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Science

Highlights

  1. With DNA, Pompeii Narratives Take a Twist

    In 79 A.D., a volcanic eruption engulfed a town’s residents. They weren’t all who scientists thought, newly extracted genetic material suggests.

     By Franz Lidz

    A plaster cast of a victim of the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, on display in Pompeii in March.
    CreditCesare Abbate/EPA, via Shutterstock

  1. You May Not Be Able to Outrun a Vampire Bat

    Scientists put the bloodsucking mammals on a treadmill to understand how they get the energy to chase down their next meal.

     By Jack Tamisiea

    CreditKenneth Welch and Giulia Rossi
    Trilobites

  2. Japanese Scientists Bet on an Ancient Material for Their New Satellite: Wood

    Scientists in Japan constructed the first satellite made of wood by blending age-old woodworking techniques with rocket science.

     By John Yoon and Hisako Ueno

    Takao Doi, a former Japanese astronaut and professor at Kyoto University, holding a model of the satellite in October.
    CreditIrene Wang/Reuters

  3. The Science That Makes Baseball Mud ‘Magical’

    Scientists dug up the real dirt on the substance applied to all the baseballs used in the major leagues.

     By David Waldstein

    Daniel Hudson of the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game 4 of the World Series last week. Mud is applied to new baseballs because they are glossy and slippery, making them difficult for pitchers to grip.
    CreditElsa/Getty Images
    Trilobites

  4. Can Axions Save the Universe?

    The hunt for dark matter is shifting from particles to waves named after a laundry detergent.

     By Dennis Overbye and Katrina Miller

    CreditJohn P. Dessereau

  5. Last N.I.H. Chimps to Move From New Mexico Facility

    The retired research chimpanzees, which had previously been deemed too frail to move, will be relocated to a Louisiana sanctuary.

     By Emily Anthes

    The Alamogordo chimps will join others at Chimp Haven, a rehabilitation sanctuary in Keithville, La.
    CreditEmil Lippe for The New York Times

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Origins

More in Origins ›

  1. How Early Humans Evolved to Eat Starch

    Two new studies found that ancient human ancestors carried a surprising diversity of genes for amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch.

     By Carl Zimmer

    Early humans, such as this 430,000-year-old individual from Spain, may have evolved to have extra genes for breaking down starch after they started cooking tubers for food.
    CreditJavier Trueba/MSF/Science Source

  2. When Two Sea Aliens Become One

    Primitive animals called comb jellies can fuse their bodies and nervous systems together.

     By Carl Zimmer

    CreditMariana Rodriguez-Santiago

  3. Why Do Apes Make Gestures?

    Chimps and other apes have been observed making more than 80 meaningful gestures. Three theories have tried to explain why.

     By Carl Zimmer

    A chimpanzee in Uganda presents his back to another as a request for grooming.
    CreditCat Hobaiter

  4. Our Bigger Brains Came With a Downside: Faster Aging

    A study comparing chimpanzee and human brains suggests that the regions that grew the most during human evolution are the most susceptible to aging.

     By Carl Zimmer

    The darker green regions of the brain show the parts that have expanded the most during human evolution. A new study shows that they are the same sections that shrink the most during aging.
    CreditVickery et al., Science Advances, 2024

  5. How Did the First Cells Arise? With a Little Rain, Study Finds.

    Researchers stumbled upon an ingredient that can stabilize droplets of genetic material: water.

     By Carl Zimmer

    Droplets containing RNA float in water. Each color is produced by a different kind of RNA.
    CreditAman Agrawal

Trilobites

More in Trilobites ›

  1. Fossil Reveals Oldest Known Tadpole That Grew to the Size of a Hot Dog

    A 161 million-year-old fossil, linked to a line of extinct frog-like amphibians, is the oldest tadpole ever found.

     By Asher Elbein

    CreditGabriel Lío

  2. This Toad Is So Tiny That They Call It a Flea

    A “toadlet” in Brazil is the second-smallest vertebrate known to exist on the planet.

     By Sofia Quaglia

    Brachycephalus dacnis, the second-smallest species of vertebrate on the planet, was discovered in southeastern Brazil and measures less than 0.7 centimeters long.
    CreditLucas Botelho

  3. The Early Bird Got the Cicada, Then an Evolutionary Air War Started

    Fossils reveal that prehistoric cicadas’ wings evolved to help them evade hungry predators with feathers and beaks, scientists say.

     By Jack Tamisiea

    An artist’s concept of an Early Cretaceous cicada chased by Longipteryx chaoyangensis, an early bird.
    CreditXu et al., Sci. Adv. 10, eadr2201 (2024)

  4. A Feathered Murder Mystery at 10,000 Feet

    Scientists say they have observed one of the highest-altitude acts of bird predation ever recorded.

     By Jason Bittel

    Scientists tracking migratory grey plovers with GPS received signals suggesting the bird had been nabbed by a peregrine falcon at 10,000 feet.
    CreditJasper Koster

  5. Brazilian Fossil Hints at Older Origin for All Dinosaurs

    The discovery may push back the emergence of the reptiles that once ruled the Earth, and clarify how dinosaurs like the Triceratops and Stegosaurus emerged.

     By Asher Elbein

    An artist’s concept of Gondwanax paraisensis in a Triassic landscape of present-day southern Brazil. It lived almost 10 million years before any other known dinosaurs.
    CreditMatheus Fernandes Gadelha

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Climate and Environment

More in Climate and Environment ›

  1. Musk Believes in Global Warming. Trump Doesn’t. Will That Change?

    The Tesla billionaire is a key figure in the president-elect’s orbit. One question is whether his views on climate and clean energy will have any sway.

     By Brad Plumer

    Elon Musk is expected to have a direct line to the White House in the coming months.
    CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

  2. What Is COP29? Here’s What to Know About Global Climate Talks.

    Diplomats and leaders from around the world are gathering for annual climate negotiations. Here’s what they’re all about and what Donald Trump’s victory means for the meeting.

     By David Gelles

    Diplomats and heads of state from nearly 200 countries are gathering in Azerbaijan to update their plans to address climate change.
    CreditAziz Karimov/Reuters

  3. 2024 Temperatures Are on Track for a Record High, Researchers Find

    The new report also says that global warming has hit a threshold, at least temporarily, that countries had pledged to avoid.

     By Austyn Gaffney

    The dry bed of the Madeira River, a tributary of the Amazon, in northwestern Brazil in September.
    CreditEdmar Barros/Associated Press

  4. What Trump’s Victory Means for Climate Change

    President-elect Donald J. Trump promised to delete climate policy. He could face pushback from Republicans benefiting from a boom in clean energy.

     By Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman

    President-elect Donald J. Trump entered the stage at the election night party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Wednesday.
    CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

  5. Can 70 Moms Save a Species?

    Here’s the story of Squilla, a rare North Atlantic right whale mother, and her firstborn. To help their species continue, they’d have to navigate an increasingly dangerous ocean.

     By Catrin Einhorn

    CreditGeorgia Department of Natural Resources, NOAA permit #20556-01
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  7. Elon Musk Helped Elect Trump. What Does He Expect in Return?

    The world’s richest man gave his money and time in campaigning for the president-elect and now is putting in his requests for a friendlier regulatory environment.

    By Eric Lipton, Kirsten Grind, David A. Fahrenthold and Theodore Schleifer

     
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