Science

Mining for minerals used to make EVs and batteries is plagued with allegations of abuse, the latest report from the nonprofit Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) shows. And automakers continue to source materials from some of the worst offenders, The Verge finds. BHRRC has documented 631 allegations of human rights abuses since 2010 for seven key minerals used in electric vehicles, rechargeable batteries, and renewable energy technologies....

A study has found that about a spoonful of olive oil a day could lower the risk of dying from dementia. The study, published in the JAMA Network Open on Monday, observed more than 90,000 adults in the U.S. over 28 years, 65 per cent of whom were female. The mean age was 56 at the beginning of the study. The women’s cohort was from the...

Once again, vast expanses of Canadian wilderness are on fire, threatening towns and forcing thousands to flee. It appears to be a breakout of “zombie fires”: wildfires from last year that never actually went out completely but carried on smoldering underground, reigniting ground vegetation again this year. They’ve been pouring smoke—once again—into northern cities in the United States. That haze is loaded with a more obscure form...

A second human case of bird flu has been linked to the ongoing outbreak in cows on U.S. dairy farms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Wednesday (May 22).  A subtype of avian influenza called H5N1 was initially discovered in U.S. cows in March and has since been detected among cattle in nine states. The commercial milk and meat supply is safe to consume, although raw...

The brains of older adults feel a sense of reward when listening to music, even if it’s a song they don’t particularly like, a researcher at British Columbia’s Simon Fraser University says. Sarah Faber said her work on how healthy brains respond to music as they age creates a baseline for future research on people who have Alzheimer’s or dementia to better understand those diseases. 4:02A...