NYT > Science

1. SpaceX Scrubs Launch Attempt of Updated Starship Rocket
   The giant rocket was scheduled to lift off on Thursday after a seven-month pause. SpaceX could try again as soon as Friday.
2. When Humans Went Away, the Wildlife Strayed
   When people disappeared from the landscape, as they did during the pandemic, wild animals changed how they used space and resources, scientists found.
3. A Powerful El Niño Is Forming. If History Is a Guide, It Could Hit Hard.
   The biggest episodes of the past have altered the course of human events, according to researchers. An emerging one is drawing historic comparisons.
4. A Very Lonely Caterpillar, Possibly the Last of Its Kind, Has Died
   The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly hasn’t been seen in the wild since 2022. The caterpillar was the last individual in human care.
5. Science Group Seeks Public Hearing for N.S.F. Nominee
   The American Association for the Advancement of Science questioned the credentials of Jim O’Neill, tapped to lead the National Science Foundation.
6. Pigeons and People Have Been Frenemies for Longer Than You Think
   Bones discovered at an archaeological site in Cyprus suggest the birds have been strutting around human settlements since at least 1400 B.C.
7. Europe’s Green-Energy Future Has a Reindeer Problem
   In northern Norway, Sami people fear a copper mine will disrupt their traditional lifestyles.
8. This Moon of Neptune Might Have Survived a Wrecking-Ball Event
   Neptune’s moons have long provided evidence of a cataclysm four billion years ago. A new study suggests one moon may have made it through.
9. Neanderthal Dentistry, and the Scientist Glad Not to Have Experienced It
   The prehistoric hominins “apparently were very adept at what we would consider invasive medicine,” said the anthropologist John Olsen.
10. Trump Eases Restrictions on Climate ‘Super Pollutants’
    The administration is delaying a phaseout of hydrofluorocarbons, potent planet-warming chemicals used in air-conditioning and refrigeration.
11. Experimental Drug Yields Dramatic Weight Loss
    People who got the injection, retatrutide, lost 28 percent of their body weight on average after 80 weeks, Eli Lilly said.
12. Musk’s SpaceX Reveals Its Finances for the First Time as It Readies for IPO
    Mr. Musk’s rocket and satellite maker disclosed its financial performance as it prepares to go public in what is set to be one of the largest offerings to date.
13. Ebola Crisis Sparks Debate Over Global Health Double Standards
    To some Africans, the claim that the continent’s largest health agency had already bungled its response scratched a familiar wound.
14. Fish and Wildlife Service Clears a Weedkiller, Saying It Won’t Cause Extinction
    The finding effectively paves the way for continued use of atrazine, a widely used herbicide that has been linked to birth defects and cancer in humans.
15. A 16th-Century Sketch of Anne Boleyn More Likely Depicted Her Mother, an A.I. Analysis Finds
    Using facial-recognition technology, scholars have concluded that a 500-year-old drawing labeled “Anna Bollein Queen” more likely showed her mother, Elizabeth Howard.
16. A U.S. Reckoning Over Chemical Pollution From Military Bases
    New Mexico is suing the federal government over PFAS contamination from Cannon Air Force Base. The outcome will affect how courts treat more than 15,000 similar claims nationwide.
17. She Was Finding Sources of Dangerous Water and Soil Pollution
    Melanie Malone led a research project to identify and study contamination sites in Washington State. Then the E.P.A. canceled her grant.
18. Scientists Tweaked the Global Warming Outlook. So Trump Weighed In.
    Renewable energy has helped make the worst-case scenario a bit less bad. The president said, falsely, it shows that climate scientists were wrong all along.
19. E.P.A. to Repeal Some Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water
    The rules were established by the Biden administration after research linked the compounds to a range of serious health problems.
20. Ebola Was Identified in Congo Weeks Before W.H.O. Declared an Emergency
    Early surveillance and testing failed to identify the rare species of Ebola responsible for the current outbreak. An American doctor is among the confirmed cases.
21. Children’s Mental Health Visits Have Shot Up, Research Shows
    Doctor’s visits for children’s anxiety rose by more than 250 percent over 10 years, according to a study of nearly two million children.
22. When Tornado Weather Hits, These Scientists Break Out the Colored Pencils
    With a battery of modern technology at their fingertips, meteorologists often turn first to an old-fashioned tracking technique.
23. The Quest for Clean Hydrogen Moves Underground
    The dream of clean hydrogen has tantalized energy experts for years, but producing it has been tough. Many start-ups think the answer could lie beneath our feet.
24. How a ‘Model’ for Climate Migration Became a Cautionary Tale
    The residents of Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana found safety after moving to higher ground. But the experience left some of them warning others facing relocation: ‘Don’t do it.’
25. Michigan Battles Trump Over His Order to Keep an Old Coal Plant Running
    The Trump administration broke the law, Michigan and others told a court, by declaring an “energy emergency” and forcing an aging coal-burning plant to keep operating.
26. Archaeologists Find Egyptian Mummy Buried With the ‘Iliad’
    For the deceased of Roman-era Egypt, Greek literature may have offered a cheat code to a more comfortable afterlife.