Skip to content

Science

Highlights

  1. Photo
    Various examples of a branch of early birds that evolved 130 million years ago, called enantiornithines: male Feitianius (6); female Feitianius (5); Orienantius (4); center Sulcavis (7); Avimaia (1); Falcatakely (3); and Longipteryx (2).
    CreditMichael Rothman
    Origins

    How Did Birds First Take Off?

    It took 150 million years for feathered dinosaurs to master flight and become the birds we see overhead today.

     By Carl Zimmer

  1. A Conversation With
    Photo
    Indigo Goodson took up birding during the pandemic and now goes everywhere with “binoculars in tow,” she said. “My friends get annoyed.”
    CreditKirsten Luce for The New York Times

    How to Start Birding

    Alli Smith, of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, offers beginner tips for exploring the wide world of birds.

     By Camille Baker

  2. Photo
    CreditNASA/JPL-Caltech/VLA

    The Best Spaces Images From May

    Scenes of the cosmos released this month by astronomers, spacecraft and photographers.

     By Michael Roston

  3. Photo
    A video image from Navy pilots of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon.
    CreditDepartment of Defense

    NASA Panel Says Data Problems Make Explaining U.F.O.s Difficult

    A task force has not found any evidence that unidentified anomalous phenomena represent signs of extraterrestrial visits.

     By Julian E. Barnes

  4. Mind
    Photo
    CreditMatt Rota

    The Race to Make A.I. Smaller (and Smarter)

    Teaching fewer words to large language models might help them sound more human.

     By Oliver Whang

  5. Photo
    The MBR Explorer spacecraft, depicted in this artist rendering, is scheduled to launch in 2028.
    CreditUnited Arab Emirates Space Agency

    The United Arab Emirates Is Heading for the Asteroid Belt

    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.

     By Kenneth Chang

Trilobites

More in Trilobites ›
  1. Photo
    CreditEric Ramos and Marcelo Magnasco

    Is This Octopus Having a Nightmare?

    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.

     By Carolyn Wilke

  2. Photo
    CreditunoL/Getty

    Ultrasound Pulses to Brain Send Mice Into a Hibernation-Like State

    Experiments offer an intriguing hint at technology that could induce torpor in humans in the future.

     By Veronique Greenwood

  3. Photo
    While scanning spiny mice of the Acomys family, scientists discovered bony plates similar to armadillo armor lining their tails beneath their skin.
    CreditFlorida Museum of Natural History

    Quite a Tail: A Mouse Has Been Hiding Its Armor All This Time

    Researchers just discovered that the spiny mouse was concealing bony plates beneath the skin over its tail.

     By Asher Elbein

  4. Photo
    Other methods of scanning Medieval books faced limitations so researchers decided to try CT scanning to see what fragments they concealed within their bindings.
    CreditEric Ensley

    A Hospital Visit Reveals Medieval Secrets Hidden in Books

    Using CT scanning on 16th-century books, researchers uncovered bits of parchment salvaged from handwritten manuscripts.

     By Katherine Kornei

  5. Photo
    Saber-toothed gorgonopsians came and went in southern Africa during the extinction that ended the Permian Period.
    CreditMatt Celeskey

    A Saber-Toothed Predator From Long Before Evolution Came Up With Cats

    As an extinction crisis wiped out species at the end of the Permian Period, a predatory species emerged that dominated Southern Africa’s domain.

     By Jeanne Timmons

Climate and Environment

More in Climate and Environment ›
  1. Photo
    CreditVicki Jauron/Getty Images

    An Avian Murder Case on a Quiet Back Porch

    A nest was assaulted. Was it the cowbird or the sparrow?

     By Daryln Brewer Hoffstot

  2. Photo
    Last year the E.P.A. determined that almost no level of exposure to PFAS chemicals was safe.
    CreditJoshua A. Bickel/Associated Press

    Three ‘Forever Chemicals’ Makers Settle Public Water Lawsuits

    The $1.19 billion agreement, announced by Chemours, DuPont and Corteva, wouldn’t resolve all the claims against them.

     By Ben Casselman, Ivan Penn and Matthew Goldstein

  3. Photo
    Chaco Canyon and the area around it, known as Chaco Culture National Historical Park, in northwestern New Mexico, is one of the nation’s oldest and most culturally significant Native American sites.
    CreditCedar Attanasio/Associated Press

    Biden Administration Bans Drilling Around Native American Cultural Site

    The Interior Department will withdraw public lands around Chaco Canyon from new oil and gas leasing for 20 years.

     By Coral Davenport

  4. Photo
    Queen Creek, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, is projected to grow to 175,000 people from its current 75,000 — if it can find enough water.
    CreditRebecca Noble for The New York Times

    Arizona Limits Construction Around Phoenix as Its Water Supply Dwindles

    In what could be a glimpse of the future as climate change batters the West, officials ruled there’s not enough groundwater for projects already approved.

     By Christopher Flavelle and Jack Healy

  5. Photo
    CreditJordan Vonderhaar for The New York Times

    The Real-World Costs of the Digital Race for Bitcoin

    Bitcoin mines cash in on electricity — by devouring it, selling it, even turning it off — and they cause immense pollution. In many cases, the public pays a price.

     By Gabriel J.X. Dance, Tim Wallace and Zach Levitt

  1. Two Dead Humpback Whales Are Seen Off Coast of New York

    The animals, observed floating off Long Island and Staten Island this week, were the latest casualties of a species that faces many threats.

    By Mike Ives

     

  2. Biden Is Said to Pick Former North Carolina Health Secretary to Lead C.D.C.

    The president’s choice for the job, Dr. Mandy Cohen, would replace Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who is stepping down at the end of the month.

    By Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Apoorva Mandavilli

     

  3. This Nonprofit Health System Cuts Off Patients With Medical Debt

    Doctors at the Allina Health System, a wealthy nonprofit in the Midwest, aren’t allowed to see poor patients or children with too many unpaid medical bills.

    By Sarah Kliff and Jessica Silver-Greenberg

     

  4. No One Knows How Many L.G.B.T.Q. Americans Die by Suicide

    Death investigators in Utah are among a handful of groups trying to learn how many gay and transgender people die by suicide in the United States.

    By Azeen Ghorayshi

     

  5. An Appeals Court Gave the Sacklers Legal Immunity. Here’s What the Ruling Means.

    In return for the shield, the billionaire owners of Purdue Pharma are committed to paying up to $6 billion to help compensate communities and individuals for the ravages of the opioid epidemic.

    By Jan Hoffman

     

  6. F.D.A. Approves Pfizer’s R.S.V. Vaccine for Older Adults

    Though agency advisers had some safety concerns, the Pfizer shot is expected to be available before the winter R.S.V. season.

    By Christina Jewett

     

  7. Sick Workers Tied to 40% of Food Poisoning Outbreaks, C.D.C. Says

    To combat outbreaks at restaurants and other dining establishments, policies that support sick workers, including paid leave, may be needed, the agency said in a report this week.

    By Amanda Holpuch

     

  8. An Inside Look at Covid’s Lasting Damage to the Lungs

    This 3-D reconstruction of lung scans reveals damage that has lingered for years in patients who became severely ill early in the pandemic.

    By Jeremy White, Pam Belluck, Noah Bassetti-Blum, Eleanor Lutz and Hang Do Thi Duc

     

  9. How to Lower Deaths Among Women? Give Away Cash.

    Mortality rates fell by 20 percent among women in countries that began cash transfer programs to the poor. Children also benefited.

    By Apoorva Mandavilli

    Leer en español
     

  10. Honeybee Swarms Darken U.K. Skies, Sending Beekeepers Scrambling

    It’s swarming season in Britain, with honeybee colonies splitting in half in search of new homes. This year, beekeepers say they are getting an unusually high number of swarm sightings.

    By Isabella Kwai