NYT > Science

1. This Tree Wants to Be Struck by Lightning
   Before a discovery in a Panamanian rainforest, “it seemed impossible that lightning could be a good thing for the trees,” a scientist said.
2. How the Myanmar Earthquake Shook Skyscrapers in Bangkok
   Large quakes produce shaking at a variety of frequencies. Some waves can travel hundreds of miles, and are amplified by local geological conditions.
3. NASA Astronauts Speak for First Time After 9-Month Stay in Space at ISS
   Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spoke in their first news conference since returning to Earth two weeks ago from an unexpectedly long I.S.S. stay that lasted more than nine months.
4. Eating ‘Family Style’ May Have Set the Stage for Life as We Know It
   Under microscopes, scientists found that giant single-cell organisms were able to vacuum up more food when they are stuck together.
5. Trump Administration Has Begun a War on Science, Researchers Say
   Nearly 2,000 scientists urged that Congress restore funding to federal agencies decimated by recent cuts.
6. A New Dinosaur Museum Rises From a Hole in the Ground in New Jersey
   The museum hopes that after learning about the planet’s prehistoric past, people will do more to preserve Earth’s future.
7. Trump Science Funding Cuts May Hurt Economy, Experts Say
   Since World War II, U.S. research funding has led to discoveries that fueled economic gains. Now cutbacks are seen as putting that legacy in jeopardy.
8. Gaia to Shut Down After More Than a Decade of Mapping the Milky Way
   After more than a decade of mapping the stars, the European spacecraft was shut down on Thursday. But its legacy lives on.
9. Trump Administration Demands Additional Cuts at C.D.C.
   In addition to reductions at agency personnel, federal regulators are demanding $2.9 billion in contract cancellations, The Times has learned.
10. Coal Plant Ranked as Nation’s Dirtiest Asks for Pollution Exemption
    The facility, in Colstrip, Mont., used a new E.P.A. system for requesting special waivers from President Trump.
11. Ralph Holloway, Anthropologist Who Studied Brain’s Evolution, Dies at 90
    It wasn’t the size of human brains that distinguished people from apes, he theorized, but the way they were organized. He found a creative way to prove it.
12. C.D.C. Cuts Threaten to Set Back the Nation’s Health, Critics Say
    The reorganization that began on Tuesday will scale back an agency that has been a public health model around the world.
13. Entire Staff Is Fired at LIHEAP
    The move threatens to paralyze the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps to offset high utility bills for roughly 6.2 million people nationwide.
14. Shingles Vaccine Can Decrease Risk of Dementia, Study Finds
    A growing body of research suggests that preventing the viral infection can help stave off cognitive decline.
15. More Americans Cannot Afford Medical Care: Gallup Poll
    A new survey found that 11 percent of Americans said they could not pay for medication and medical treatments.
16. Federal Health Workers Make Up Less Than 1% of Agency Spending
    Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggests that laying off thousands of federal workers would tame a massive budget. But nearly all of the agency’s money goes to hospitals, doctors and nursing homes.
17. Dr. Oz ‘Disavows’ Support for Transgender Care, Allaying a Senator’s Concerns
    Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican, pressed Dr. Oz on transgender care and abortion, and now says he will vote for the physician’s confirmation to become head of Medicare and Medicaid.
18. Trump Aid Cuts End Contraception Access for Millions of Women
    The United States was a key supplier of contraceptives in many developing countries. The Trump administration has ended that support.
19. Trump Administration Begins Layoffs at CDC, FDA and Other Health Agencies
    The cuts were part of a Trump administration plan announced last week to dismiss thousands of employees and drastically overhaul the Health and Human Services Department under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
20. A Quarter-Billion Dollars for Defamation: Inside Greenpeace’s Huge Loss
    A pipeline company’s lawsuit against the environmental group could chill free speech, experts said. First Amendment issues are likely to figure prominently in an appeal.
21. Why the Right Still Embraces Ivermectin
    Five years after the pandemic began, interest in the anti-parasitic drug is rising again as right-wing influencers promote it — and spread misinformation about it.
22. Eli Lilly Drug Reduces Mysterious Lp(a) Particle Involved in Heart Attack Risk
    The Eli Lilly drug caused a major drop in the blood levels of Lp(a), but further research is needed to show that it will prevent heart attacks and strokes.
23. Orbital Rocket Crashes After First Launch From Continental Europe
    The rocket, developed by Isar Aerospace, lifted off from Norway’s Andøya Space Center and crashed about 30 seconds later. The test flight was part of efforts to make Europe a center for private satellite launches.
24. Photos: Partial Solar Eclipse Captivates Much of the Northern Hemisphere
    The moon slipped between the Earth and the sun on Saturday, casting a shadow on our planet in parts of the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Russia and Africa.
25. ‘A Tiny Bit of Math’ Might Improve Your Heart Health, Study Suggests
    Your average daily heart rate is a useful metric; so is your daily step count. Combining the two might be even better.
26. Top FDA Vaccine Official Resigns, Citing Kennedy’s ‘Misinformation and Lies’
    Dr. Peter Marks, a veteran of the agency, wrote that undermining confidence in vaccines is irresponsible and a danger to public health.
27. A Maker of Sewage-Based Fertilizer Leaves Town Amid a Toxic Crisis
    Ranchers in Texas claim livestock was sickened by ‘forever chemicals’ in fertilizer made from sewage sludge. Now Synagro, a Goldman Sachs-backed firm, has lost a deal to manufacture there.
28. March 2025 Partial Solar Eclipse: Where and How to Watch
    If you’re on the East Coast, wake up early to try and catch the moon take a bite out of the sun on Saturday.
29. How to Plan a Garden With Climate Change in Mind
    The arrival of spring brings joy, and a challenge: finding solutions to increasingly erratic weather.
30. Under Pressure, Psychology Accreditation Board Suspends Diversity Standards
    As the Trump administration threatens to strip accrediting bodies of their power, many are scrambling to purge diversity requirements.
31. RFK Jr. Turns to a Discredited Vaccine Researcher for Autism Study
    David Geier has been hired as a senior data analyst at H.H.S. According to several people, he will examine any potential links between vaccines and autism that were debunked long ago.
32. New York County Clerk Blocks Texas Court Filing Against Doctor Over Abortion Pills
    The showdown catapults the interstate abortion wars to a new level.
33. E.P.A. Offers a Way to Avoid Clean-Air Rules: Send an Email
    Referring to a little-known provision, it said power plants and others could write to seek exemptions to mercury and other restrictions and that “the president will make a decision.”
34. For John Green, It’s Tuberculosis All the Way Down
    The best-selling author “got a little emotional” while talking with The Times about tuberculosis. Listen to the conversation.
35. A Shark’s Sounds Are Recorded for What Is Believed to Be the First Time
    Researchers in New Zealand have made what they believe is the first recording of a shark actively making noise.