NYT > Science

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. How to View the Artemis II Moon Launch
   The first crewed mission around the moon in more than 50 years is coming up. Here’s how to see it at sites in and around the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Sonic Booms and Seismic Waves Can Reveal Where Space Junk Crash-Lands
   The sensors used to listen for earthquakes could help protect people from the hazards created by falling spacecraft.
7. How to Cut an Infinitely Large Pancake into as Many Pieces as Possible
   A team of mathematicians seeks to cut an infinitely large pancake into as many pieces as possible, in a new take on an old puzzle.
8. Thing-Like Robotic Hand Makes Life Resemble ‘The Addams Family’
   The very capable robotic picker-upper can grasp things on both sides and roam around freely.
9. Filoplumes Are Nature’s Super Feather
   Filoplumes may be tiny, but these hairlike feathers enable nonstop flights that span thousands of miles.
10. Dutch Court Orders Netherlands to Protect Bonaire From Climate Change
    Bonaire, a Dutch overseas territory, deserves the same protections as Europe, the ruling said. The decision adds to a growing body of precedent worldwide.
11. Texas Sues Delaware Nurse Practitioner for Mailing Abortion Pills to the State
    The case is the latest action taken by a state with an abortion ban against providers in states that support abortion rights.
12. Camping on Thwaites Glacier
    After working and camping for a week on Thwaites Glacier, scientists were ready to start drilling into the ice, if only the weather would let them.
13. Pillbugs Are Getting Top Dollar Online. Poachers Have Noticed.
    A robust, largely unregulated online trade in isopods could pose a serious threat to some vulnerable species, scientists warn.
14. Gladys West, Unsung Figure in Development of GPS, Dies at 95
    As a Navy mathematician in the 1950s and beyond, she played an unheralded but foundational role in making possible the global satellite-based mapping system.
15. Peter H. Duesberg, 89, Renowned Biologist Turned H.I.V. Denialist, Dies
    His pioneering work on the origins of cancer was later overshadowed by his contrarian views, notably his rejection of the established theory that H.I.V. causes AIDS.
16. A Shift for NOAA’s Surveys: From Science to Mining
    A $20 million agency project will aid companies prospecting the sea for critical minerals.
17. How Computer Warfare Is Becoming Part of the Pentagon’s Arsenal
    The military tested a new approach in Venezuela and during strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
18. Michigan Sues Oil Giants, Saying They Collude to Make Energy Costlier
    The lawsuit accuses the companies of raising prices by working against solar and wind power and by downplaying the risks of climate change.
19. Radar Scans of Antarctica Offer Clues to What’s Happening on Jupiter’s Moon
    Scientists are using radar to study damaged ice both in Antarctica and, with the help of a NASA spacecraft, on Jupiter’s ocean moon of Europa.
20. U.S Has Officially Withdrawn From the Paris Climate Accord
    The United States is the only country to pull out of the global agreement among nations to fight climate change. European diplomats say the U.S. reputation is suffering.
21. Thomas Fogarty, 91, Who Helped Revolutionize Vascular Surgery, Dies
    Drawing on his love of fly-fishing, he developed a balloon catheter that removes blood clots from patients’ limbs in a minimally invasive way. It has saved millions of lives.
22. William H. Foege, Key Figure in the Eradication of Smallpox, Dies at 89
    His containment strategy helped wipe out the disease in the 1970s, one of the world’s greatest public health triumphs. He also led the C.D.C. and promoted childhood vaccination worldwide.
23. Is Climate Change Weakening the Polar Vortex?
    Rising Arctic temperatures and melting sea ice could be causing cold air to flow into the Northern Hemisphere. But not all scientists agree.
24. Edith Flanigen, Award-Winning Research Chemist, Dies at 96
    She and her staff at Union Carbide created synthetic materials that improved various industrial processes, including purifying water. She also developed a way to make emeralds.
25. Genetic Data From Over 20,000 U.S. Children Misused for ‘Race Science’
    The National Institutes of Health failed to protect brain scans that an international group of fringe researchers used to argue for the intellectual superiority of white people.
26. Pedro Sanchez, Who Helped Feed the Developing World, Dies at 85
    A soil scientist, he partnered with the United Nations and other organizations to bring productive agricultural practices to uncooperative terrain.
27. Louis E. Brus, Nobel Laureate Who Illuminated the Nanoworld, Dies at 82
    He accidentally created some of the first quantum dots, tiny semiconductors that now power many electronics.
28. Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional, Rejecting Decades of Science
    Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist who leads the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said a person’s right to refuse a vaccine outweighed concerns about illness or death from infectious diseases.
29. Increased Scrutiny Leads to an Improved Organ Transplant System
    A crackdown on problems with fairness and safety is achieving results, including a big drop in the number of sick patients being passed over for transplants.
30. An Antarctic Mission to Recover a Robot’s Data
    In the unforgiving polar wilderness, scientists go to great lengths to safeguard the devices that gather precious data.
31. Big Insurers Try to Shift Blame for High Health Costs to Hospitals and Drug Makers
    At two congressional hearings, lawmakers slammed executives of major companies, saying they were failing to rein in the cost of medical care for consumers.
32. RFK Jr. Plan to Test a Vaccine in West African Babies Is Blocked
    A planned U.S.-funded study of a hepatitis B vaccine drew widespread condemnation from researchers. Now the host country says it cannot proceed.
33. Energy Dept. Says It Is Canceling $30 Billion in Clean Energy Loans
    Many of the cancellations had been known for months, but the announcement underscored the drastic change in the energy landscape under President Trump.
34. Trump Administration Cuts Off Funding for Fetal Tissue Research. Again.
    The prohibition halts support for projects both inside and outside the N.I.H. President Biden had restored funding after an earlier ban by President Trump during his first term.
35. A 67,800-Year-Old Handprint May Be the World’s Oldest Rock Art
    “It was hiding in plain sight all this time,” one researcher said.
36. Some Immune Systems Defeat Cancer. Could That Become a Drug?
    Researchers found an antibody that seems to play a role in people with better lung cancer prognoses, but turning it into a treatment could be difficult.