NYT > Science

1. Prosecutors Seek to Drop Charges Against Russian Scientist Accused of Smuggling Frog Embryos
   Kseniia Petrova, a researcher at Harvard, has argued that she was vindictively prosecuted after her arrest in 2025.
2. A NASA Telescope Has Crashed Back to Earth
   The space agency estimated that there was a one-in-2,100 chance that debris from the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory could injure someone on the ground.
3. Neanderthals Used Wood for Tools, Housing — and Murder?
   In one case, 75,000-year-old bones reveal what may be the earliest identifiable victim of death by wooden spear.
4. Investigators Looking for Cause of Learjet Crash Say Ice Was ‘Certainly a Factor’
   Ice, experts said, can change the shape of a plane’s wing, disrupting its aerodynamics.
5. Do Animals Grieve?
   The feeling of existential loss was long thought to be uniquely human. But studies of coyotes, cockatoos and other creatures are prompting some scientists to reconsider.
6. Why Did Snakes Lose Their Legs? And 9 More Animal Mysteries
   There are more than 1.5 million known zoological species on Earth, with at least as many enigmas. Here are our top 10.
7. These Snakes Cartwheel Out of Dangerous Situations
   To escape predators, dwarf reed snakes trade slithering for rolling to safety.
8. That Mummy for Sale on Facebook Could Make You Ill
   Experts warn that online black markets for mummified remains could pose health risks.
9. A Meteorite Found in the Sahara Is a 4.1-Billion-Year-Old Piece of Mars
   Minerals in the space rock provide hints about the early history of the red planet, when water was flowing on the surface.
10. Beverly Whipple Has Died. She Introduced the G-Spot to the Mainstream.
    Dr. Whipple studied the female erogenous zone and, with collaborators, wrote a best seller about women’s sexuality. She was 85.
11. The Election Day Edition
    In the 2022 midterms, Democrats made global warming an issue. Things have changed.
12. House Republicans Accuse Top Psychology Group of Antisemitism
    A monthslong G.O.P. effort culminated in a scathing report about emails and other exchanges within the American Psychological Association.
13. The Southwest Is Parched. Can the Recent Floodwaters Quench It?
    A series of storms has added to reservoirs in the Colorado River basin, but the long-term water outlook remains bleak.
14. Cyril Hilsum, Who Helped Invent Flat-Panel Displays in TVs and iPhones, Has Died at 101
    The man who helped develop the technology for liquid crystal displays — the screens in flat-panel televisions and laptops — has died at 101.
15. Swarms of Butterflies Land at New York’s Natural History Museum
    The cartoonist Peter Kuper has filled a corridor with drawings of monarchs, depicting the beauty of the annual mass migration to Mexican forests — as well as its perils.
16. COP17 Biodiversity Talks in Yerevan, Armenia
    Countries renewed their promises to protect wildlife at U.N. talks in Armenia, but how to cover the costs remains a question.
17. Doctors in Ukraine Try Treating Infections Like Biological Warfare Attacks
    As many as 40 percent of injured soldiers face severe infections that can lead to amputations and death. One initiative is trying to fix that.
18. How Trump Is Dismantling America’s Scientific Research Machine
    The system that has driven life-altering discoveries and helped make the United States a superpower is now under intense strain.
19. As Picard on ‘Star Trek’, Patrick Stewart Influenced Generations of Scientists
    Stewart’s iconic “Star Trek” character inspired astronomers and astronauts in countless ways: “You were the captain of my childhood,” one astrophysicist said.
20. Dozens of Headless Skeletons Pose a Macabre Mystery
    Mass graves found at a Stone Age farming settlement in Slovakia have researchers baffled about the details — including the location of the missing skulls.
21. Scary Ghost Stories From New York Times Archives
    From haunted zoo cages to ghostly bar owners, here are five stories from our archives that will make you shiver, or maybe chuckle.
22. The New DNA Technology That Linked Ted Bundy to a 52-Year-Old Cold Case
    Software known as STRmix was instrumental in identifying Mr. Bundy’s DNA in a decades-old sample.
23. A Marathon Runner’s Hard Lesson
    Racing in Chicago showed your newsletter host firsthand how warming is disrupting the sport.
24. These Patients Struggle With Runaway Bones. Finally There’s Hope.
    F.O.P., a rare genetic condition, causes uncontrolled explosions of bone. New drugs may slow or halt the process.
25. After Reinventing Mathematics, Can A.I. Eradicate Computer Bugs?
    Using the same techniques that allowed A.I. technologies to crack a million-dollar math problem, researchers are building new systems that aim to solve the world’s cybersecurity crisis.
26. Three Stone Age Caves Reveal Continual Cannibalism
    A tour of the three caves in southern Spain suggests that people in the area cannibalized one another as funerary practice over many generations.
27. New Batteries That Store Blistering Heat Are Taking Off
    Large batteries that store electricity have revolutionized power grids and car markets. Now some start-ups are betting that “heat batteries” could be just as transformative.