Nature’s Super Feather

Filoplumes may be tiny, but these hairlike feathers enable nonstop flights that span thousands of miles.

By Jim Robbins and Bryan Anselm

NASA’s Giant Rocket Completes Slow Roll Toward Artemis II Moon Voyage

The Space Launch System and Orion capsule were transported to the launchpad before an astronaut mission that could launch as soon as Feb. 6.

By Kenneth Chang

A Conversation With

Toby Kiers, World Champion of Fungus

This year’s recipient of the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement talks about “punk science,” microbial economics and thinking like a mycorrhizal fungus.

By Alan Burdick

Do Cows Use Tools? This One Does.

A pet cow named Veronika can scratch her own back with a broom — the first scientifically documented case of tool use in cows, researchers say.

By Emily Anthes

Trilobites

If the Volcanic Eruption Doesn’t Scare You, the Mudflow Should

Studying tree rings helped scientists pinpoint when Mount Rainier last sent a lahar down its steep slopes, which could help planners anticipate future mudflows.

By Katherine Kornei

Trilobites

What a Wolf Pup’s Stomach Revealed About the Woolly Rhino’s Extinction

Scientists prepared a high-quality sequence of the giant mammal’s genome based on a specimen preserved in Siberian permafrost.

By Ari Daniel

For the World’s Food Supply, Federal Funding Cuts Have Long-Term Impacts

The U.S. Agency for International Development has been a major supporter of global agriculture research. Now many studies are being scuttled or scaled back.

By Ted Alcorn

From Seal Meat to Ice Sheets: A Century of Reporting From Antarctica

Generations of Times journalists have journeyed there with scientists. Their coverage traces humankind’s changing relationship with the most mysterious continent.

By Raymond Zhong

Why Greenland Matters for a Warming World

The fate of the world’s largest island has outsize importance for billions of people on the planet, because as the climate warms, Greenland is losing ice. That has consequences.

By Somini Sengupta

One Year After Texas Measles Outbreak Began, Experts Consider Another Grim Milestone

It’s unclear whether the United States can keep its designation as a country that officially eliminated the disease.

By Teddy Rosenbluth and Apoorva Mandavilli

the new old age

3 Policy Moves Likely to Change Health Care for Older People

Two regulatory rollbacks, along with a new A.I. experiment in Medicare, raise some worrisome questions.

By Paula Span

No Link Between Acetaminophen in Pregnancy and Autism, a Study Finds

The review looked at more than three dozen studies and found no evidence that acetaminophen increased the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

By Azeen Ghorayshi

Global Health

U.S. Cuts Health Aid and Ties It to Funding Pledges by African Governments

The Trump administration has signed $11 billion in agreements with African nations, in deals tied to foreign policy goals.

By Stephanie Nolen