November 19, 2024
Behind the scenes at a Chicago zoo, chimpanzees who spent years entertaining humans are learning to befriend their own kind.
By Emily Anthes
Marco Garro for The New York Times
As the glaciers of South America retreat, the supply of freshwater is dwindling and its quality is getting worse.
By Mitra Taj and Marco Garro
Whitney Curtis for The New York Times
A sharp partisan divide remains over how involved researchers should be in policy decisions.
By Teddy Rosenbluth
Desiree Rios for The New York Times
Trends in child health are in fact worrisome, and scientists welcome a renewed focus on foods and environmental toxins. But vaccines and fluoride are not the cause.
By Roni Caryn Rabin
Let us know how we’re doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com.
We’re the only species that sheds emotional tears, but much about them remains an enigma.
By Dana G. Smith and Dominic Kesterton
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Start-ups say we’re closer than ever to near-limitless, zero-carbon energy from fusion. When will we get there?
By Raymond Zhong
A.V. Lopatin et al., Scientific Reports 2024
Trilobites
The Homotherium cub was preserved in Siberian permafrost with its dark fur and flesh intact.
By Asher Elbein
Sergio Flores/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
An independent researcher found that noise recorded miles away from the site of a recent test flight was equal to standing 200 feet from a Boeing 747 during takeoff.
By Eric Lipton
Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The president-elect’s decision to witness the liftoff is another example of his close ties to the world’s wealthiest entrepreneur.
By Michael Gold and Theodore Schleifer
M. Kornmesser/European Southern Observatory
Out There
For a century, exoplanet hunters have “discovered” planets around a nearby star, only to retract the claims. But the latest find is for real.
By Dennis Overbye
Ball pythons were long assumed to be solitary, but scientists discovered the snakes in captivity prefer each others’ company when given the chance to live socially.
It took nearly 25 years for biologists to discover that a swimming and glowing organism in the ocean’s midnight zone was actually a sea slug.
By William J. Broad
The agency’s top medical official was responding to rumors that Suni Williams had lost an unusual amount of weight during an extended stay in orbit.
By Kenneth Chang
At Dartmouth, long before the days of laptops and smartphones, he worked to give more students access to computers. That work helped propel generations into a new world.
By Kenneth R. Rosen
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA, via Shutterstock
Growing worldwide energy demand and other factors have shifted the calculus, but hurdles still lie ahead.
By Brad Plumer
The New York Times
A new report forecasts global temperature increases well above the level that world leaders have pledged to avoid.
By Brad Plumer and Mira Rojanasakul
Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
Negotiators agree that trillions are needed to help lower-income countries adapt and cope, but not on who should pay.
By David Gelles and Brad Plumer
Punit Paranjpe/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Countries promised to move away from coal, oil and natural gas at last year’s climate summit. New research shows they’re burning more than ever before.
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Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times
A small study found ChatGPT outdid human physicians when assessing medical case histories, even when those doctors were using a chatbot.
By Gina Kolata
Lindsey Nicholson/Universal Images Group, via Getty Images
Processed foods are in the cross hairs of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but battling major companies could collide with President-elect Donald J. Trump’s corporate-friendly goals.
By Christina Jewett and Julie Creswell
Rachel Woolf for The New York Times
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s advisers on health, is taking aim at the agency’s oversight on many fronts.
By Christina Jewett
Nature's Faces/Science Source
A rise in the disease in younger people was not followed by an increase in deaths, a study found, and might be a sign of overdiagnosis.
Arin Yoon for The New York Times
