Culture

How Did HIV/AIDS Prepare Us for COVID-19?

Forty years after a 1981 report hinted at the coming HIV/AIDS pandemic, we look at how the response to global public health threats has changed.

By Jason Socrates Bardi and Aria Vyas

Misinformation is a Public Health Crisis—So Let’s Treat it That Way

The fast transmission of bad information is dangerous. A new approach employs “infodemiologists” to fight outbreaks.

By Joanna Cheek

New Technologies Demand New Rituals

Are 21st century rites of passage an essential human need?

By Joel Garreau

30 Great Gifts for Biologically Inspired People

Featuring cactus shoes, custom probiotics, never-ending glow sticks, and more.

By Jane Metcalfe

What is Asexuality?

A conversation with Angela Chen, author of “Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex.”

By Anna Nowogrodzki

Get Up to Speed On the State of Eco-Fashion

The race is on to bioengineer carbon-neutral, recyclable, biodegradable, and affordable materials.

By Alden Wicker

5 Books That Grapple with the Thorny Issue of Genetics and Race

These scholars of color combine scientific inquiry and social justice.

By Georgia Frances King

A New Kind of Natural

An artist imagines life forms that will arise from the convergence of technology and biology.

By Becky Lyon

6 Books, Movies, and Shows to Bend Your Neocortex This Winter

Nanobots that find you a soul mate, a Frankenstein remix, and other stories that turn the neobiological revolution inside out.

By Devon Maloney

Vanilla Memories

Gene editing scrambles a family’s connections in this original sci-fi story for NEO.LIFE.

By Hannu Rajaniemi