Can Auditing Scientific Research Help Fix Its Reproducibility Crisis?
New research predicts that audits would reduce the number of false positive results from 30.2 per 100 papers to 12.3 per 100.
National Institutes of Health
The NIH Just Announced a Billion-Dollar Initiative to Combat Opioid Addiction
On Wednesday, federal science and policy speakers outlined their plans for combating opioid addiction.
What's Trump's Budget Means for Space, Health, and Basic Science in America
Under Trump's request, NASA's budget would hold steady, while the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation would see their funding slashed.
Trump's CDC Word Ban Is Institutional Warfare
The banned CDC words represent the deliberate erasure of certain concepts—and people—from the bureaucratic categories that are channels for state power.
The One Law That Could Help Bring About an End to America's Gun Crisis
The right move isn't to legislate; it's to repeal.
Would Washington’s FDA Fix Cure the Patients or the Drug Industry?
A bill that would speed up approval for medications and medical devices shows how a major initiative can get traction even in the midst of Washington gridlock—but critics say all the lobbying is drowning out some warnings about patient safety.
All Chimpanzees Are Now Classified as Endangered—40 Years Too Late
The U.S. government classifies all chimpanzees as endangered, after decades of stalling.
The Guatemala Experiments
In the late 1940s, a group of doctors and researchers traveled to Guatemala and conducted extensive and often ghastly STD experiments there. This is the story behind who was responsible, what the test subjects did and didn’t know, and the onerous task of meting out justice.
How America Overdosed on Drug Courts
Hailed as the most compassionate way for the criminal justice system to deal with addicts, drug courts were designed to balance punishment with rehabilitation. But after 25 years, the verdict is in: Drug courts embolden judges to practice medicine without a license—and they put lives in danger.
Do We Need Formal Quality Standards for Science?
New guidelines proposed by the National Institutes of Health have already been rejected by several major scientific journals.
Big Pharma Is Keeping Us From Developing Low-Cost Cancer Treatments
Big Pharma’s focus on blockbuster cancer drugs squeezes out research into potential treatments that are more affordable. Says one researcher: "What is scientific and sexy is driven by what can be monetized."
The 30 Top Thinkers Under 30: Jon Freeman, 27, Psychology
For the month of April we're profiling the individuals who made our inaugural list of the 30 top thinkers under 30, the young men and women we predict will have a serious impact on the social, political, and economic issues we cover every day here at Pacific Standard.
How We're Unintentionally Defunding the National Institutes of Health
In 1998, Congress voted to double the budget of the NIH over the next five years. Ten years later, Michael White looks back on what actually happened.