the ICFI.

Federal agents seize Indiana University lab: Witch-hunt against Chinese scientists targets senior US faculty

Tue, 12 May 2026 03:00:35 GMT

Government agents have locked down a biology laboratory at Indiana University, attacking Professor Roger Innes for defending his Chinese postdoctoral researcher against fabricated federal charges.

Record low western US snowpack threatens water supplies for millions

Fri, 08 May 2026 22:39:33 GMT

The heat wave in March led to a record collapse in snowpack across much of the American west, threatening already overstressed water supplies for millions

The MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak and the threat of another pandemic

Fri, 08 May 2026 04:52:04 GMT

Six years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the institutions of public health have been so thoroughly dismantled that the ruling class no longer knows, or wishes to know, how far this outbreak has spread.

University of Michigan president attacks Faculty Senate chair for opposing Israel’s war on Gaza

Fri, 08 May 2026 03:41:06 GMT

Over 1,500 students, faculty and staff have signed an open letter denouncing U-M President Grasso and defending Professor Peterson. A separate alumni letter with over 750 signatures is also circulating.

The new code of silence: Texas Tech University bans gender and sexuality teaching and research

Mon, 04 May 2026 23:52:39 GMT

The draconian directive is an obvious appeal to social and intellectual backwardness and an attempt to shove ultra-right Christian ideology down the throats of faculty, students and staff.

Ypsilanti utility board halts University of Michigan nuclear weapons data center

Mon, 04 May 2026 02:10:32 GMT

The data center is an important element of the economic and military policy of the Democratic Party. Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the state Democratic establishment have worked to transform Michigan into an industrial, logistical and computational hub for the military-industrial complex.

The gutting of the NIH and the capitalist assault on public health

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 22:55:02 GMT

The dismantling of public health through NIH funding cuts, CDC censorship and Medicaid rollbacks is a deliberate attack on the working class by the capitalist elite, for whom military spending and private profit supersede any concern for the American people.

Genetic evidence suggests that human evolution accelerated with the development of agriculture

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 23:22:28 GMT

A study using ancient DNA has identified notable evolutionary adjustments to dietary, settlement, disease and other changes resulted from the adoption of agriculture in Western Eurasia.

US detains and deports Chinese scientists at Seattle-Tacoma Airport

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 01:19:50 GMT

Washington’s witch-hunt of Chinese scholars, which recently claimed a brilliant researcher’s life, exposes the imperialist push to monopolize advanced microelectronics for global conflict.

Research demonstrates that enhanced instruction in genetics can reduce racist conceptions among students

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 02:02:23 GMT

A groundbreaking study in genetics education examines the relationship between the quality of genetics education and the development of racist ideas among young people and the dire consequences for a researcher’s career.

University of Michigan subreddit censors WSWS articles on suicide of Chinese researcher

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:51:53 GMT

Following the suicide of Chinese scientist Danhao Wang, U-M subreddit moderators removed highly viewed posts demanding an investigation into the federal witch-hunt of Chinese researchers and the complicity of the university administration.

Artemis II mission concludes after astronauts travel to the Moon and safely return to Earth

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 03:39:30 GMT

The mission unfolded in the shadow of the Trump administration's war against Iran and his genocidal threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight.”

Indiana University postdoctoral fellow Youhuang Xiang sentenced to time served and ordered deported

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 02:50:20 GMT

After over four months of detention, Xiang was coerced into pleading guilty to trumped-up federal charges of smuggling innocuous E. coli plasmid DNA into the United States.

Project Hail Mary—a hopeful (but somewhat wishful) adventure

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 02:14:42 GMT

The overall result is a charming but cartoonish pastiche that, while broadly appealing, falls short of its ambition to be a truly insightful film

Suicide of U-M researcher: Stop the persecution of Chinese scientists!

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 01:55:08 GMT

The tragic death of Danhao Wang, a brilliant Chinese postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan, is the direct and fatal consequence of a vicious xenophobic campaign of harassment and intimidation orchestrated by the federal government and enabled by the university administration.

NASA’s Artemis II completes lunar flyby

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 03:48:49 GMT

The new aspects of spaceflight being carried out by Artemis II largely concern the impacts of radiation on the spacecraft and the astronauts themselves.

The Wuhan “lab leak” fraud and the institutionalization of anti-science: An interview with Dr. Peter Daszak

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 02:01:19 GMT

In this interview, Daszak responds to the inaugural “Scientific Freedom” lecture held at the National Institutes of Health under the sponsorship of NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, chosen for that position by vaccine denialist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. because he opposed any serious public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NASA’s Artemis II launches crew to the Moon for first time in 54 years

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 03:53:28 GMT

The mission, despite the scientific and engineering achievements, is driven primarily by geopolitical conflict with China.

Federal judge delays sentencing of Chinese researcher Youhuang Xiang despite “time served” plea agreement

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 03:46:57 GMT

A right-wing judge has stalled sentencing to probe fines and finances, extending Xiang’s four- month incarceration amid a DOJ/university witch-hunt of Chinese scientists.

Peter Daszak and the scientific verdict on the origins of COVID-19

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 02:22:27 GMT

New peer-reviewed studies continue to build an overwhelming case for the natural origin of COVID-19, vindicating the life’s work of Dr. Peter Daszak—the scientist who predicted this pandemic and was then witch-hunted for it.

The rate of global warming is accelerating, approaching a dangerous tipping point

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 01:09:57 GMT

Multiple recently published scientific studies all point to the increasing pace of global warming, driven by the mounting contradictions and irrationality of the capitalist system.

New AI model reads and generates genetic code across all domains of life

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 23:44:04 GMT

Trained on 9 trillion DNA base pairs from every domain of life, the Evo 2 model can predict disease-causing mutations, identify genomic features and generate entirely new genetic sequences.

The COVID-19 pandemic at 6 years: Mass death, debilitation and media silence

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 01:01:20 GMT

As the sixth anniversary of the WHO pandemic declaration passes with total media silence, wastewater data, excess death estimates and new research on Long COVID reveal an ongoing public health catastrophe sustained by bipartisan political decisions.

Kennedy deepens assault on the childhood vaccine schedule

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:41:37 GMT

Through mass firings, rigged appointments, and unilateral decrees, HHS Secretary Kennedy is dismantling the federal machinery behind childhood vaccination in the United States, provoking lawsuits from pediatricians and 15 state governments as preventable disease protections are stripped away.

Great Barrington Declaration author Jay Bhattacharya takes control of CDC as measles cases surge

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 03:59:14 GMT

The Trump administration has placed a Stanford economist who championed mass infection policies during COVID-19 as the single official in charge of both the NIH and CDC.

Kennedy’s attack on science and public health finds a platform on Theo Von’s podcast

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 04:59:29 GMT

Declaring he was “not scared of a germ” and that “he snorted cocaine off toilet seats,” RFK Jr used Theo Von’s platform to advance mistrust of science and undermine collective public health protections.

UN report calls for action on “water bankruptcy” affecting billions of people

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 01:39:39 GMT

The report warns that unsustainable water resource practices are causing potentially irreversible damage to water systems that require urgent action to rectify

Bonobo demonstrates the cognitive ability to imagine “make believe” objects

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 01:39:00 GMT

Such capacity forms the evolutionary basis for abstract symbolic thought among humans.

The Pitt Season 2 and the challenges facing a serious television drama

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 02:33:01 GMT

The second season of The Pitt is being aired in the midst of historical events that have thrust healthcare workers into the spotlight in an unprecedented manner.

The death of a maternal health advocate brings mortality crisis of African American mothers into focus

Sat, 24 Jan 2026 03:55:28 GMT

The recent death in childbirth of Dr. Janell Green Smith casts a grim light on the deplorable state of mortality among black mothers in America.

NASA closes Goddard Space Flight Center library as it dismantles astronomy infrastructure

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 02:48:25 GMT

The closure of NASA's largest research library at Goddard Space Flight Center represents a deliberate attack on scientific infrastructure and marks another step toward the privatization of space exploration.

Trump’s EPA places a zero-dollar value on human life and health

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 00:27:51 GMT

The EPA moves to gut the evaluation of the cost of health impacts in regulating toxic industrial emissions.

Sarah Friedland’s Familiar Touch: A character study of a woman with dementia

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 01:29:54 GMT

Kathleen Chalfant stands out, as she must, considering the theme of the movie. Now 81 years old, she is known for decades of work in film, television and especially theater.

CDC slashes vaccine schedule: Trump-Kennedy atrocity against children’s lives and health

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 06:15:36 GMT

The January 5, 2026 decision to revise the US childhood vaccine schedule marks a turning point in the destruction of public health.

New evidence for the earliest intentional human fire-making

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 03:07:52 GMT

The knowledge of how to make fire rather than relying on the exploitation of naturally occurring fire marked a key development in human cultural evolution.

Technology and the working class: Responding to an opponent of Socialism AI

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 18:22:25 GMT

This response seeks to clarify important issues related to the technical and political development of Socialism AI.

Measles infections in Australia reach highest level since 2019

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 04:28:36 GMT

The rise in cases of the highly contagious, potentially deadly disease, 10 years after it was eliminated, is due to attacks on vaccination and public health, in Australia and internationally.

Uncontrolled global warming causes devastating storms and floods

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:53:24 GMT

Across the globe, severe weather due to climate change is causing thousands of deaths and widespread destruction.

The science and politics of ultra-processed foods

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 02:50:51 GMT

A new Lancet Series presents the most comprehensive scientific assessment to date of ultra-processed foods. Its findings expose a global health crisis driven by industry profit, political inertia, and the transformation of food systems worldwide.

German government’s drug commissioner advocates restricting medical care for the elderly

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 05:37:35 GMT

Drug commissioner Hendrik Streeck (CDU) has underlined the inhumane and de facto murderous measures the ruling class is prepared to take by proposing drastic cuts to medical care for the elderly.

Teaching staff at Bacup secondary school in north-west England strike against virtual teaching introduced by Star Academies Trust

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 18:49:26 GMT

A reporting team from the World Socialist Web Site spoke with teaching staff about their concerns and why they have decided that strike action was necessary.

James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA’s double helix structure, dies at 97

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 23:45:28 GMT

This monumental scientific achievement occurred within a context of intense international collaboration, rapid technical advancement and from a collective scientific effort spanning decades and continents.

Vaccines, infections and chronic diseases: A new understanding

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 01:17:31 GMT

Several new studies show that viral and bacterial infections like COVID-19 are potent drivers of “non-communicable” and especially cardiovascular diseases. This finding underscores why vaccination is now a foundational pillar of prevention of all disease, not just those for which the vaccines are formulated.