The Science of Science

🌍 Prolonged heat exposure significantly impairs students’ cognitive abilities and academic performance, particularly in complex subjects like math (LA Times)

OSHA’s first ever federal heat-stress rule to protect workers is moving forward (Grist)

And thank god for that, especially since 87% of voters across party lines support heat protections for workers, and 76% support requiring landlords to provide air conditioning to renters during extreme heat events (Data For Progress)

Companies downplaying their climate efforts through “greenhushing” may be inadvertently increasing the cost of emissions reductions, as corporations avoid discussing environmental goals to dodge greenwashing accusations and political attacks (Bloomberg)

A new IRENA report reveals that 91% of new renewable energy projects commissioned in 2025 were cheaper than fossil fuels (solar PV being 41% cheaper and onshore wind 53% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel options) (IRENA)

Disaster aid distribution is deeply inequitable, with low-income applicants waiting 57 days for FEMA grants compared to 37 days for others, and wealthy families receiving 28% more GoFundMe donations than those most in need (American Inequality)

The EPA plans to revoke the “endangerment finding” that legally requires federal action against greenhouse gas pollution, which will disproportionately harm Black communities already facing higher rates of pollution-related health risks (Capital B)

🌎 TB remains a major global killer with over 1.2 million deaths annually due to vast inequalities in prevention, detection, and treatment access. We need expanded vaccination programs, better screening, affordable drug treatments, and increased international funding (Our World in Data)

Seventeen state attorney generals are suing the Trump administration for federal investigations and threats targeting gender-affirming care for transgender youth, arguing an unconstitutional pressure campaign is forcing hospitals to shut down programs in states where care is legally protected (the 19th)

Big Tech is working with health systems and the Trump administration to make fragmented medical data more useful for patients and providers (Bloomberg)

🌍 NASA satellite data reveals that Earth’s landmasses are rapidly drying due primarily to groundwater over pumping, which has become so severe that water draining from continents now contributes more to sea level rise than melting glaciers (!!!) (ProPublica)

🇸🇦 South Africa is considering parametric flood insurance for its largest cities following a series of recent flood disasters that required government bailouts (Bloomberg)

RFK Jr. may have an unprecedented political opportunity as Health Secretary to implement meaningful food policy reforms, but federal follow through is questionable given simultaneous cuts to nutrition programs and public health (The New York Times)

Child care centers could strengthen local food systems by purchasing from local farmers and implementing farm-to early childhood education programs (Civil Eats)

While California prepares to implement its Textile Recovery Act, the first textile Extended Producer Responsibility program in the US, European textile recycling systems are collapsing under protests and company insolvencies, leading to concerns that EPR programs fail to address fashion’s core overproduction problem (Pre-Loved)

Increasingly relying on AI and machine learning that provide answers without explanation could accumulate an “intellectual debt” in society that creates vulnerabilities to manipulation and reducing our understanding cause-and-effect relationships (The New Yorker)

🌍 Google’s earthquake early warning system failed catastrophically during Turkey’s deadly 2023 earthquake, sending only 469 “Take Action” alerts instead of the 10 million that should have been issued (BBC)

OpenAI has launched a “study mode” for ChatGPT that guides students with questions rather than providing direct answers, but it doesn’t address the fundamental problem that students can easily toggle back to the regular ChatGPT mode (WIRED)

The UK’s rocky rollout of age verification systems and privacy issues at the company Tea illustrate the challenges facing similar age gate proposals in the US for child safety online (Platformer)

🌍 Meta’s integration of AI has led to widespread cheating among Colombian students who use bots for homework, resulting in declining exam performance and forcing teachers to abandon traditional assessment methods in a country already struggling with low educational outcomes (Rest of World)