Dec 22, 2025

SCIENCE

Restricting Loans for Health Care Workers Should Outrage Us All

Among coming changes to the federal student loan system are different caps for those pursuing graduate versus professional degree programs — a classification that would notably exclude allied health p...

Uzma RentiaUndark MagazineDecember 22, 2025

Latest in Science

Science

Interview: How the U.S. Government Monitors Vaccine Safety

Amid an overhaul in federal health policy, biostatistician Jeffrey Morris published a new paper assessing the country’s vaccine safety surveillance system. Undark sat down with Morris to discuss how t...

Sara TalposUndark Magazine12/19/2025

Science

Trump Supporters Distrust Science. We Need New Ways to Engage.

The American scientific system was once the envy of the world. But shifts in grant funding, the closure of research centers, and attacks on universities mean our national research enterprise can no lo...

Paul M. SutterUndark Magazine12/18/2025

Science

What Anti-Vaccine Policies Could Mean for Autoimmune Diseases

A new study identifies the link between Epstein-Barr virus and lupus, an autoimmune disease which predominantly affects women. The finding raises the possibility that a vaccine against the virus could...

Giamila FantuzziUndark Magazine12/17/2025

Science

How Much Water Do AI Data Centers Really Use?

You may have seen estimates of how much water a ChatGPT prompt uses, including the statistic that writing an email with AI consumes an entire bottle of water. But calculating such a figure is more com...

Molly TaftUndark Magazine12/16/2025

Science

Amid a Satellite Boom, Scientists Warn of Emissions Risks

With hundreds of satellites launched each year and tens of thousands more planned, scientists are increasingly concerned about an emerging problem: emissions from the fuels burned in launches and from...

Jon GertnerUndark Magazine12/15/2025

Science

Why Lab-Grown Brain Cells Might Never Become Conscious

Neural organoids — tiny clusters of brain cells grown in the laboratory to mimic parts of the human brain — have been used to study everything from bipolar disorder and Alzheimer’s disease to tumors a...

Sara TalposUndark Magazine12/12/2025

Science

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Shouldn’t Just Be a Last Resort

When treating clinical depression, insurance companies tend to prioritize the least expensive treatments over ones that may be pricier, even if it’s not in the patient’s best interest. Transcranial Ma...

Michael C. MaroneUndark Magazine12/11/2025

Science

Can Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Affect Gender Identity?

Some scientists have speculated whether early exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals might play a role in gender dysphoria. Attempts to explore this association, however, are highly contentious be...

Charles SchmidtUndark Magazine12/10/2025

Science

The Diminishing Oversight of Livestock Grazing on Public Lands

With dwindling federal oversight, cattle are grazing where they’re not supposed to and degrading the land. This can spread invasive plants, pushing out native species and worsening wildfire risk. Thou...

ProPublica and High Country NewsUndark Magazine12/9/2025