NYT > Science

1. A New World of Lung Cancer Therapy Awaits Pope Leo
   Lung cancer is still a leading cause of cancer death, but that rate is half what it was in the 1990s, partly because newly developed treatments are working.
2. They Created a Cell That’s Almost Alive. What to Do With It Now?
   SpudCells may one day produce new medicines and materials. But first scientists have to improve them — and make sure they aren’t misused.
3. How Top Trump Officials Stoked Fears of a Nuke That Could Fry the Power Grid
   For more than a decade, conservative activists held that a single atomic bomb could, without killing Americans directly, lay waste to the country — a claim that built fervor for war with Iran.
4. What Can Four-Winged Dinosaurs Teach Us About Birds?
   Flight was probably more widespread in dinosaurs than previously thought. A newly identified species sheds light on how some achieved liftoff.
5. There’s Worlds Out There More Habitable Than Earth
   Scientists believe there are planets outside our solar system where life is even more abundant and sustainable.
6. NASA’s Perseverance Rover Sets a Mars Driving Record
   Advances in self-driving technology have made it easier to traverse distant worlds.
7. How Do Cuttlefish Hide? Scientists Search for the Secret to Camouflage.
   Cephalopods are masters of camouflage. Scientists want to decipher how the process works in the brain.
8. Who Were the Vikings? 21 Graves Weave a Tale of Hunters, Nomads and Sorceresses.
   “The Sea-King and the Sorceress” examines the lives and deaths of the diverse people who called themselves Vikings.
9. The Underappreciated Benefits of Leaving Fallen Leaves Alone
   To homeowners, fallen leaves look like work. To nature, they’re an investment, with tremendous value on the secondary market as invertebrate real estate.
10. Bleached Coral Rebounded After Touching Healthy Coral, Study Finds
    After sick corals were placed in direct contact with healthy ones of the same genetic make-up, they recovered at “incredible” speed, scientists found.
11. Amit Forlit, the Israeli Private Eye at the Heart of a Climate Hacking Scandal
    He’s been linked to someone called “The Hawk.” He named his company “This Isn’t a Dentist’s Office.” The feds say he hacked American environmentalists.
12. How a Logging Industry Downturn Fuels Wildfires
    Loggers are finding it impossible to profitably harvest some federal forests. That leaves more fuel for fires to accumulate.
13. He Helped Discover Ebola 50 Years Ago. He’s Still Worried.
    In an interview, Dr. Peter Piot recalled when he first saw the spindly virus under a microscope and reflected on a five-decade career spent fighting two deadly pathogens.
14. The Times’s New Space Editor Has Her Eye on the Cosmos
    On the Science desk, Victoria Jaggard spends her days pondering the universe’s most pressing mysteries.
15. New York City’s Latest Famous Family Is a Hoot. Yes, They’re Barn Owls.
    The city’s latest feathered extraordinaires are captivating the Upper West Side with their screeches.
16. Why Ketamine Immobilizes Some Users
    Potent powders can produce a nearly catatonic state, particularly in those who have not tried the drug before.
17. Mathematician Who Waited 50 Years for Proper Credit for Her Work Has Died
    At the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mary Tsingou Menzel’s computer programming helped set the stage for chaos theory and other fields.
18. Will We Ever Understand Dementia?
    Since the days of Dr. Alzheimer himself, there has been a dream that severe senility might have an explanation — and a cure. The search for both has never been more urgent.
19. Big Controversy Upends a Contest About Microscopic Videos
    Nikon announced that it had disqualified the winner of its Small World in Motion competition over how A.I. was used in his submission.
20. Cancer Vaccines Are the N.I.H.’s Next ‘Big Bet’
    New details have emerged about an initiative that starts in December to fast-track the vaccines, similar to the successful push for the Covid-19 vaccine.
21. What Are the Remaining Millennium Prize Problems?
    OpenAI’s trove of new math results doesn’t fully solve any of these highly prestigious open questions, but it seems to make progress on some.
22. ‘Breathtaking,’ ‘Devastating’: Mathematics Reels After New OpenAI Release
    Hundreds of new A.I.-generated findings moved the frontiers of higher math in a single day — dispelling any doubt that the field is forever changed.
23. 21 Birds Are Found at Miami Airport Stuffed in Underwear and Hidden in a Belt
    Two men, who arrived separately from Cuba days apart, each carried clutches of live birds concealed in their clothes, the authorities said.
24. The National Hurricane Center’s Boss Keeps an Eye on the Storms
    The director, Michael Brennan, oversees 45 federal workers, including hurricane specialists and meteorologists.
25. Before Computer Science Became a Boys’ Club, Margaret Hamilton Wrote the Code
    The woman who helped put astronauts on the moon was a software engineer when the field was not prestigious or lucrative.
26. As Flood Risk Increases in Himalayas, Nepal Builds More in Vulnerable Areas
    The total footprint of buildings along flood-prone riverbanks in the Himalayas grew by half in recent years, a study found.
27. For Two Sisters, a “Biological Age Test” Measured More Than Their DNA
    They thought it might explain why their health had diverged. Instead, it stirred up feelings that weren’t so easily quantified.
28. Margaret Hamilton, Whose Software Guided the Apollo Missions, Has Died
    Margaret Hamilton, the first female programmer hired to work on the space project at M.I.T., was 90.
29. RFK Jr. Plans Vaccine Injury Initiative, Drawing Wary Eye From Experts
    Vaccine safety experts say more research into the side effects would be welcome yet question whether the health secretary’s effort will be grounded in science.