NYT > Science

1. NASA Eyes March Artemis II Launch After Hydrogen Leaks Delay Moon Mission
   The agency did not complete a practice countdown for a flight that would be the first to send people around the moon in more than 50 years.
2. What Do You Get When You Put a Mummy Through a CT Scan?
   Experts are using high-res scanners and 3-D printers to illuminate ancient ailments and injuries.
3. Snow Drought in the West Reaches Record Levels
   Warm temperatures and extremely low snowfall threaten water resources for the year.
4. Jeff Bezos’s Rocket Company Blue Origin Pauses Space Tourism to Focus on the Moon
   The New Shepard rocket from Blue Origin, which brought 92 people on trips to the edge of space, will cease flying for at least two years as the company prioritizes NASA contracts.
5. With AlphaGenome, Researchers Are Using A.I. to Decode the Human Blueprint
   AlphaGenome is a leap forward in the ability to study the human blueprint. But the fine workings of our DNA are still largely a mystery.
6. Rare Albatross Coasts Above California Waters Far From Home
   The unexpected sighting of a waved albatross, which was thousands of miles from its typical range, earned it a label ornithologists reserve for the unexpected: an avian “vagrant.”
7. You Wouldn’t Want to Butt Heads With This Small Dinosaur
   A newly discovered raptor had a knobby bump on its head, suggesting that, like some larger dinosaurs, it engaged in competitive head bashing.
8. 430,000-Year-Old Wooden Tools Are the Oldest Ever Found
   The finding, along with the discovery of a 500,000-year-old hammer made of bone, indicates that our human ancestors were making tools even earlier than archaeologists thought.
9. A New Way to Flirt: Dazzle Potential Mates With Patterns Invisible to Humans
   Cuttlefish attract prospective sexual partners by creating a pattern on their skin, based on the orientation of light waves.
10. Senators Accuse Equifax of ‘Price-Gouging’ Medicaid Programs
    The company’s data will be essential for many states to comply with new work requirements for the health insurance program that take effect next year.
11. Doctors’ Group Endorses Restrictions on Gender-Related Surgery for Minors
    The A.M.A.’s announcement followed a similar recommendation from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Other medical groups argued for a more personalized approach.
12. F.T.C. Settles With Express Scripts Over High Insulin Prices
    The Trump administration announced that the company, a pharmacy benefit manager, had agreed to make significant changes to its practices.
13. Trump Administration Is Delaying Hundreds of Wind and Solar Projects
    Federal agencies are delaying approvals for renewable energy projects on both federal land and private property at a time when electricity demand is going up.
14. A Chevron Refinery May Take in More Venezuelan Oil. Its Neighbors Are Concerned.
    The American claim on Venezuela’s oil means even more of it could come to a huge Chevron refinery in Mississippi. Neighbors worried about pollution want the company to move them out.
15. Congress Reins In Drug Middlemen in Effort to Lower Prescription Prices
    The legislation will impose new restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers, giant companies like CVS Caremark, Optum Rx and Express Scripts that oversee prescription drug benefits.
16. Plastic Surgeons’ Group Advises Delaying Gender-Affirming Procedures Until Age 19
    The organization’s latest guidance is a departure from the prevailing views of several other major medical organizations.
17. Woman Wins Malpractice Suit Over Gender Surgery as a Minor
    In a legal first, a jury in New York awarded $2 million to a patient who said that doctors had deviated from accepted medical standards.
18. The Questionable Science Behind the Odd-Looking Football Helmets
    The N.F.L. claims Guardian Caps reduce the risk of concussions. The company that makes them says, “It has nothing to do with concussions.”
19. ‘Biblical Diseases’ Could Resurge in Africa, Health Officials Fear
    Parasites and infections that cause blindness and other disabilities were nearly eliminated in some countries, but drug distribution to prevent and treat them was derailed in many places in 2025 after the U.S. cut aid.
20. Research Finds Interaction With Father, Not Mother, Affects Child Health
    A long-term study of 292 families linked fathers’ parenting style to their children’s heart health years later. To researchers’ surprise, no such link was found with mothers.
21. H.H.S. to Expand Faith-Based Addiction Programs for Homeless
    Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said addiction is a “spiritual disease” that calls out for the involvement of religious organizations.
22. N.I.H. Worker Who Criticized Trump Seeks Whistle-Blower Protection
    Jenna Norton, a National Institutes of Health employee, has been an outspoken critic of the administration’s research cuts and has been on paid leave.
23. Attempt to Drill Through Thwaites Glacier Is Foiled
    Scientists lost their instruments within Antarctica’s most dangerously unstable glacier, though not before getting a glimpse at the warming waters underneath.
24. Judge Hands Trump a Fifth Loss in His Effort to Halt Offshore Wind Projects
    The court ruled that construction can restart on a wind farm off the coast of New York State. The Trump administration had ordered work to stop in December.
25. Psychosis Diagnoses Have Risen Among Young Canadians, Data Shows
    Researchers believe increasing use of cannabis may be contributing to a rise in new cases of schizophrenia and related disorders at younger ages.
26. The Wonder Drug That’s Plaguing Sports
    Ostarine held the promise of profound medical treatments. Something unexpected happened on the way to F.D.A. approval.
27. When the Doctor Needs a Checkup
    The physician work force is aging fast, and some hospitals now require that older clinicians undergo testing for cognitive decline. Many have resisted.
28. Morris Waxler, F.D.A. Official Who Switched Stance on Lasik, Dies at 88
    While at the federal agency, he approved the laser device for eye surgery but later warned of its potential to cause harm.
29. A Predictor of a Good Social Life? Your Parents.
    A decades-long study suggested that close relationships with family members during teenage years could lead to a rich network of friendships in adulthood.
30. D.O.E. Panel to Question Climate Science Was Unlawful, Judge Rules
    The researchers produced a report that was central in a Trump administration effort to stop regulating climate pollution.
31. Grids Are Surviving the Storm. But the Next 5 Years Could Be Rough.
    A group that monitors the U.S. electricity system warns that grid reliability is “worsening” and blackout risks are rising for millions of people.
32. Drilling Through the Thwaites Glacier for Clues to Its Melting
    A team hopes to place instruments in the waters beneath the colossal Thwaites Glacier, with the help of a drill that uses hot water to punch through ice.
33. Algae Growth on Greenland’s Ice Contributes to Melting, Studies Show
    New studies show how algae grows on ice and snow, creating “dark zones” that exacerbate melting in the consequential region.
34. Kennedy Overhauls Federal Autism Panel in His Own Image
    The new panel, which advises the government on research and service priorities for people with autism, includes many members who have argued that vaccines cause the disorder.
35. Genes May Control Your Longevity, However Healthily You Live
    A new study suggests that those with long-lived families probably have the best prospects of making it to a very old age.
36. Svalbard Polar Bears Are Getting Fatter (for Now), Study Finds
    Seals favored by Svalbard bears are becoming easier to hunt as ice declines, a study found. But researchers say the situation may be temporary.
37. Why a New Mexico Developer Quit Natural Gas
    For John Moscato, a land developer in Las Cruces, N.M., installing gas lines at new home sites was “an ongoing headache.” Ditching gas saved him money.