NYT > Science

1. SpaceX Wins NASA $2.9 Billion Contract to Build Moon Lander
   Elon Musk’s company bested Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and others in the contest to carry American astronauts to the lunar surface.
2. How Many Tyrannosaurus Rexes Ever Lived on Earth? Here’s a New Clue.
   An estimation of the iconic predator’s total population can teach us things about dinosaurs that fossils cannot.
3. How the Largest Animals That Could Ever Fly Supported Giraffe-Like Necks
   These pterosaurs had wingspans as long as 33 feet, and scans of fossilized remains reveal a surprise in their anatomy.
4. These Ants Shrink Their Brains for a Chance to Become Queen
   If their bids at motherhood fail, they can then regrow their brains.
5. Could the Pandemic Prompt an ‘Epidemic of Loss’ of Women in the Sciences?
   Even before the pandemic, many female scientists felt unsupported in their fields. Now, some are hitting a breaking point.
6. Fairy Circles in Australia May Be Due to Microbes, Study Says
   A small study suggests that soil microbes could play a role in the ring-like grass formations in parts of Australia’s wilderness.
7. Are You Confused by Scientific Jargon? So Are Scientists
   Scientific papers containing lots of specialized terminology are less likely to be cited by other researchers.
8. As Locusts Swarmed East Africa, This Tech Helped Squash Them
   A hastily formed crowdsourcing operation to contain the insects in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia could help manage climate-related disasters everywhere.
9. A Tiny Particle’s Wobble Could Upend the Known Laws of Physics
   Experiments with particles known as muons suggest that there are forms of matter and energy vital to the nature and evolution of the cosmos that are not yet known to science.
10. How Bhutan Out-Vaccinated Most of the World
    The Himalayan nation has given more than 60 percent of its people a shot. Some villages were reached by helicopter, and health workers hiked through ice and snow.
11. Papier-Mache Globe
    Creating a light-up globe from recycled materials is a good reminder of Earth’s beauty.
12. It's OK Our Bodies Have Changed During the Pandemic
    The coronavirus changed so much about our lives, including, for many of us, our bodies. It’s OK.
13. How To Clean Your Patio
    Sprucing up for spring includes giving your lawn furniture the cleaning it deserves.
14. The Covid-19 Plasma Boom Is Over. What Did We Learn From It?
    The U.S. government invested $800 million in plasma when the country was desperate for Covid-19 treatments. A year later, the program has fizzled.
15. ‘We Were Flying Blind’: A Dr.’s Account of a Woman’s J.&J. Vaccine-Related Blood Clot Case
    The disorder is rare, but so severe that the vaccine is on hold while experts weigh the risks and alert doctors and patients about symptoms and treatment.
16. Why the Vaccine Safety Numbers Are Still Fuzzy
    Putting a risk in context: The rate of blood clots is extremely low, but the pause in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could reveal more cases.
17. A Lawsuit Over Frozen Embryos
    Elaine Meyer and Barry Prizant had given up on having more than one child. Then, in their 60s, they got a letter from the hospital where they’d long ago had IVF treatment.
18. Vaccines Won’t Protect Millions of Patients With Weakened Immune Systems
    Many cannot produce enough infection-fighting cells to fend off the coronavirus. But researchers are testing one therapy that may help: monoclonal antibodies.
19. How a Burst of Light in the Sky Illuminated Something Primal
    Videos of a mysterious celestial phenomenon captured a once-common human emotion: awe at the wonder of the heavens.
20. Birds by the Billions: A Guide to Spring’s Avian Parade
    For birders across the United States, it’s a rite of spring: heading out to woodlands and waterways to track down a favorite warbler, vireo, tanager or other bird, many of them migratory.
21. U.S. Suicides Declined Over All in 2020 but May Have Risen Among People of Color
    Despite dire predictions, the number of suicides fell by 5 percent over all. Still, smaller studies suggested the trends were much worse among nonwhite Americans.
22. C.D.C. Panel Keeps Pause on Use of J&J Vaccine, Weighing Risks
    An advisory committee debated the very few cases of a rare blood disorder and worried about the suspension’s effect on global needs for a one-shot, easy-to-ship vaccine.
23. In Coinbase’s Rise, a Reminder: Cryptocurrencies Use Lots of Energy
    The company’s stock market arrival establishes Bitcoin and other digital currencies in the traditional financial landscape. It also elevates a technology with astonishing environmental costs.
24. What the Coronavirus Variants Mean for Testing
    Most tests should be able to detect the variants of concern, but test developers and health officials must remain vigilant, scientists say.
25. Vacuna Johnson & Johnson: Estados Unidos pausa su aplicación
    La FDA ha recomendado pausar esta vacuna por precaución mientras se investigan casos de coágulos de sangre extremadamente raros.
26. Biden Wants World Leaders to Make Climate Change Commitments
    The administration is closing in on deals with some close allies, but agreements with powers like China, Brazil and India are proving difficult.
27. J&J Vaccine and Blood Clots: A Risk, if It Exists, Is Tiny
    Out of an “abundance of caution,” the F.D.A. is advising doctors to pause the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while it investigates extremely rare blood clots.
28. Darius, ‘World’s Longest Rabbit,’ Is Missing
    Measuring more than four feet, the furry giant should be easy to spot. But he vanished from an English garden last weekend, and the police are treating his disappearance as an abduction.
29. U.S. Calls for Pause on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine After Blood Clotting Cases
    Federal health officials called for a halt in the use of the company’s coronavirus vaccine while they study serious illnesses that developed in six American women.
30. Executives Call for Deep Emission Cuts to Combat Climate Change
    More than 300 corporate leaders are asking the Biden administration to nearly double the emission reduction targets set by the Obama administration.
31. NFTs Are Shaking Up the Art World. Are They Also Fueling Climate Change?
    Making the digital artworks requires colossal amounts of computing power, and that means greenhouse gases.
32. Japan to Start Releasing Radioactive Water From Fukushima in 2 Years
    The government says the plan is the best way to dispose of water used to prevent the ruined nuclear plant’s damaged reactor cores from melting.