NYT > Science

1. Squirrel Parkour Artists Are as Smart as They Are Athletic
   Picking a launch spot, sticking a landing, throwing in a little parkour and recovering from mistakes: Squirrels do it all.
2. How a Gecko From Africa Crossed the Atlantic Ocean
   The African house gecko, one of the most widely distributed invasive reptiles in the world, may have moved with the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
3. Touring Trinity, the Birthplace of Nuclear Dread
   A recent visit to the site of the first atomic bomb explosion offered desert vistas, (mildly) radioactive pebbles and troubling reflections.
4. NASA and Boeing Postpone Launch of Starliner Spacecraft
   After a flawed trip to orbit in 2019, the company hopes to take another crack at an uncrewed test flight of its spacecraft for NASA astronauts.
5. It Was His Day Off. Then the Space Station Went for a Spin.
   Zebulon Scoville and others at NASA’s mission control in Houston spent Thursday righting the International Space Station after a new Russian module unexpectedly fired its thrusters.
6. A Plant That ‘Cannot Die’ Reveals Its Genetic Secrets
   Events in the genome of Welwitschia have given it the ability to survive in an unforgiving desert for thousands of years.
7. A Third of White-Tailed Deer Tested in Survey Were Exposed to Coronavirus
   The results of a federal study are yet another indication of the unpredictable nature of the disease.
8. Those Virus Sequences That Were Suddenly Deleted? They’re Back
   Chinese researchers have uploaded genetic sequences of coronaviruses to a scientific database more than a year after they took them offline.
9. What Animals See in the Stars, and What They Stand to Lose
   Humans aren’t the only species that navigate by starlight. Animals from birds to dung beetles may do it, too — and might become disoriented as our city lights drown out the heavens.
10. Biden Announces Record Amount of Climate Resilience Funding
    The Federal Emergency Management Agency will give states $3.5 billion to prepare for disasters, as wildfires and other calamities pummel the country.
11. Biden, in a Push to Phase Out Gas Cars, Tightens Pollution Rules
    The president is restoring and strengthening tailpipe emissions regulations from the Obama era and has set a target that half of all vehicles sold in the United States be electric by 2030.
12. Heart Problems After Vaccination in U.S. Are Uncommon and Short-Lived, Researchers Say
    These heart problems are far more common among patients who develop Covid-19, outside experts noted.
13. Global Covid Case Total Passes 200 Million
    Vaccines have weakened the link between surging cases and serious illness, but in vaccine-deprived parts of the world, the deadly pattern remains.
14. Gilbert V. Levin, Who Said He Found Signs of Life on Mars, Dies at 97
    Most planetary scientists dismissed his conclusions, but he remained steadfast that the experiment he conducted in the mid-1970s had been a success.
15. Nursing Homes Confront New Covid Outbreaks Amid Calls for Staff Vaccination Mandates
    With the vaccinated elderly susceptible to breakthrough infections, inoculation of workers is becoming more urgent.
16. Democrats Seek $500 Billion in Climate Damages From Big Polluting Companies
    Under a draft plan Democrats are circulating, the Treasury Department would tax a handful of the biggest emitters of planet-warming pollution to pay for climate change.
17. Climate Change Could Devastate Emperor Penguins, U.S. Officials Warn
    The Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal on Tuesday to list the birds as a threatened species.
18. F.D.A. Aims to Give Final Approval to Pfizer Vaccine by Early Next Month
    The Food and Drug Administration’s move is expected to kick off more vaccination mandates for hospital workers, college students and federal troops.
19. Is the Delta Variant Making Younger Adults ‘Sicker, Quicker’?
    Many doctors on the front lines say unvaccinated patients in their 20s and 30s are becoming more severely ill, and more quickly. But comprehensive data is lacking.
20. Infrastructure Bill Recognizes Climate Change Is a Crisis
    For the first time, both parties have acknowledged — by their actions, if not their words — that the United States is unprepared for global warming and will need huge amounts of cash to cope.
21. Iraq Reclaims 17,000 Looted Artifacts, Its Biggest-Ever Repatriation
    The cuneiform tablets and other objects had been held by the Museum of the Bible, founded by the family that owns the Hobby Lobby craft store chain, and by Cornell University.
22. What if Highways Were Electric? Germany Is Testing the Idea.
    An electrified highway is theoretically the most efficient way to eliminate truck emissions. But the political obstacles are daunting.
23. The Covid Variant in Schools: What to Know
    Classrooms are opening their doors to a different pandemic. Here is how to think about risk.
24. Paula Caplan, 74, Dies; Feminist Psychologist Took On Her Profession
    She argued that categorizing premenstrual syndrome or feelings of guilt as disorders resulted from sexism in a field dominated by men.
25. Where Covax, the Vast Global Vaccine Program, Went Wrong
    After months of struggle, the U.N.-backed Covax alliance will soon have many more doses, promising relief for vaccine shortages in poorer countries. But it faces a deepening crisis: difficulties getting shots into arms as the Delta variant spreads.
26. Biden’s Climate Plans Are Stunted After Dejected Experts Fled Trump
    Hundreds of scientists and policy experts left the government during the Trump administration. The jobs remain unfilled six months into President Biden’s term.
27. ‘X’ Marks the Spot: Officials Map a Route Out of the Pandemic
    Governments and organizations around the world are using geospatial data and digital mapping tools to guide their vaccination campaigns.
28. With Undersea Robots, an Air Force Navigator Lost Since 1967 Is Found
    A recovery mission off Vietnam’s coast showed how advances in technology have given new reach to the Pentagon’s search for American war dead.
29. Who Are the Unvaccinated in America? There’s No One Answer.
    One segment of people who have avoided shots is vehemently opposed to the idea. But there is a second group, surveys suggest, that is still deciding.
30. Stranded Killer Whale Survives With Help of Good Samaritans
    Rescuers and wildlife officials kept it cool and wet while waiting for a rising tide. The orca returned to sea about six hours after it was spotted on the rugged shores of an Alaskan island.
31. In South Africa, Poachers Now Traffic in Tiny Succulent Plants
    Police search the desert trying to track down the poachers selling Conophytums to collectors worldwide, threatening to wipe out rare plants in the wild.
32. U.S. Authorities Seek Documents From Troubled Covid Vaccine Manufacturer
    Emergent BioSolutions, which ruined 75 million vaccine doses at its Baltimore plant, disclosed records requests from Congress and federal and state law enforcement agencies.
33. Bezos' Blue Origin Loses Challenge to NASA SpaceX Lunar Lander Contract
    The Government Accountability Office said a $2.9 billion award to SpaceX to build the next lunar lander for astronauts would stand.
34. Vaccinated People May Spread the Virus, Though Rarely, C.D.C. Reports
    The agency cited an outbreak in Provincetown, Mass., in which most of the infected were immunized. An internal C.D.C. document paints an even more harrowing picture.
35. C.D.C. Internal Report Calls Delta Variant as Contagious as Chickenpox
    Infections in vaccinated Americans are rare, compared with those in unvaccinated people, the document said. But when they occur, vaccinated people may spread the virus just as easily.
36. Biden Seeks to Revive Vaccine Effort With New Rules and Incentives
    The president said those refusing to get a coronavirus shot should expect inconveniences as long as they decline a vaccine.