Science Goes to the Olympics
Six Olympic athletes described the delicate mechanics behind their chosen event. Here’s how they do what they do.
By Emily AnthesKenneth ChangDennis OverbyeKatrina MillerGina Kolata and
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Six Olympic athletes described the delicate mechanics behind their chosen event. Here’s how they do what they do.
By Emily AnthesKenneth ChangDennis OverbyeKatrina MillerGina Kolata and
A.I. is getting good at math — and might soon make a worthy collaborator for humans.
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Researchers have confirmed the presence of cocaine in sharks off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, though questions remain about the effects of the drug.
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The rock, studied by NASA’s Perseverance rover, has been closely analyzed by scientists on Earth who say that nonmicrobial processes could also explain its features.
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The Chimps Who Learned to Say ‘Mama’
Old recordings show captive chimps uttering the word, which some scientists believe may offer clues to the origins of human speech.
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The Moon’s Most Shadowy Places Can’t Hide From NASA’s New Camera
ShadowCam, a NASA instrument aboard a South Korean spacecraft, is taking pictures of the moon where the sun doesn’t shine.
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NASA Aims to Restore Space Station Traffic After SpaceX and Boeing Problems
With the Falcon 9 rocket set to fly again, and testing of the Starliner capsule progressing, the agency is seeking to turn the page on a brief, troubled chapter in orbit.
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Fossil Hints That Jurassic Mammals Lived Slow and Died Old
Scientists found an unexpected aging pattern in a mostly intact juvenile mammal skeleton from the paleontological period.
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The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius Wasn’t Pompeii’s Only Killer
While the volcano’s eruption was deadly, research shows that many people in the ancient Roman city died in building collapses from the earthquake associated with the outburst.
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How Science Went to the Dogs (and Cats)
Pets were once dismissed as trivial scientific subjects. Today, companion animal science is hot.
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Their Job Is to Help You Grieve Your Pet
Though still rare, social workers in animal hospitals are growing in their ranks.
By Katie Thomas and
The Pet ‘Superheroes’ Who Donate Their Blood
Transfusions have become an important part of veterinary medicine, but cat and dog blood is not always easy to come by.
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Why You’re Paying Your Veterinarian So Much
People have grown more attached to their pets — and more willing to spend money on them — turning animal medicine into a high-tech industry worth billions.
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Are We Loving Our Pets to Death?
Pet owners are treating their animal charges ever more like humans. But that isn’t good for pets, or for us, many experts argue.
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Secrets Emerge From a Fossil’s Taco Shell-Like Cover
An examination of an aquatic, shrimplike creature that lived half a billion years ago offers insight into how arthropods with mandibles became so common.
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The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius Wasn’t Pompeii’s Only Killer
While the volcano’s eruption was deadly, research shows that many people in the ancient Roman city died in building collapses from the earthquake associated with the outburst.
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A Slap of a Honeybee’s Wings Sends Ant Invaders Flying Away
Asian honeybees protect their hives by making insect intruders go airborne.
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She Didn’t Like His Song, So She Tried to Eat Him
It’s not easy being green, golden and male, according to a researcher’s observation of attempted frog cannibalism in Australia.
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Centuries of Avalanches Are Stored in Tree Rings
Discovering evidence of deadly deluges of snow from the past could help protect people on mountains around the world, researchers say.
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Early Humans Left Africa Much Earlier Than Previously Thought
Scientists have found evidence of several waves of migration by looking at the genetic signatures of human interbreeding with Neanderthals.
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How the Denisovans Survived the Ice Age
A trove of animal bone fragments from a cave on the Tibetan plateau reveals how Denisovans thrived in a harsh climate for over 100,000 years.
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How Flounder Wound Up With an Epic Side-Eye
Flatfish offer an evolutionary puzzle: How did one eye gradually migrate to the other side?
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A group of neuroscientists argue that our words are primarily for communicating, not for reasoning.
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Was This Sea Creature Our Ancestor? Scientists Turn a Famous Fossil on Its Head.
Researchers have long assumed that a tube in the famous Pikaia fossil ran along the animal’s back. But a new study turned the fossil upside down.
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How a Crisis for Vultures Led to a Human Disaster: Half a Million Deaths
The birds were accidentally poisoned in India. New research on what happened next shows how wildlife collapse can be deadly for people.
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Can Fees on Polluting Cars Clean the Air? London Has New Evidence.
The city’s expanded low-emissions zone, which was politically fraught, has cut emissions that contribute to health problems like asthma, new numbers show.
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Bats Were Already Struggling. Now They’re Selling on EBay.
Online sales appear to be compounding threats from climate change and habitat loss, according to new research.
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A Test for Harris: How to Talk About the Green New Deal
In the Senate, Kamala Harris backed an expansive climate plan. Young activists want her to embrace it again, but so do Republicans.
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We Mapped Heat in 3 U.S. Cities. Some Sidewalks Were Over 130 Degrees.
Air temperature is just one measure of how heat affects cities and people. See how high surface temperatures, which bring additional risks, can get.
By Raymond Zhong and
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The Southern Delta Aquarids and the Alpha Capricornids are reaching their peak this week. The Perseids, one of the best shows of the year, are also ramping up.
By Katrina Miller
While not a perfect alternative to colonoscopies, experts hope the test could lead to more people getting screened for colorectal cancers.
By Gina Kolata
They can be, but it depends on your driving habits. We break it down for you.
By Jack Ewing
In a new report, the American Academy of Pediatrics said that breastfeeding problems were rarely caused by infant tongue-ties.
By Sarah Kliff
It was much more accurate than primary care doctors using cognitive tests and CT scans. The findings could speed the quest for an affordable and accessible way to diagnose patients with memory problems.
By Pam Belluck
Blazes that generate such stormy conditions can be nearly impossible to put out and pose special dangers to firefighters.
By Austyn Gaffney
In the era when people traveled by sailing ship and steamer, illnesses usually burned themselves out before boats reached shore, a new study finds.
By Gina Kolata
The outbreak may be the first ever documented in marine mammals.
By Emily Anthes
Wildfire smoke from the Western United States and Canada is blowing across the Northeast, lowering air quality and endangering vulnerable populations.
By Austyn Gaffney
A large study showed that for most patients, having both breasts removed after cancer was detected in one made no difference.
By Gina Kolata
A new study paints a complex picture of the outbreak, suggesting that the virus could be spreading in multiple ways and that it is not always mild in cows.
By Emily Anthes
Researchers have confirmed the presence of cocaine in sharks off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, though questions remain about the effects of the drug.
By Sarah Hurtes
Progress in the quest to help progeria patients suggests that gene editing techniques may help treat other ultrarare conditions.
By Gina Kolata
A contestant on the reality show “Race to Survive: New Zealand” killed and ate a weka during filming. The contestant, who said he was hungry, has apologized for “disrespecting New Zealand.”
By Isabella Kwai
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States, tribes, local governments and territories sent in proposals aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
By Austyn Gaffney
It’s very hard to slow down and look closely at something. You may find it’s worth it.
By Francesca Paris and Larry Buchanan
An M.I.T. physicist, he engineered an East-West deal that reduced nuclear threats and produced one of the greatest peace dividends of all time.
By William J. Broad
Officials found no evidence of silent infections in 35 Michigan dairy workers, but experts noted that much more data was necessary.
By Emily Anthes and Noah Weiland
Researchers are only beginning to understand why some people embrace retirement while others won’t even consider it.
By Paula Span
The government said it would phase out its purchases of single-use plastics, a significant step because it is the biggest buyer of consumer goods in the world.
By Hiroko Tabuchi
The original ‘Twister’ ushered in a new era of fascination with tornadoes. Its follow-up may have even bigger ambitions.
By Judson Jones and Reto Sterchi
As patients consider drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound and Mounjaro to treat obesity, experts say the choices are not so simple.
By Gina Kolata
In a new memoir, the marine biologist Jasmin Graham reflects on her passion for studying sharks and the barriers she refused to let stop her.
By Katrina Miller
The chief executive and a lead scientist stepped down weeks after a federal grand jury filed fraud charges against a research collaborator.
By Teddy Rosenbluth
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A common antibiotic, doxycycline, greatly reduced cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia when taken every day, a study found.
By Apoorva Mandavilli
Delays and concerns about NASA’s future budgets doomed the VIPER mission, which aimed to search for ice near the moon’s south pole.
By Kenneth Chang
The stegosaurus had been expected to sell for between $4 million and $6 million. It set a record in the contentious fossil trade, where scientists fear being priced out of the market.
By Zachary Small and Julia Jacobs
In the first two years of the pandemic, the rate of long Covid was starkly lower among people who were vaccinated, researchers reported.
By Pam Belluck
A new study adds to evidence that the shots can reduce the chances of developing one of the most dreaded consequences of Covid.
By Apoorva Mandavilli
British dogs and cats are set to become the first animals in Europe to chow down on meat cultivated from chicken cells.
By Amelia Nierenberg
A small new study shows reactions in the brain in people who were given psilocybin in a controlled setting.
By Andrew Jacobs
A study of more than a million Danes found that frequent moves in childhood had a bigger effect than poverty on adult mental health risk.
By Ellen Barry
Even as the H5N1 virus evolves, gaps remain in the nation’s contingency plans for human testing, scientists say.
By Apoorva Mandavilli
Only six specimens of the spade-toothed whale have ever been identified. This carcass could be the first that scientists are able to dissect.
By Yan Zhuang
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It had already been a weird few weeks in New York. Then a fireball streaked across the sky.
By Liam Stack and Nate Schweber
It’s unclear why a blade from one of the Vineyard Wind turbines broke into pieces, which are washing up on Nantucket beaches.
By Brad Plumer
The social media and rocket companies are based in California, which the billionaire criticized for its recent transgender legislation.
By Kate Conger and Eli Tan
Several speakers focused on the sharp rise in gas and electricity prices under President Biden. We scrutinized their statements.
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If Donald Trump returns to the White House, he would likely face fewer legal and bureaucratic obstacles to dramatically remake the E.P.A.
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NASA sent the song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” from a radio dish in California last week. It took 14 minutes to travel the 158 million miles.
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Glyphs and pictographs at a site in Texas represent generations of settlement by Indigenous peoples.
By Dimitri Staszewski and Franz Lidz
A Swedish biochemist, he shared the 1982 prize for breakthrough discoveries that led to drugs that treat inflammation, glaucoma and allergies.
By Delthia Ricks
Scientists could never explain how this fossil might have been a jellyfish. Then they flipped it on its head and discovered another animal.
By Jack Tamisiea
Conventional toilet paper has a big environmental impact. We’ve got the lowdown on alternatives, from bamboo tissue to bidets.
By Elizabeth Anne Brown
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Millions of parents have paid to bank blood from their infants’ umbilical cords. But storage companies have misled them about the cells’ promise.
By Sarah Kliff
Families pay thousands of dollars to store their children’s stem cells with the hope of a healthier future. But the cells are rarely useful, and sometimes contaminated.
By Sarah Kliff and Azeen Ghorayshi
Encouraged on social media, many Americans are estranging themselves from their families as a therapeutic step.
By Ellen Barry
As a science reporter, Katrina Miller covers the cosmos, innovations in physics, space exploration and more.
By Josh Ocampo
The cases, which have yet to be confirmed, were identified in farmworkers culling infected birds. The risk to the public remains low, health officials said.
By Isabella Kwai
The Apgar test grades infants in five areas, including skin tone. Babies of color score lower, and may be subjected to unnecessary treatment.
By Roni Caryn Rabin
The second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket failed on an attempt to deploy the company’s Starlink internet satellites, ending a streak of more than 300 successful Falcon 9 launches.
By Reuters
The Sunrise Movement, expressing concern about the president’s ability to win re-election, said he should “pass the torch to a new nominee.”
By Lisa Friedman
The malfunction, the first since 2016, ended a streak of more than 300 successful launches for the Falcon 9 rocket.
By Kenneth Chang
For the 25th anniversary of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA produced ghostly time-lapse videos of two centuries-old stellar eruptions.
By Dennis Overbye
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Transistors on the Europa Clipper spacecraft, scheduled to launch in October, may not be able to endure the harsh radiation around the planet Jupiter.
By David W. Brown
A “fossil chromosome” preserves the structure of a woolly mammoth’s genome — and offers a better grasp of how it once worked.
By Siobhan Roberts
Amid soaring temperatures, hundreds of activists are staging boisterous blockades and solemn marches at banks and insurers that support fossil fuel projects.
By Somini Sengupta and Cara Buckley
The deposit, in Zambia, could make billions for Silicon Valley, provide minerals for the energy transition and help the United States in its rivalry with China.
By Max Bearak
SpaceX employees are working on designs for a Martian city, including dome habitats and spacesuits, and researching whether humans can procreate off Earth. Mr. Musk has volunteered his sperm.
By Kirsten Grind
In a news conference from aboard the International Space Station, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams said they had confidence in the troubled spacecraft to get them home.
By Kenneth Chang
A leading biochemist, she helped shape guidelines in the 1970s for genetic-engineering while calming public fears of a spread of deadly lab-made microbes.
By Denise Gellene
Climate change is causing more fires to burn overnight, growing bigger, lasting longer and challenging the fire teams trying to control them.
By Austyn Gaffney
As health plans increasingly rely on technology to deny treatment, physicians are fighting back with chatbots that synthesize research and make the case.
By Teddy Rosenbluth
Legal maneuverings followed a Supreme Court ruling last month that denied the Sackler family immunity from liability over its role in the opioid crisis.
By Jan Hoffman
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The European Space Agency launched the Ariane 6 from French Guiana.
By Reuters
Using ground-based radars, he pioneered measurement techniques that scientists now use to chart geographical changes on Earth.
By Michael S. Rosenwald
Lisa Pisano, 54, lived with the organ for 47 days. She was the first patient to receive both a heart pump and an organ transplant, doctors said.
By Roni Caryn Rabin
Spurred by social media, attractions where visitors interact with animals have surged. Advocates are sounding alarms.
By Melena Ryzik
In a report, the regulator sharply criticized pharmacy benefit managers, a turnaround from its longstanding tolerance of their practices.
By Reed Abelson and Rebecca Robbins
Ariane 6 reached orbit on Tuesday. But a problem made the European Space Agency rocket deviate from its flight plan late in the mission.
By Katrina Miller
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