NYT > Science

1. Nine Federally Funded Scientific Breakthroughs That Changed Everything
   The U.S. is slashing funding for scientific research, after decades of deep investment. Here’s some of what those taxpayer dollars created.
2. How a Two-Story Boulder Ended Up on a 120-Foot-High Cliff
   The rock called Maka Lahi is important in the mythology of the people of Tonga, and scientists have worked out part of its origin story.
3. U.S. Moves Russian Scientist’s Case to Criminal Court in Boston
   For months, the Harvard researcher Kseniia Petrova has challenged efforts to deport her to her native Russia for a customs violation. This week, the government charged her with a criminal felony.
4. First Visible Aurora Spotted Over Mars by NASA Rover
   A serendipitous solar outburst let scientists point the robot’s cameras toward the Red Planet’s sky to spot a feature shared with our Blue Marble.
5. Fossil Suggests Feathered Archaeopteryx Probably Flew Like a Chicken
   New insights into the flying capabilities of a nonbird dinosaur were drawn from an unusually well-preserved specimen known as the Chicago Archaeopteryx.
6. Richard L. Garwin, a Creator of the Hydrogen Bomb, Dies at 97
   Many scientists contributed to the final result, but he was the one who, as a young physicist, designed the world’s most powerful weapon. He went on to advise a dozen presidents.
7. This Fossil’s 3 Eyes Are Not Its Most Surprising Feature
   Cambrian Period creatures known as sea moths seemed alien because of their additional eye, but a study finds anatomical features more in line with modern animals.
8. A Toxic Pit Could Be a Gold Mine for Rare-Earth Elements
   At the Berkeley Pit, researchers hope to extract valuable metals to increase U.S. production of rare earths used in electric cars, medical advances and national defense.
9. NASA’s Don Pettit Shot 220 Days of Amazing Photos From the I.S.S.
   Don Pettit brought a photographer’s eye to orbit, capturing the artistry of the cosmos and our planet.
10. Surgeons Perform First Human Bladder Transplant
    The procedure could be life-changing for some people with debilitating conditions.
11. FDA Approves Novavax Covid Vaccine With Stricter New Conditions
    The agency narrowed who can get the shot and added new study requirements that could cost the company tens of millions.
12. A Ministroke Can Have Major Consequences
    So-called transient ischemic attacks can eventually lead to cognitive declines as steep as those following a full-on stroke, new research finds.
13. Peter Lax, Pre-eminent Cold War Mathematician, Dies at 99
    As the computer age dawned, he saw how the new technology could be harnessed to mathematics to solve problems in everything from designing weapons to predicting the weather.
14. When a Vaccine Safety Trial Becomes Unethical
    New vaccines are often evaluated in trials in which some participants receive a placebo. But not all studies can be designed this way.
15. As Congress Debates Cutting Medicaid, a Major Study Shows It Saves Lives
    The most extensive research on Medicaid coverage to date found that it reduced the risk of death by 21 percent.
16. Novo Nordisk to Replace C.E.O. After Losing Edge in Weight-Loss Drugs
    The Danish drugmaker, which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, has seen its stock tumble as competition in the weight-loss drug market has grown fiercer.
17. Ed Smylie, Who Saved the Apollo 13 Crew With Duct Tape, Dies at 95
    He and his team of NASA engineers jumped into action to help three astronauts bound for the moon. His quick thinking earned him a shout-out from Richard Nixon.
18. O.C.D. May Look Different Than You Think
    Disturbing thoughts and social fixations are among the many manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
19. Federal Officials May Limit Recommendations for Covid Vaccine
    With new testing requirements, it’s not even clear whether new Covid or flu shots can be made available this fall.
20. Malcolm Potts, Evangelist for Contraception in Developing Countries, Dies at 90
    He helped develop the device most often used for surgical abortions. He also spent more than half a century promoting women’s reproductive health in developing countries.
21. Studies of Breast Cancer and Other Diseases Threatened by New Policy
    N.I.H. restrictions on payments to foreign partners may jeopardize research into conditions that would benefit Americans.
22. Baby Is Healed With World’s First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment
    The technique used on a 9½-month-old boy with a rare condition has the potential to help people with thousands of other uncommon genetic diseases.
23. Trump Budget Cuts Hobble Antismoking Programs
    The elimination of a key C.D.C. office has slashed funding to states for help lines used by thousands to stop smoking and vaping.
24. Overdose Deaths Plummeted in 2024. Will Trump’s Cuts Slow the Momentum?
    The progress comes as the Trump administration is proposing to cut funding for many programs believed to have contributed to the improvement.
25. U.S. Charges Russian Scientist With Smuggling
    A government lawyer told a federal judge on Wednesday that the intention is to deport Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard researcher, to Russia.
26. Trump Administration to Uphold Some PFAS Limits but Eliminate Others
    The E.P.A. said it would maintain limits on the two most common “forever chemicals” in tap water. Rules for four others will be rolled back.
27. A.I. Was Coming for Radiologists’ Jobs. So Far, They’re Just More Efficient.
    Experts predicted that artificial intelligence would steal radiology jobs. But at the Mayo Clinic, the technology has been more friend than foe.
28. Benzo Withdrawal Symptoms Can Be Life-Threatening
    The drugs treat disorders such as anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia, but stopping them abruptly can compound users’ symptoms and even endanger their lives.
29. Trump’s Focus on Punishing Drug Dealers May Hurt Drug Users Trying to Quit
    Public health and addiction experts fear millions could lose access to treatment and prevention services if the administration’s proposed cuts are enacted.
30. 3M to Pay New Jersey Up to $450 Million for Drinking-Water Contamination
    The state claimed “forever chemicals,” also known as PFAS, contaminated groundwater from an industrial park where they were used for decades.
31. Interior Department Weighs Less Conservation, More Extraction
    A leaked version of the department’s five-year strategic planning document favors privatization and economic returns from the nation’s public lands.
32. Republican Budget Bill Aims to End I.R.A. Clean Energy Boom
    The party’s signature tax plan would kill most Biden-era incentives, but there’s a sticking point: G.O.P. districts have the most to lose.
33. Behind a Museum Door, These Beetles Are Eating Flesh for Science
    The six-legged staffers of the American Museum of Natural History’s Bug Colony do their grisly work under a lid. The result: neatly tidied bones.
34. An L.A. Doctor’s House Burned. Now He Treats the Fires’ Effects in Neighbors.
    A new clinic, opened by a pulmonologist who lost his home in the Palisades blaze, is addressing the health issues developing among people exposed to the fires.
35. Farmers Sued Over Deleted Climate Data. So the Government Will Put It Back.
    The Agriculture Department pledged to restore online climate information that farmers said helped them do business, but which officials had deleted.
36. Energy Department to Repeal Efficiency Rules for Appliances
    Experts say the moves, which would apply to household appliances, will raise energy costs for consumers.
37. Videos: Flamingos Make Vortexes With Their Beaks to Suck Up Prey
    Three cooperative birds and a model bird head helped scientists figure out what flamingos are actually doing when they stick their heads upside down underwater.
38. Trump Signs Executive Order Asking Companies to Lower Drug Prices
    The president has long complained that the United States pays more for medicines than other wealthy countries. But he offered no clear legal authority to mandate lower prices.
39. Face to Face With an Alligator? Here’s What to Do
    On May 6, an alligator thrashed and tipped over a couple’s canoe in Central Florida where it attacked a woman and killed her.