
A review of archives suggests that efforts to protect Earth from contamination by any organism brought back from the lunar surface were mostly for show.
Strict pandemic lockdowns may have allowed animals to range more widely and spend time closer to roads, a new study suggests.
It has to do with the way light scatters.
Filaments of radio energy from Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, are turning astronomers’ heads.
A vast fungal web braids together life on Earth. Merlin Sheldrake wants to help us see it.
The volcano on the Big Island gave hints in the past month that an eruption might be imminent.
The Parker Solar Probe is providing NASA researchers with insights into how the sun accelerates particles to a million miles per hour.
In Argentina, kelp gulls are attacking the backs of southern right whales, imperiling the recovery of an endangered species.
The act of reptile reproduction suggests that dinosaurs and pterosaurs may have been capable of parthenogenesis, too, much like the creatures in “Jurassic Park.”
A lifelong protester, he became a leading promoter of organic food and a forceful critic of a food industry that genetically engineers what it produces and sells.
A small study uses genetic engineering with the goal of curbing vast stray feline populations.
Sure, you know about Central Park and Flushing Meadows. But here are a few more birding locations worth checking out.
A 3,300-year-old palace mural offers an exquisitely detailed view of several bird species, and presents an artistic mystery.
Scientists are finding more evidence that birdsong parallels human-made music.
Homo naledi, despite having tiny brains, may have lit fires and decorated walls around the graves of their dead, according to controversial new research.
A beluga whale named Hvaldimir was first spotted in 2019 wearing what looked like a camera harness. He has recently been moving toward busier waters, prompting fears for his safety.
It took 150 million years for feathered dinosaurs to master flight and become the birds we see overhead today.
Alli Smith, of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, offers beginner tips for exploring the wide world of birds.
The Starliner capsule was poised to fly people to orbit in July for the first time. But reviews found problems with its parachutes and its wiring.
Earlier this spring, tiling aficionados thought maybe they’d found the shape of their dreams. Now they’re certain.
Scientists were able to unlock the identity of an ichthyosaur that had been reduced to a two-dimension jumble of bones.
The state shows that poverty is no excuse for failing to teach kids to read.
Scenes of the cosmos released this month by astronomers, spacecraft and photographers.
Gratitude ceremonies give students and faculty members a chance to recognize the sacrifice of those who gave their bodies for medical research and education, and the loved ones they left behind.
Teaching fewer words to large language models might help them sound more human.
Also, a rare daytime assault on Kyiv.
The announcement formalized a timeline that Chinese scientists have set out before, as the United States and China ramp up competition in space.
After a successful mission to Mars, the Emirati space agency is planning a tour of the debris field between Mars and Jupiter, with a focus on one of its most intriguing objects.
Never limited by categories, his free-ranging intellect delved into physics, probability and anthropology, establishing him as a major thinker.
Anticipating a swell of visitors as peak season begins, workers at Bryce Canyon National Park are clearing trails, training rangers and conserving wildlife.
Ispace was aiming to become the first private company to land on the surface of the moon, but lost contact with its robotic spacecraft in late April.
Five new audiobooks to download this summer include a breakdown of quantum computing and a tribute to Mary Oliver.
In a study that has yet to be peer-reviewed, scientists documented behavior in a captive cephalopod that they say looks very similar to a bad dream.
Experiments offer an intriguing hint at technology that could induce torpor in humans in the future.
A mathematician, he was for many years the president of the University of Chicago, where he argued that civility was not a reason to silence discussion.
In a new study, researchers describe a device that connects the intentions of a paralyzed patient to his physical movements.
Researchers just discovered that the spiny mouse was concealing bony plates beneath the skin over its tail.
You too could be Jodie Foster as astronomers organize a practice run in communicating with aliens.
Using CT scanning on 16th-century books, researchers uncovered bits of parchment salvaged from handwritten manuscripts.
Four decades ago, medical researchers reached out to ailing families in Colombia for insights into Huntington’s disease. Scientists are just now following up, hoping it’s not too late.
As an extinction crisis wiped out species at the end of the Permian Period, a predatory species emerged that dominated Southern Africa’s domain.
The “mathematical equivalent to the FBI’s voluminous fingerprint files” turns 50 this year, with 362,765 entries (and counting).
The animals had been extinct for more than 70 years in the country, which has just begun a program that brought 20 cheetahs from Africa to a wildlife sanctuary.
After losing out to SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ rocket company will get a chance to carry astronauts to the moon’s surface on a mission scheduled for 2029.
The naming of the James Webb telescope kindled an unexpected firestorm in the agency and across the wider scientific community.
Joro spiders are spreading around the United States and may turn up in New York soon. Recent experiments suggest that they may be shyer than other arachnids.
It’s not because they make us sad but because they help us feel connected, a new study suggests.
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Shifts in bird populations can be a sign of a changing climate. This summer, help scientists learn about the birds in your area.
Researchers hope new 3-D images will provide clues about what happened to the ocean liner when it sank on its maiden voyage in 1912.
A team of scientists scanned the historic Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada and created a 3-D model of the site.
Engravings found in Jordan and Saudi Arabia appeared to match nearby ancient megastructures known as desert kites as seen from above.
A colorful jumping spider mimics multiple species of ants, and its repertoire of impressions seems to help it scare off one of its fiercest predators.
A new study bolsters the idea that the first animals were surprisingly complex, perhaps equipped with muscles and a nervous system.
A new genetic analysis of 290 people suggests that humans emerged at various times and places in Africa.
Tokophobia, as it’s called, is not often studied in the United States. But a new survey finds that it may be very common, particularly among Black women and in disadvantaged communities.
More than 20 of the birds, which are critically endangered, have died in recent months.
Researchers are finding clues to a potential remedy for consumption of the death cap species, a potentially lethal mushroom.
Scientists are working to improve the breeding success of the condor. Their secret assistant: a plastic, 3-D printed, sensor-laden “smart egg.”
Archaeologists offer a new explanation for one of the century’s grislier finds, “a carefully gathered collection of hands” in a 3,500-year-old temple.
Environmental DNA research has aided conservation, but scientists say its ability to glean information about human populations and individuals poses dangers.
A horticulturist, she discovered farming methods that increased yields of the fruit as its health benefits became widely understood and demand for it grew.
For three years, telescopes have monitored “one of the most luminous” events ever: a supermassive black hole consuming a gigantic cloud of interstellar gas.
If all the objects are recognized by scientific authorities, the ringed giant world will have 145 moons in its orbit.
A newly discovered species of demon catshark is found in the deep waters off Australia.
To survive as they seek food in freezing parts of the ocean, hammerhead sharks use a trick that hasn’t been observed in other fish.
As spring gives way to summer, you're sure to notice wasps and hornets buzzing around you. Test your identification skills.
Humans have long depended on weather forecasts for survival. While observations of the sky can make for reliable predictions, experts say, those of animal activity can lead weather-watchers astray.
Lab safety doesn’t need to torpedo scientific progress.
The latest test results continue a nearly decade-long decline. Try a sample quiz to test your knowledge.
After analyzing genetic data swabbed from a Wuhan market in early 2020, a virologist said it was unclear if animals for sale there had been infected.
Leaders on the continent have vowed that if there is another pandemic, they won’t be shut out of the vaccine market.
Scientists from the Chinese C.D.C. confirmed that DNA from raccoon dogs and other animals susceptible to the coronavirus was found at the market in early 2020.
In a much-anticipated study, experts described a swab that was positive for the coronavirus and contained loads of genetic material from raccoon dogs.
Genetic samples from the market were recently uploaded to an international database and then removed after scientists asked China about them.
Some medications, like Ritalin and Vicodin, would require an in-person doctor’s visit under the new rules, a reaction to the pandemic-era rise of telemedicine.
Moderna has paid $400 million to the government for a chemical technique key to its vaccine. But the parties are still locked in a high-stakes dispute over a different patent.
Kizzmekia Corbett helped lead a team of scientists contributing to one of the most stunning achievements in the history of immunizations: a highly effective, easily manufactured vaccine against Covid-19.
Readers discuss experimentation on lab animals. Also: Racism in America; preparing for the next pandemic; maternal deaths; Amazon’s donations.
The White House will decide whether to adopt the panel’s recommendations on so-called gain of function experiments.
An internal federal watchdog said that the health agency had not given adequate oversight to EcoHealth Alliance, which had been awarded $8 million in grants.
A young version of the coronavirus makes up one-quarter of Covid cases across the United States and over 70 percent of new cases in the Northeast.
Plus China’s vaccination pivot and the year’s most stylish “people.”
Plus, China’s sluggish economy and the arrest of the Lockerbie bombing suspect.
Al cumplirse el aniversario del descubrimiento de la variante, los expertos en virología siguen intentando ponerse al día con la rápida transformación de ómicron.
One year after the variant’s discovery, virologists are still scrambling to keep up with Omicron’s rapid evolution.
Students missed a lot of high school instruction. Now many are behind, especially in math, and getting that degree could be harder.
In a vacuum, test score declines look like bad news. But none of this happened in a vacuum.
The report, signed by Senator Richard Burr, foreshadows a new wave of political wrangling over Covid’s origins if Republicans gain control of the House or Senate.
The results, from what is known as the nation’s report card, offer the most definitive picture yet of the pandemic’s devastating impact on students.
Mouse experiments at Boston University have spotlighted an ambiguous U.S. policy for research on potentially dangerous pathogens.
Benjamin Franklin Elementary in Connecticut overhauled the way it taught — and the way it ran the classroom. Every minute counted.
Readers respond to the latest Russian attacks in Ukraine. Also: The wonders of math; pandemic spending; Republicans and crime.
Maitland Jones, un profesor respetado, defendió sus estándares. Pero los estudiantes hicieron un reclamo y la universidad lo despidió.
Maitland Jones Jr., a respected professor, defended his standards. But students started a petition, and the university dismissed him.
The first standardized test results that capture how most city schoolchildren did during the pandemic offered a mixed picture.
La decimotercera variante con nombre del coronavirus parece tener una capacidad sorprendente para evolucionar con nuevas particularidades.
Omicron, the 13th named variant of the coronavirus, seems to have a remarkable capacity to evolve new tricks.
Many employees reduce their hours or stop working to help ailing family members. But it may be years before they fully return to the work force, studies indicate.
The results of a national test showed just how devastating the last two years have been for 9-year-old schoolchildren, especially the most vulnerable.
Urgently needed: teachers in struggling districts, certified in math or special education. Perks: maybe a pay raise, or how about a four-day week?
Here’s how a scrappy team of scientists, public health experts and plumbers is embracing wastewater surveillance as the future of disease tracking.
El coronavirus, como muchos otros virus, evoluciona deprisa. ¿Los seres humanos y su ingenio podrían adaptarse más rápido a él?
Human ingenuity must keep up with the coronavirus.
The papers, which have not yet been published in scientific journals, suggest that testing just a single type of sample is likely to miss a large share of infections.
A new report estimates that it may take students at least three to five years to recover from the pandemic. Federal relief money will most likely have run out by then.
Covid precautions created a global slowdown in human activity — and an opportunity to learn more about the complex ways we affect other species.
Working in a laboratory in Paris, scientists gave a close relative of the Covid virus the chance to evolve to be more like its cousin.
Pandemic shutdowns and restrictions led to a 20 percent drop in average daily physical activity among children and adolescents, a new analysis shows.
The vaccine has not yet been authorized but is expected to be soon.
The myxoma virus, fatal to millions of Australian rabbits, is a textbook example of the unexpected twists in the evolution of viruses and their hosts.
Officials have also been trying to determine whether the cases represent a new phenomenon or are simply a new recognition of one that has long existed; there have always been a subset of pediatric hepatitis cases with no clear cause.
“The lack of political cooperation from China continues to stifle any meaningful progress,” one expert said.
In his essay collection “Virology,” Joseph Osmundson examines the myriad ways we coexist with viruses.
The spread of the subvariants adds more uncertainty to the trajectory of the pandemic in the United States.
Ravindra Gupta, who led the efforts that resulted in the second case of a patient being cured of H.I.V., was drawn into pandemic research.
Readers discuss the Florida Department of Education’s objections to some of the topics in math textbooks. Also: The Ukraine war; mask mandates.