An Autism Breakthrough, or an Illusion? The Fight Over Assisted Spelling

Popular communication methods for nonspeaking autistic people have ignited a fierce debate over what counts as evidence of hidden cognitive abilities.

By Azeen Ghorayshi

essay

E Pluribus Algae: Why Green Pond Scum Is as American as Red, White and Blue

And why the most patriotic approach to the Reflecting Pool may be to let the algae take over.

By Alan Burdick

A Dazzling Census of Our Cosmos Begins

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is beginning the widest, deepest survey yet of the southern sky.

By Katrina Miller

A Bird’s Brain Holds Clues to the Sounds of Music

The neurobiologist Erich Jarvis studies the few species capable of speech. He has long hoped to genetically engineer an animal that can make new calls.

By Jim Robbins

Decline of Ph.D. Admissions Could Imperil a ‘Generation of New Talent’

Some of the nation’s top research universities are shrinking doctoral programs because of uncertain federal funding.

By Vimal Patel

A Rescue Mission to Save NASA’s Swift Telescope Launches to Orbit

A refrigerator-size spacecraft will try to grab onto Swift and nudge it to a higher orbit, enabling it to continue observing powerful cosmic explosions.

By Kenneth Chang

U.S. to Overhaul Radiation Safety Rules to Spur Nuclear Expansion

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to end longstanding guidance that radiation exposure be “as low as reasonably achievable.”

By Brad Plumer

Without Climate Change, U.S. Heat Wave Called ‘Virtually Impossible’

Scientists have said the conditions are the result of a climate that is “fundamentally different” from the time before fossil fuel use started rapidly warming the world.

By Raymond Zhong

N.I.H. Announces World’s Largest Integrated Health Database

It contains more than half a million people’s genomes, paired with clinical records and wearable tech data. That gives researchers unmatched power to study both diseases and treatments.

By Emily Baumgaertner Nunn

Diagnosis

The Electric Pain in Her Tooth Baffled Every Dentist. What Was Wrong?

X-ray after X-ray showed nothing unusual. But her doctors could see how agonizing her condition was.

By Lisa Sanders, M.D.

Efforts to Help Smokers Quit Stall Under Trump

The C.D.C.’s tobacco control office has been shut for more than a year. After its most prominent antismoking campaign went off the air, calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW lines have plummeted.

By Christina Jewett