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Science

Highlights

  2. The Last Stand of the Woolly Mammoths

    The species survived on an island north of Siberia for thousands of years, scientists reported, but were most likely plagued by genetic abnormalities.

     By Carl Zimmer

    Mammoths remained on Wrangel Island, about 80 miles from the Siberian coast, for about 6,000 years after they vanished from the rest of Asia, Europe and North America.
    CreditBeth Zaiken

  4. Was the Dingo Born to Be Wild?

    Burial remains from 800-2,000 years ago hint that the First Australians may have kept the continent’s famous canine species as pets.

     By Franz Lidz

    An illustration of several dingoes, from the 1863 book “The Mammals of Australia.” A recent paper suggested that the wild dogs may have been trusted companions of the First Australians.
    CreditBiodiversity Heritage Library

  1. Two Killer Asteroids Are Flying by Earth, and You May Be Able to See One

    The smaller of the pair was spotted only this month and could be visible with binoculars as it passes by our planet within the distance to the moon.

     By Robin George Andrews

    A visualization of the orbit of (415029) 2011 UL21, a near-Earth object that completes 11 revolutions around the sun in almost the exact same amount of time in which Earth completes 34 revolutions (i.e., 34 years), creating this pattern when plotting the asteroid’s location relative to Earth.
    CreditEuropean Space Agency

  2. If You Give a Frog a Sauna, It Might Fight Off a Deadly Fungus

    A fatal fungal disease has devastated the world’s amphibians. But the fungus has a vulnerability: It cannot tolerate heat.

     By Emily Anthes

    CreditAnthony Waddle
    Trilobites

  3. Scientists Find First Evidence That Butterflies Crossed an Ocean

    Researchers discovered painted ladies on a South American beach and then built a case that they started their journey in Europe or Africa.

     By Monique Brouillette

    The painted lady butterfly is one of the world’s most widespread butterflies, normally moving between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.
    CreditGerard Talavera
    Trilobites

  4. He Monitors Solar Flares. Here’s What Keeps Him Up at Night.

    Mike Bettwy, a government meteorologist who focuses on potential threats from space weather, says that we are more prepared than ever — and that forecasting is only getting better.

     By Katrina Miller

    Mike Bettwy, the operations chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center. “The sun is definitely entering its more active phase,” he said.
    CreditRachel Woolf for The New York Times
    A Conversation With …

  5. China Becomes First Country to Retrieve Rocks From the Moon’s Far Side

    The Chang’e-6 mission’s sample, which might hold clues about the origins of the moon and Earth, is the latest achievement of China’s lunar exploration program.

     By Katrina Miller

    Officials prepared to recover the landing module of the Chang’e-6 moon probe after it landed in Inner Mongolia, in northern China, on Tuesday.
    CreditAgence France-Presse — Getty Images

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Pets

More in Pets ›

  1. Their Job Is to Help You Grieve Your Pet

    Though still rare, social workers in animal hospitals are growing in their ranks.

     By Katie Thomas and Jamie Kelter Davis

    Claire Johnson, a veterinary social worker, left, comforted Zorro, a 16-year-old cockapoo, as he was prepared for euthanasia at MedVet, a 24-hour pet care facility in Chicago.
    Credit

  2. The Pet ‘Superheroes’ Who Donate Their Blood

    Transfusions have become an important part of veterinary medicine, but cat and dog blood is not always easy to come by.

     By Emily Anthes

    Jolie, a blood donor, giving blood at a DoveLewis Blood Bank in Portland, Ore., last month.
    CreditMichael Hanson for The New York Times

  3. Why You’re Paying Your Veterinarian So Much

    People have grown more attached to their pets — and more willing to spend money on them — turning animal medicine into a high-tech industry worth billions.

     By Katie Thomas

    Heather Massey of Carlton, Ga., with her dog, Lunabear. She is still paying off a bill for scans and care six years after her previous dog, Ladybird, was diagnosed with brain cancer.
    CreditAudra Melton for The New York Times

  4. Are We Loving Our Pets to Death?

    Pet owners are treating their animal charges ever more like humans. But that isn’t good for pets, or for us, many experts argue.

     By Linda Baker

    The proliferation of dog strollers is one sign of a trend in which pets’ lives have become constrained and dependent on humans.
    CreditGraham Dickie/The New York Times

  5. A Feline Scientist Explains Why Your Cat Might Actually Like You

    Cats are more social than they are often given credit for. Can you help yours access its inner dog?

     By Emily Anthes

    Credit

Trilobites

More in Trilobites ›

  1. Videos Show That Leeches Can Jump in Pursuit of Blood

    There has long been anecdotal evidence of the wormy creatures taking to the air, but videos recorded in Madagascar at last prove the animals’ acrobatics.

     By Veronique Greenwood

    Credit

  2. Lokiceratops, a Horned Dinosaur, May Be a New Species

    Researchers analyzed a skull found in Montana of a plant-eating member of the ceratops family, finding distinct traits.

     By Asher Elbein

    An artist’s reconstruction of Lokiceratops rangiformis, a new species of ceratopsian recovered from the badlands of northern Montana.
    CreditSergey Krasovskiy for the Museum of Evolution in Maribo, Denmark

  3. Why a 3-Legged Lion and His Brother Swam Across a Crocodile-Filled River

    Researchers say the nearly mile-long swim was the longest by big cats ever recorded.

     By Anthony Ham

    Jacob, a lion who lost a limb in a poacher’s trap in 2020, and Tibu, his brother, completed a swim across the Kazinga Channel in Uganda in February.
    CreditAlex Braczkowski

  4. A Big Whack That Made the Moon May Have Also Created Continents That Move

    Computer simulations suggest that a collision with another planetary object early in Earth’s history may have provided the heat to set off plate tectonics.

     By Lucas Joel

    A collision with a Mars-size planetary object called Theia 4.44 billion years ago, left, might not only have formed the moon but also given rise to plate tectonics.
    CreditHernán Cañellas

  5. Every Elephant Has Its Own Name, Study Suggests

    An analysis of elephant calls using an artificial intelligence tool suggests that the animals may use and respond to individualized rumbles.

     By Kate Golembiewski

    CreditGeorge Wittemyer

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Origins

More in Origins ›

  1. How Flounder Wound Up With an Epic Side-Eye

    Flatfish offer an evolutionary puzzle: How did one eye gradually migrate to the other side?

     By Carl Zimmer

    Credit

  2. Do We Need Language to Think?

    A group of neuroscientists argue that our words are primarily for communicating, not for reasoning.

     By Carl Zimmer

    A network of regions become active when the brain retrieves words from memory, use rules of grammar, and carries out other language tasks.
    Creditvia Evelina Fedorenko

  3. Was This Sea Creature Our Ancestor? Scientists Turn a Famous Fossil on Its Head.

    Researchers have long assumed that a tube in the famous Pikaia fossil ran along the animal’s back. But a new study turned the fossil upside down.

     By Carl Zimmer

    The fossil of Pikaia, a creature that lived 508 million years ago and may have been a close relative of vertebrates.
    CreditMussini et al., Current Biology 2024

  4. Scientists Find the Largest Known Genome Inside a Small Plant

    A fern from a Pacific island carries 50 times as much DNA as humans do.

     By Carl Zimmer

    The fern’s cells contain more than 50 times as much DNA as ours do.
    CreditOriane Hidalgo

  5. Scientists Calculated the Energy Needed to Carry a Baby. Shocker: It’s a Lot.

    In humans, the energetic cost of pregnancy is about 50,000 dietary calories — far higher than previously believed, a new study found.

     By Carl Zimmer

    Researchers estimate that a human pregnancy demands almost 50,000 dietary calories over nine months, the equivalent of about 50 pints of ice cream.
    CreditDr. G. Moscoso/Science Source

Climate and Environment

More in Climate and Environment ›

  1. Supreme Court Blocks Biden Plan on Air Pollution

    Three states challenged the administration’s “good neighbor” plan, meant to protect downwind states from harmful emissions.

     By Adam Liptak

    A coal-fired power plant in Cheshire, Ohio. Ohio is one of three states that challenged the federal plan directly in an appeals court before the Supreme Court stepped in.
    CreditMaddie McGarvey for The New York Times

  2. Biden vs. Trump on Climate Policy

    Ahead of the first presidential debate, we examined the climate stakes in this year’s election.

     By Manuela Andreoni

    The previous cycle’s final presidential debate in Nashville in 2020.
    CreditAmr Alfiky/The New York Times

  3. The Vanishing Islands That Failed to Vanish

    Low-lying tropical island nations were expected to be early victims of rising seas. But research tells a surprising story: Many islands are stable. Some have even grown.

     By Raymond Zhong and Jason Gulley

    Rakeedhoo, population 76, is the least populated island in the Maldives. It is 700 feet wide and 1,200 feet long.
    CreditJason Gulley for The New York Times

  4. Three Ideas to Beat the Heat, and the People Who Made Them Happen

    As temperatures soar around the world, practical experiments are emerging to protect people.

     By Somini Sengupta

    Hansa Ahir, left, who salvages recyclable waste for a living in Ahmedabad, India, bought an insurance policy to cover her income on days when heat makes it dangerous to work.
    CreditAtul Loke for The New York Times

  5. As Solar Power Surges, U.S. Wind Is in Trouble

    A 2022 climate law was expected to set off a boom in renewable energy. So far, that’s only come partly true.

     By Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich

    CreditThe New York Times

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