Two new analyses find that one in forty American children has an autism spectrum disorder. That continues the trend of steadily increasing estimates of the prevalence of autism. And these new studies also look at a facet of autism spectrum disorder that we’ve previously had little information about: the prevalence of treatment.

It’s happened to all of us. You bump into someone on the street whom you know you know, but you can’t for the life of you remember their name. Worse yet, somebody walks up to you at a party, greets you by name, asks about your kids, and all you can think is – what is their name?

Algorithms and artificial intelligence are playing ever larger roles in our daily lives – from Google searches and Facebook feeds to self-driving cars and sentencing convicted criminals. And it’s increasingly clear that the decisions algorithms make are often biased, even outright racist and discriminatory.

We’re all familiar with an itchy bug bite, maybe the torture of poison ivy or chicken pox. But what if that kind of itching went on and on?

The sounds fish make can actually be an important tool for scientists attempting to track and manage fish populations. Underwater microphones can identify the presence of invasive species or reveal when and where fish are mating.

Each month, we check in with the writers at Nature News to talk about the stories they've been following. This week we spoke to senior reporter Davide Castelvechi.

The NFL made headlines recently with $35 million in research funding to study the effects of concussions and repeated head trauma on football players. The past two years have brought intense public attention to professional football players suffering permanent, degenerative brain damage.

Recycling: we’ve all been told it’s the right thing to do. But the rules are often confusing, which might explain why Americans think we’re recycling 75 percent of recyclable trash when the actual number is closer to one third.

North Atlantic right whales have once again been spotted in New England’s waters, with several sighted south of Nantucket. These iconic large whales are known for gathering in Cape Cod Bay each spring, but their movements have been less predictable in recent years.

This week, Living Lab Radio is sharing three of our favorite interviews from the last year.