Screening Babies, Stopping Asteroids, and Making Laptops

The nutshell: Almost every American newborn is screened for more than 50 genetic disorders—most of which you haven’t heard of. UCLA sociologist Timmermans and UNC anthropologist Buchbinder spent three years following doctors and patients in a Southern California clinic specializing in the treatment of children’s metabolic disorders to find out how these tests affect families.

Literary lovechild of: Francis S. Collins’ The Language of Life: DNA and the Revolution in Personalized Medicine and Dena S. Davis’ Genetic Dilemmas: Reproductive Technology, Parental Choices, and Children’s Futures.

You’ll find it on your bookshelf if: …

December 5, 2012

There’s More To Space Than Freeze-Dried Ice Cream

NASA’s Programs Have Helped Us Understand the Universe—Not To Mention Given Us the Jet Ski

by Sarah Rothbard | November 14, 2012

It’s an exciting time to be studying, thinking, and dreaming about space, with the NASA Curiosity rover’s exploration of Mars and the rise of private companies like SpaceX. But as …

Forget Humans In Space, But Keep the Awesome Robots

In the Third Age of Discovery, We Must Set Priorities

by Stephen J. Pyne | November 13, 2012

The tableau remains iconic. On February 1, 1958, at a press conference to celebrate America’s first satellite launch, three men held aloft a mockup of the satellite, Explorer 1. Werner …

Whoa, There’s a Freaking Space Shuttle On Crenshaw

Photographs of Endeavour’s Languid Trek Through L.A.

October 16, 2012

It only took a few hours for the space shuttle Endeavour to crisscross all of California on the back of a 747 last month. If you went out for a …

“Privatizing” Space

Companies Shoot for the Stars, but Uncle Sam Still Pays the Bills

by Konstantin Kakaes | May 16, 2012

Later this week, a Falcon 9 rocket built by SpaceX, a young company founded by Elon Musk, is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The rocket will carry …

To the Moon, Newt!

Gingrich’s Wasteful, Scientifically Unsound Plan to Put Colonists on Lunar Soil

by Lawrence M. Krauss | January 30, 2012

Newt Gingrich described himself as a visionary when he unveiled plans Wednesday to create a mammoth new space program, including a permanent colony on the moon within the next nine …

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