NYT > Science

1. Expert Panel Votes for Stricter Rules on Risky Virus Research
   The White House will decide whether to adopt the panel’s recommendations on so-called gain of function experiments.
2. Newly Discovered Asteroid Passes Close to Earth
   First detected just days ago, 2023 BU approached within 2,200 miles of our planet’s surface before moving on.
3. Polar Vortex Drives a Cold Snap in Asia
   An exceptionally cold January has brought the region misery and snarled travel. Experts blame the same arctic system that hit the United States last month.
4. N.I.H. Did Not Properly Track a Group Studying Coronaviruses, Report Finds
   An internal federal watchdog said that the health agency had not given adequate oversight to EcoHealth Alliance, which had been awarded $8 million in grants.
5. How Rare Island Bunnies Do a Parasitic Plant’s Bidding
   The world’s only wild black-furred rabbit has a very important job — distributing seeds for a parasitic plant.
6. Ukraine’s Scientists Receive a Funding Lifeline From Abroad
   The Simons Foundation in New York is providing annual grants to the country’s chemists, biologists, physicists and mathematicians.
7. Recent Volcanic Activity on Jupiter’s Moon Io Is Confusing and Exciting Scientists
   Recent strange activity around Jupiter’s volcanic moon, Io, confused and excited scientists.
8. Where is Physics Headed (and How Soon Do We Get There)?
   Two leading scientists discuss the future of their field.
9. Deaths Among Pregnant Women and New Mothers Rose Sharply During Pandemic
   The fatalities, occurring disproportionately among Native American and Black women, were linked not just to medical complications but also to homicides and accidents.
10. New Blood Donation Rules to Loosen Restrictions on Gay and Bisexual Men
    The F.D.A. proposed a more individualized policy based on questions about sexual behavior and risks.
11. Why Experts Are Urging Swifter Treatment for Children With Obesity
    Growing research has shown that intensive interventions are needed, scientists say. Here is why their advice is changing.
12. As the Colorado River Shrinks, Washington Prepares to Spread the Pain
    The seven states that rely on the river for water are not expected to reach a deal on cuts. It appears the Biden administration will have to impose reductions.
13. FDA Seeks More Authority to Oversee CBD Products
    The agency wants Congress to intervene, saying it does not have adequate oversight powers to ensure the safety of the myriad cannabidiol products derived from hemp.
14. Covid Vaccines Targeting Omicron Should Be Standard, Panel Says
    As advisers to the Food and Drug Administration endorsed ending one era of the Covid vaccination campaign, they also grappled with its future.
15. Biden Administration Bans Mining in Boundary Waters Wilderness
    A 20-year moratorium on new mining activity for more than 225,000 acres of federal land in Minnesota could deal a fatal blow to a proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine.
16. How Do Heavy Metals Like Lead Get in Baby Food?
    The problem begins at the farm where plants draw toxins from the soil. There’s no washing them away.
17. Biden Bans Roads, Logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
    The U.S. Forest Service rule restricts development on more than nine million acres in North America’s largest temperate rainforest, reversing a Trump decision.
18. New Lawsuit Challenges State Bans on Abortion Pills
    The case, brought by GenBioPro, a company that makes one of two abortion drugs, argues that it is unconstitutional for a state to bar access to a medication approved by the federal government.
19. The Sierra Club Tries to Move Past John Muir, George Floyd and #MeToo
    After a public reckoning and the departure of its executive director, the nation’s largest environmental organization has tapped Ben Jealous as its new leader.
20. F.D.A. Proposes Limits for Lead in Baby Food
    The agency estimated that the guidelines could reduce young children’s dietary exposure to lead by about 25 percent.
21. Long Covid Is Keeping Significant Numbers of People Out of Work, Study Finds
    An analysis of workers’ compensation claims in New York found that 71 percent of claimants with long Covid needed continuing medical treatment or were unable to work for six months or more.
22. Emailing Your Doctor May Carry a Fee
    More hospitals and medical practices have begun charging for doctors’ responses to patient queries, depending on the level of medical advice.
23. A ‘Big Night’ for Newts, and for a California Newt Brigade
    Salamanders get a little help across the road from some two-legged friends in Northern California.
24. F.D.A. Outlines a Plan for Annual Covid Boosters
    In advance of a scientific meeting on Thursday, officials proposed offering new shots to Americans each fall, a strategy long employed against the flu.
25. E.P.A. Struggles With Workload in Wake of Staff Exodus
    Despite an injection of funding, the agency still has not recovered from an exodus of scientists and policy experts, both insiders and critics say.
26. Earth’s Inner Core: A Shifting, Spinning Mystery’s Latest Twist
    Researchers proposed a model with a 70-year rotation cycle of our planet’s iron heart, and report that we’re in the middle of one of its big shifts.
27. What Do We Owe Lab Animals?
    The standard ethical guidelines encourage minimizing the use of, and harm to, animals used in research. Some experts propose an additional courtesy: repayment.
28. CPR and Defibrillators: What You Need to Know
    Helping someone in cardiac arrest is not as daunting as it seems.