• LA fires are endangering safe water systems
• No, China doesn’t operate the Panama Canal
• The truth behind Philly sports fans’ grittiness

Lead story

Genetics influences a number of traits beyond your control: the color of your eyes, the angle of your ears, the curl of your tongue. For many other traits, however, social and environmental factors play a substantially larger role than the genes you’re born with – the material resources you have can make it easier or harder to pursue higher education, or the sports training you’ve undergone conditions your performance in competition.

Genes alone don’t determine someone’s likelihood to commit a crime or their socioeconomic status. But President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to enact mass deportations upon assuming office, claiming to protect the American public from immigrants bringing “bad genes” into the country.

With this week’s confirmation hearing for the secretary of Homeland Security – the government official leading U.S. immigration policy – disentangling rhetoric from evidence is key to getting a clear picture of what’s at stake. In today’s lead story, Shoumita Dasgupta, a geneticist at Boston University, explains America’s long history of misusing biology to justify violent acts and biased laws.

“Attempting to use science to explain human difference in ways that reinforce social hierarchies isn’t new,” Dasgupta writes. “It takes the playbooks of genetic essentialism and scientific racism and applies them to public policy.”

Mass deportations don’t keep out ‘bad genes’ − they use scientific racism to justify biased immigration policies

Shoumita Dasgupta, Boston University

The US has a long history of misusing genetics and biology in immigration policy, the effects of which are still keenly felt today.

Environment + Energy

• Wildfires can contaminate drinking water systems with harmful chemicals − here’s what Los Angeles needs to know

  Andrew J. Whelton, Purdue University

  Fires can make drinking water, and the water pipes and tanks themselves, unsafe. A researcher who has worked with communities after several wildfires explains why, and what to do.

• One way Trump could help revive rural America’s economies

  Tim O’Brien, Harvard Kennedy School; Tim Freeman, Harvard Kennedy School

  Many small towns rely on one major industry, and they can face long-term existential shocks if that industry fails. Biden’s attempt to reposition rural economies for the future missed a crucial factor.

Politics + Society

• From watts to warheads: Secretary of energy oversees big science research and the US nuclear arsenal

  Valerie Thomas, Georgia Institute of Technology; Margaret E. Kosal, Georgia Institute of Technology

  The Energy Department has a dual mission with a heavy science focus and manages large, expensive programs, many of which are behind schedule and over budget.

• Secretary of defense must perform a ‘delicate dance’ between the president, Congress and the public

  Evelyn Farkas, Arizona State University

  Leading the US Defense Department is a massive job, broadly affecting Americans’ security at home and abroad and overseeing huge numbers of people and immense amounts of money.

Economy + Business

• • Is capitalism falling out of favor? We analyzed 400,000 news stories to find out

    Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University; H. Sami Karaca, Boston University

    The death of capitalism has been greatly exaggerated.

Science + Technology

• An eye for an eye: People agree about the values of body parts across cultures and eras

  Yunsuh Nike Wee, Oklahoma State University; Daniel Sznycer, Oklahoma State University; Jaimie Arona Krems, University of California, Los Angeles

  People from many different cultures across the globe and across millennia largely agree about which body parts are most valuable – and how much compensation they warrant when injured.

• Why does a rocket have to go 25,000 mph to escape Earth?

  Benjamin L. Emerson, Georgia Institute of Technology

  A rocket needs to overcome the force of gravity to leave Earth behind.