


Genetic engineering could help rid Australia of toxic cane toads
It is better than freezing them to death
THIS WEEK, between January 18th and 27th, thousands of volunteers in a band of territory stretching across north-eastern Australia from Darwin to Brisbane are venturing into the night with torches and collecting-buckets. They are taking part in the Great Cane Toad Bust, an annual attempt to keep a lid on the population of these invasive, toxic amphibians. Toads thus caught will be killed humanely by being chilled in refrigerators and then frozen.
Explore more

High-tech antidotes for snake bites
Genetic engineering and AI are powering the search for antivenins

Can you breathe stress away?
Scientists are only beginning to understand the links between the breath and the mind

The Economist’s science and technology internship
We invite applications for the 2025 Richard Casement internship
A better understanding of Huntington’s disease brings hope
Previous research seems to have misinterpreted what is going on
Is obesity a disease?
It wasn’t. But it is now
Volunteers with Down’s syndrome could help find Alzheimer’s drugs
Those with the syndrome have more of a protein implicated in dementia