NYT > Science

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. ‘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.
7. 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.
8. U.N. Warns Against Technology Used to Read Citizens’ Minds
   A report by the secretary general warned that new technologies could be used to access and criminalize people’s innermost thoughts.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. Why Ketamine Immobilizes Some Users
    Potent powders can produce a nearly catatonic state, particularly in those who have not tried the drug before.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. A Lab Worker’s Death Is Raising Plague Fears in Russia. What Do Experts Want to Know?
    Missing details about the death of a lab worker, including the cause, are worrying scientists.
21. A Public Health-Minded Senator Asks: What Comes After Trump and Kennedy?
    Senator Patty Murray, a former chair of the Senate health committee, is forming a group of experts to examine how to insulate the C.D.C. from political interference.
22. Jonathan the Giant Tortoise Is 194 Years Old. He Just Had His Genome Sequenced.
    Scientists have sequenced his genome for the first time, hoping the world’s oldest land animal can offer clues into the genetics of longevity.
23. Trump Administration Delays Threaten Funding for HIV Research
    The networks also develop treatments and preventions for other infectious diseases and were instrumental in testing the Covid vaccine.
24. Was the Human Gut Healthier in Ancient Times?
    The microbiome isn’t what it used to be in many parts of the world. The shift may be affecting the well-being of people in industrialized countries.
25. In Vienna and Beijing, the First Nuclear Clocks Begin to Tick
    By measuring the squishing and unsquishing of thorium-229 nuclei, two teams created a new type of clock that could someday beat the precision of atomic clocks.
26. Russia Says It Found No ‘Emergency’ in Plague Lab
    New information around the death of a lab worker, including a statement that she had been vaccinated against the plague, came as U.S. officials demanded more data.
27. Nobel Prize in Chemistry Is Awarded to Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai
    The Nobel Committee recognized Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai for solving a century-old mystery about molecules with mirror images. Their work is crucial for pharmaceuticals and carries clues to the origins of life.
28. The Start-Up That Wants to Build ‘Microrobots’ With A.I.
    Atomic Machines is training artificial intelligence on materials and designs — and then using it to build tiny physical devices.
29. OpenAI Releases Findings on 377 Math Problems, Further Roiling Field
    After a previous solution angered mathematicians, the company characterized the new release as being more responsive to concerns about A.I. disrupting research.
30. Supreme Court Hears Boulder Climate Case
    Monday’s arguments were highly technical. A decision about whether the case could move forward isn’t expected until June or July.
31. Energy Firms Try to Squeeze More Power Out of Old Nuclear Plants
    It takes a long time to build new nuclear plants. So, some U.S. companies are looking to get more electricity out of reactors that already exist.
32. Nobel Prize in Physics Is Awarded to Francis Halzen for Work on Neutrinos
    The Nobel Committee honored Francis Halzen for his “vision and scientific leadership” of a telescope within the ice at the South Pole.
33. In Race With U.S., China Struggles to Recruit Foreign A.I. Researchers
    China’s booming artificial intelligence sector has given local researchers good reason to remain in the country, but it has yet to lure overseas scientists despite a government push.
34. Melting Swiss Glaciers Release Archaeological Treasures
    Archaeologists are scouring mountain passes as artifacts from a bygone world all but tumble out of Switzerland’s shrinking ice.
35. Why Cities and States Are Fighting Climate Change in Courtrooms
    Faced with a president who has called global warming a hoax, officials have filed dozens of suits against oil companies to try to cover the costs of extreme weather.
36. Texas Pediatricians Face Paxton Investigations for Vaccinating Children
    Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general and Republican Senate candidate, has alleged a sprawling profit-driven conspiracy. Pediatricians say the accusations are an attempt at intimidation.
37. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Is Awarded for Discoveries in Neuroscience
    Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel were recognized for their work on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, a technique that uses pulses of light to activate neurons in the brain.
38. What Are the Biggest Questions in Science Today? 100 Scientists Weigh In.
    We asked 100 scientists about unsolved problems in their fields. They sent back provocations — on the origins of life, the possibilities for human progress and much more.
39. Are Babies Conscious?
    By pinpointing when it begins in young humans, scientists hope to better understand what consciousness is, and how it arises, in all of us.