Humans

Amanda Bennett explains why having hope while watching a loved one die shouldn't warrant a diagnosis of "denial." She calls for a more heroic narrative for death — to match the ones we have in life.

Can we commit our bodies to a cleaner, greener Earth, even after death? Jae Rhim Lee says it's possible by using a special burial suit seeded with pollution-gobbling mushrooms.

At the end of our lives, what do we most wish for? BJ Miller is a palliative care physician who thinks about how to create a dignified, graceful end of life for his patients.

Clay tablets show that Babylonian astronomers tracked planets using a method that was thought to be invented 1,400 years later. In a way, scientists say, the ancient techniques were "very modern."

The spread of Zika is probably limited by window screens and other mosquito-control measures in common use in the U.S. Also, the primary mosquito that carries Zika has a somewhat limited range.

Passaic River polluters are telling local fishermen to trade contaminated catch for healthy tilapia. But there's no disposal plan for the toxic fish, and residents don't want them to be incinerated.

A 2012 New Jersey law was meant to help juries discern factors that make eyewitness testimony strong versus weak. But research suggests a judge's instructions make jurors discount all such testimony.