Issue 09

International development was revolutionized by experiments and evaluations of its methods. Meta-science can learn from it.

Fire has almost disappeared as a cause of death in the developed world. A similar approach could do the same for infectious diseases.

Snakebites kill between 80,000 and 140,000 people every year. Better antivenom should be a high priority – thankfully new technology can help.

Though we tend to see history as just one political event after another, it’s technology and ideas, not politics, that change our lives the most. History should reflect that.

Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence are forcing skeptics to eat their words. We should take its risks seriously too.

Scientific papers are dense, jargon-filled, and painful to read. It wasn’t always this way – and it doesn’t have to be.