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2026-09-10 NYT Science

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:00:07 GMT

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David Paul Morris/Bloomberg, via Getty Images

Glass Thinner Than a Human Hair: How the New iPhone Bends but Doesn’t Break

The screens of foldable phones are a triumph of materials science and microengineering.

Open now

An N.Y.U. Mathematician Clashed With OpenAI Over a $1 Million Proof

Tristan Buckmaster was on the path toward an important proof when one of the A.I. giants used its staggering resources to get there first.

Could Your Chatbot Be Stealing Ideas From You? It’s a Thorny Question.

A controversy around OpenAI’s latest math proof raises a fear that might become increasingly common: that A.I. tools could take valuable insights from one user and hand them to another.

Scientists Discover the Earliest Evidence of Drug Use in Really Old Teeth

A hunter-gatherer who lived in Indonesia as early as 25,000 years ago may have regularly sucked on betel nuts to release their psychoactive properties.

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2026-09-11 NYT Science

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:00:12 GMT

Science Times: A.I. cracked one of the great unsolved math problems

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September 11, 2026

Today, take a tour of the A.I. breakthroughs, debates and worries that captured headlines this week. We hear from a mathematician who wondered if OpenAI had solved a math problem with his research and consider how nervous we should be about A.I. destroying humanity.

A.I. cracked one of the great unsolved math problems

Gary S. Settles/Science Source

OpenAI said on Tuesday that its newest artificial intelligence technology had solved one of the “Millennium Problems,” a collection of important unanswered math questions meant to push the world’s leading mathematicians to new heights.

The announcement is another clear sign that A.I. is fundamentally changing the upper reaches of mathematics, which have long been viewed as a pinnacle of human achievement. The change has excited some mathematicians, while stirring concern among others.

“This is a spectacular culmination of the arc we have seen over the past 12 months,” the OpenAI researcher Sébastien Bubeck said of the company’s new solution for what mathematicians call “the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem.”

Read the full story here.

Your questions, answered

What is Navier-Stokes?

It looks at a series of mathematical equations that describe the movement of liquids, like water, and gases, like air. These equations are often used to predict the weather. They can also be used to model the behavior of ocean currents or the climate as a whole. But mathematicians have struggled to understand parts of these equations.

The Navier-Stokes problem essentially asks if these equations become unreliable in certain situations; if there are cases where they can no longer be solved. This would imply, theoretically, that the laws of physics would break down under certain extreme conditions — that, for example, water could be made to spontaneously explode.

Do you have a question you’d like the Science desk to answer? Send it to sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com

Mathematician clashes with OpenAI

Graham Dickie for The New York Times

Tristan Buckmaster, an N.Y.U. mathematician, was on the path toward an important proof when one of the A.I. giants used its staggering resources to get there first.

Dr. Buckmaster said he did not care about the $1 million prize or even winning the race to come up with the answer. “I love math, and I just wanted to be part of the story,” he said during a two-hour recounting of the events in his office on Tuesday afternoon.

Read the full story here.

Could A.I. end humanity?

Andrew Harnik/Associated Press

Deep existential anxieties made global headlines this week when an Anthropic researcher quit the industry, citing fears that his lab and others like it were building supersmart machines that humans would be unable to control.

The potential threats posed by A.I. are understandably scary. But the modern world teems with a multitude of existential risks. Humans also face the prospect of doom from killer asteroids, pandemics, thermonuclear war, climate change, giant blobs of incandescent material shot from the sun, ecological collapse and the onset of a sudden ice age.

The problem, scientists and public policy experts say, is not so much these threats, of which A.I. is merely the latest, but the innate human difficulty of putting them into perspective.

Read the full story here.

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MORE A.I. IN THE NEWS

Could Your Chatbot Be Stealing Ideas From You? It’s a Thorny Question.

A controversy around OpenAI’s latest math proof raises a fear that might become increasingly common: that A.I. tools could take valuable insights from one user and hand them to another.

By Cade Metz

Top Mathematician Announces New Institute for A.I. Safety

Jacob Tsimerman, a recent recipient of the Fields Medal, believes that higher mathematics can help curb the dangers of runaway artificial intelligence.

By Siobhan Roberts

Anthropic Says It Blocked Possible Efforts to Build Biological Weapons

In a new report, the A.I. start-up added that it could not determine whether the research was legitimate or nefarious, leading the company to shut down the work.

By Dustin Volz

One more thing

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

One more quick check on that math problem. Click an answer to see if you’re right. (The link will be free.)

The Navier-Stokes equation is complicated. In simple terms, what does it describe?

The movement of liquids and gases.

The mathematics of fire combustion.

How quantum particles travel.

The transformation of potential energy to kinetic energy.

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2026-09-15 NYT Science

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:43:00 GMT

Science Times: Ancient teeth reveal the earliest evidence of drug use

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September 15, 2026

Two skulls of early hunter-gatherers found in Indonesia had similar deep grooves on their teeth that scientists say were the result of sucking on betel nuts. Fakhri

Scientists Discover the Earliest Evidence of Drug Use in Really Old Teeth

A hunter-gatherer who lived in Indonesia as early as 25,000 years ago may have regularly sucked on betel nuts to release their psychoactive properties.

Other Worlds

The Planets We Can Only Imagine

Thousands of planets have been discovered beyond our solar system, offering clues to where life might thrive and whether Earth is truly unique.

By Natalie Wolchover

Gianluca Panella/Getty Images

News Analysis

A.I. Queries From Abroad Raise Fears of a Biological Weapons Race

Today’s chatbots aren’t likely to help lone actors invent a deadly pathogen, experts say. But newer models, trained in biology, may need stronger safeguards.

By Carl Zimmer

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Mercury Is Shrinking, and Faster Than We Thought

New estimates using the planet’s surface wrinkles show that our smallest planet is growing even smaller, at a faster clip than expected.

By K. R. Callaway

Science Photo Library, via Alamy

How Did a Heart Drug With So Much Promise Fall So Flat?

Cardiologists are struggling to figure out why a drug that should have prevented heart attacks didn’t work at all.

By Gina Kolata

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Let us know how we’re doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com.

Matt Chase

Can Geneticists Fight Disease by Targeting ‘Nurture’ Instead of ‘Nature’?

Traditional gene editing rewrites DNA. But a new approach, called epigenome editing, aims to treat the molecular scars we collect throughout our lives.

By Emily Baumgaertner Nunn

Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe, via Getty Images

Most People Don’t Think About Culverts. Their Failure Can Be Deadly.

Scientists simulated what happens when the pipes and tunnels that divert rainwater fail. In one scenario, 30 percent of local residents couldn’t reach an E.R.

By Alexander Nazaryan

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg, via Getty Images

Glass Thinner Than a Human Hair: How the New iPhone Bends but Doesn’t Break

The screens of foldable phones are a triumph of materials science and microengineering.

By William J. Broad

Lasker Foundation

How Sleepy Dogs and Collapsing Mice Taught Scientists About Narcolepsy

Two researchers who study the debilitating sleep disorder have won a prestigious Lasker Award. Their research in animals laid the groundwork for a new drug that addresses the condition’s root cause.

By Carolyn Y. Johnson

CLIMATE CHANGE

Pete Marovich for The New York Times

E.P.A. Erases Limits on Climate Pollution From Power Plants

Generation of electricity is the second largest source of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases in the United States.

By Maxine Joselow and Lisa Friedman

NOAA, via Associated Press

Where Are All the Atlantic Hurricanes? Why This Year Is So Quiet.

There hasn’t been a single one yet.

By Judson Jones

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HEALTH

Cristina Spano

How A.D.H.D. Changes as You Age

Researchers are learning more about the ways symptoms can emerge, disappear and evolve.

By Dana G. Smith

Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

As Midterms Rage, a Top Democrat Wants Congress to Talk Menopause

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is devoting a hearing to a topic that affects millions but is poorly understood and widely ignored, including when it comes to federal research money.

By Annie Karni

Jeremie Souteyrat for The New York Times

U.S. Health Officials Move Quickly to Deploy Medical A.I. Despite Concerns

Federal projects are rolling out A.I. agents that offer therapy and prescribe medicine, raising concerns about safety and the influence of venture capital investors.

By Christina Jewett

BSIP/Universal Images Group, via Getty Images

A New Drug Lifts the Fog of Sleepiness for Those With Narcolepsy

The first-of-its-kind drug offers a reprieve for people who live with the debilitating sleep disorder.

By Carolyn Y. Johnson

Trump Announces $500 Rebates for Some Obamacare Customers, Weeks Before the Election

The White House plans to send the money to people in 30 states who have higher incomes and are insured under the Affordable Care Act.

By Reed Abelson and Margot Sanger-Katz

U.S. Officials Announce Cyclospora Outbreak Is Over

Nearly 13,000 cases of the illness had been linked to lettuce from Taylor Farms that was processed in Mexico. An investigation into how the parasite spread is continuing.

By Christina Jewett, Caroline Hopkins Legaspi and Alice Callahan

the New drug war

A Teen Autopsy Marks the Arrival of a Deadly Drug in San Francisco

City officials — and one determined mother — are working to stop the spread of cychlorphine, which is far more potent than fentanyl.

By Heather Knight

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2026-09-18 NYT Science

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 07:00:13 GMT

Science Times: Microscopic videos that show the invisible wonders around us

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September 18, 2026

Today, we look at some changes afoot here on The Times’s Science desk, peer into worlds both near and far and answer a reader’s question about the existential threat of A.I. Plus: the most read science article this week and a quiz.

Science at The Times

Rose Wong

“This summer, one area of The New York Times has been evolving, metamorphosing, growing like bamboo, expanding like the Big Bang. Beginning this week, the Science desk is rolling out new beats, columns and projects,” writes Vivian Ewing in a recent Times Insider article. And she’s right!

Starting this month, we are introducing four weekly columns by four amazing science writers — the first, excerpted below, is by Natalie Wolchover, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer on the cosmos, and another will be by the nature writer David Quammen. This Science Times newsletter is also part of the section’s relaunch, with two emails each week and lots of original content.

Later in the fall, we’ll also be introducing a project called “Unknowns,” which will explore unsolved problems across all the realms of science. One example: a visual explainer that touches on many of the mind-boggling, unanswered questions that exist in the cosmos, like the expansion of the universe, how black holes work and more.

Want to learn more? Read the full story here.

The link for the story above is free for everyone (although you may need to log in first).

Is Earth truly unique?

Merijn Hos and Jurriaan Hos

Perhaps we like to consider other planets because they’re alternative realities, refreshingly exotic manifestations of the same laws of physics. These voluminous balls of rock, gas and ice fueled our imaginations, but at the same time, they ground us, their alien landscapes bringing Earth into relief.

Over time, the list of known planets has grown to include more than 6,300, known as exoplanets. Thousands more exoplanet candidates await confirmation. Probably about 100 billion others are expected to exist in our galaxy alone.

Lately, with tools like the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists are gleaning from the teensiest of signals knowledge of exoplanets’ compositions and atmospheres, their origin stories, even the possibility that they might host life.

Read the full story here.

Your questions, answered

Will A.I. kill us? Can it hack my bank account? We asked readers for their questions about artificial intelligence. Nearly 1,000 people responded with queries, big and small. We answer one question below, and you can read more of them here.

How might A.I. threaten the existence of humanity? — Dale Kuropat, Wickenburg, Ariz.

As people warn that A.I. could destroy humanity, they are light on examples of how. They say that malicious people could use A.I. to develop a bioweapon. And they worry that, as companies and governments integrate A.I. with vital infrastructure, the systems could end up hoarding the world’s economic resources and depriving people of food, housing and other things we need to live. But those scenarios are highly speculative.

They also worry that, once A.I. is hooked into the world’s infrastructure, it could start a global drone war or set off a nuclear bomb.

Even the risk of someone using A.I. to unleash a biological attack is smaller than it might seem. But for the doomsayers, the worry is that A.I. makes this easier. — Cade Metz, a Times reporter who writes about artificial intelligence

Do you have a question you’d like the Science desk to answer? Send it to sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com

Invisible worlds

Gerd Günther

Inside us, below us, all around us, life abounds — but it’s often invisible to us. Only through the use of increasingly advanced microscopes can it be brought to our eyes in all its shimmery, glowing glory.

But capturing these minuscule moments requires the precision of a scientist and the patience of a photographer. “I see myself as a ranger in the African bush,” said Benedikt Pleyer, the third-place winner of a video contest that celebrates the dizzying beauty of the microscopic, the Nikon Small World in Motion competition. “You go out and see where the lions are, except they’re tiny and right in front of you.”

The winners, announced on Wednesday, reveal the most beautiful details that we can’t usually see — and how much we have to learn about the world around us.

See them all here.

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Get it in your inbox.

One more thing

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

The last vestiges of warmth drained out of a Tyrannosaurus rex’s body around 66 million years ago, but scientists just used chemistry to take the long-extinct dinosaur’s temperature. Here’s a question based on that new finding. Click an answer to see if you’re right. (The link will be free.)

If you had to guess, what would you estimate as T. rex’s body temperature?

79 degrees.

88 degrees.

97 degrees.

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2026-09-22 NYT Science

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 07:00:13 GMT

Science Times: Are A.I. Models Being Misled to Act Too Human?

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September 22, 2026

Chona Kasinger for The New York Times

Are A.I. Models Being Misled to Act Too Human?

A corporate spat between two tech giants last week was just the latest volley in a conflict over whether dangerous mistakes are being made in A.I. training.

The Urgent Mystery of Where Viruses Hide

Some viruses appear to vanish when outbreaks dissipate, only to emerge again. Scientists don’t always know which animals they lurk in — and how to stop them from spilling back over.

By David Quammen

Santiago Lopez/University of California, Berkeley

The Next Gene-Editing Technology May Also Be the Oldest

Scientists have discovered a powerful gene-targeting system in viruses. Billions of years old, VIPR seems to predate CRISPR and may be even more effective.

By Carl Zimmer

Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

What Happens When A.I. Stops Doing What Humans Want?

“Alignment” is the science of teaching A.I. to do what is in line with human preferences, ethics and judgment. But, at times, the systems have gone rogue.

By Dylan Freedman

Pool photo by Greg Derr

Clancy’s ‘Horrible Thoughts’ and the Mysteries of the Postpartum Brain

Experts say that after childbirth, intrusive thoughts are common and mostly benign. Lindsay Clancy’s story provides a disturbing exception.

By Ellen Barry

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Pasca Lab/Stanford University

These Mice Have Partly Human Brains

The animals may help reveal the causes of brain disease in people and point the way to treatments. But researchers already are calling for new ethical guidelines.

By Carl Zimmer and Carolyn Y. Johnson

David DeMar, Jr.

A Feather Found in Dinosaur Poop Might Explain How Birds Beat Extinction

It’s the only example of a dinosaur-era feather found within rock that wasn’t completely flattened through the centuries.

By K. R. Callaway

NASA, ESA, CSA, V. Kokorev (University of Texas at Austin), A. Pagan (STScI)

Massive Black Holes May Have Started as Little Red Dots

A new simulation suggests little red dots, unusually compact objects seen in photos from space, might be one stage in the evolution of black holes.

By K. R. Callaway

Mark Unthank

Is There Anything a Fruit Fly Brain Can’t Do?

Models of the insect’s nervous system have been trained to solve a Rubik’s Cube, play video games and even parallel park a car.

By Michael Levenson

A T. Rex Walked Here: Teacher Finds Rare Footprints in North Dakota

Kent Hups, a high school science teacher in Colorado, discovered a 23-foot trackway of fossilized dinosaur footprints, which offer a glimpse of how the apex predator moved 66 million years ago.

By Adeel Hassan

Scientists Overhaul Giant Particle Collider in Search of Universe’s Hidden Building Blocks

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, will dismantle the Large Hadron Collider, which helped discover the so-called God Particle, in order to build a more powerful particle accelerator.

By K. R. Callaway

In Old NASA Data, Scientists Find a Surprising New Type of Cosmic Object

The discovery of “hypersoft” X-ray beacons could help solve some mysteries about the universe.

By Kenneth Chang

CLIMATE CHANGE

Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press, photographed under NOAA permit # 21371

Trump Administration Moves to Gut a Core Endangered Species Protection

An internal memo reinterprets the law so that only the intentional killing of animals, not collateral harm, is illegal.

By Catrin Einhorn

Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times

Toxic Fracking Waste Bubbling Up in Ohio Is Becoming a Political Issue

The Democratic candidate for governor backed restrictions on disposal of fracking wastewater around a hard-hit town, and called for a “thorough investigation” of the dangers.

By Quinn Glabicki

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HEALTH

Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants

Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending.

By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Tony Romm and Michael C. Bender

Reuters

Kennedy Assures Vaccine Skeptics That They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’

The health secretary spoke at a conference featuring misinformation about vaccines, including a claim that the success of the polio vaccines was a “fraud.”

By Christina Jewett and Teddy Rosenbluth

Annie Flanagan for The New York Times

This Rare Gene Drastically Raises Lung Cancer Risk in People Who Never Smoked

The gene is found predominantly in Southern Appalachia and may be one of the most powerful cancer-risk mutations ever found.

By Gina Kolata

Trump Promotes Program to Reduce Medicaid Drug Prices

Ahead of the midterm elections, the president said that all states had opted in to an effort to align Medicaid’s prices for medicines with those in other wealthy countries.

By Rebecca Robbins

Fiji Declares a National Emergency as H.I.V. Cases Skyrocket

Surging drug use has contributed to an epidemic in the Pacific island nation, where one in 60 adults is estimated to be living with the virus.

By Zane Irwin

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2026-09-25 NYT Science

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 07:00:13 GMT

Science Times: A new bat study redraws a family tree

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September 25, 2026

Today, we look at a new bat study, White House accusations and emerging C.T.E. research. Also, can we really put data centers in space? Plus: a quiz and the most read science article this week.

The secret history of bats

Manuel Ruedi

In a major new study, the first phase of the Bat1K project has compiled the largest analysis of bat genomes and fossils. It suggests that the first bats emerged in Europe roughly 65 million years ago and that echolocation evolved early.

Researchers said that they hoped that their new evolutionary tree would be a resource for scientists studying the genes and genetic variants that underpin flight, echolocation, disease resistance and more.

“Bats are the most extraordinary of all our mammalian lineages,” said Emma Teeling, a zoologist at University College Dublin and a director of the Bat1K project, who is an author of the new paper. “This is a springboard.”

Read the full story here.

The link for the story above is free for everyone (although you may need to log in first).

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF VIRUSES

An animal in which a virus abides in over time is known as a:

This quiz question comes from an article featured in Tuesday’s Science Times newsletter. Click an answer to see if you’re right. (The link will be free.)

Copying American A.I. tech?

Kelsey McClellan for The New York Times

Big American A.I. labs have long accused Chinese companies, including the tech giant Alibaba, of copying their intellectual property using a technique called “distillation.” The technique allows researchers to collect data from an established A.I. system and use it to build a new system.

President Trump, appearing alongside Mr. Xi at the White House on Thursday morning, listed super intelligence — his preferred term for A.I. — among the “pressing issues” that would be addressed. In a social media post before the meeting, he said it would be a “big topic of discussion” and suggested there would be no change to the way the industry is regulated, despite increasing calls for more government guardrails.

White House officials, however, are expected to confront Mr. Xi over distillation and the copying of American technology, according to recent reports. Chinese companies have never publicly responded to the allegations.

Read the full story here.

Your questions, answered

On Oct. 1, Google is scheduled to launch a satellite that can run its artificial intelligence technologies in space. Others say they are not far behind.

Can tech companies really put data centers in space?

Elon Musk, founder of the rocket company SpaceX, recently said that “A.I. in space” will be the cheapest way of powering the technology “not more than five years from now.” Other tech titans have also backed this vision, hoping to put data centers in space and fuel them with the rays of the Sun.

But how feasible is this idea?

“When people hear ‘data centers in space,’ they imagine taking something the size of an Amazon fulfillment center and somehow magically strapping it to a rocket ship. That is never going to happen,” said Brandon Lucia, a professor of electrical and computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University who has explored similar technology.

“This is about smaller satellites that are independently equipped with extremely efficient computers and radio links connecting them,” Dr. Lucia said. The plan is to put many of these computers into orbit and allow them to communicate, so that they can operate like a giant data center.

Do you have a question you’d like the Science desk to answer? Send it to sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com

New research for C.T.E.

Danny Karnik/Associated Press

In recent years, hundreds of people, most of them professional football players, have been diagnosed with C.T.E., or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is associated with repeated impacts to the head.

But in every case, the diagnosis has been made through an autopsy. The inability to confirm the presence of the disease in living patients has been an enormous impediment to finding treatments for their memory loss, volatile mood swings and erratic behavior.

Now, two decades after C.T.E. was first discovered, scientists believe they are closing in on tools that can identify the disease in living patients. A diagnostic test would help scientists figure out who is at risk — high-school athletes? soccer players? — and whether potential interventions are effective.

Read the full story here.

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Get stories that capture the wonders of nature, the cosmos and the human body.

Get it in your inbox.

2026-09-29 NYT Science

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 07:00:14 GMT

Science Times: In an $80 motel room, a discovery sheds light on the origins of life

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September 29, 2026

In an $80 Motel Room, a Discovery to Shed Light on the Origins of Life

A scrappy science project led to a significant discovery: two new species of a rare organism that could elucidate a fundamental transition in the history of life on our planet.

SpaceX, via Reuters

SpaceX’s Starship Makes It to Orbit for the First Time, but Returns to Earth Early

The 14th test flight marks a crucial milestone toward the company’s ambitions of sending people to the moon and Mars, but it was not a complete success.

By Kenneth Chang

Sophi Miyoko Gullbrants

What if A.D.H.D. Isn’t About Attention at All?

Evidence suggests that it really affects what psychiatrists like me call sustained engagement — an important difference in understanding how to think about the condition.

By Awais Aftab

Jason Henry for The New York Times

Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own?

An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.

By Carl Zimmer

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

Radio Waves Coming From an Alien Planet May Be a Cosmic First

Beta Pictoris b appears to have an aurora caused by a powerful magnetic field. If confirmed, it would be the first such field known outside our solar system.

By Jonathan O’Callaghan

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Science Source

This Virus Stole a Human Gene and Won’t Let Go of It

Scientists have found a human gene lurking in a virus that causes skin infections. It may be using our own DNA to infect us.

By Carl Zimmer

Lochlan O'Neil

On This Mexican Island, Raccoons Make and Play With Toys (and Also Sip Margaritas)

Scientists observed a family of pygmy raccoons near a Cozumel beach club learning from one another how to craft balls from paper, an indication that the animals have a culture.

By Taylor Mitchell Brown

Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Is China Really Stealing A.I. From American Companies?

As Xi Jinping visits President Trump in Washington, the leaders are expected to discuss claims that China is surreptitiously copying American A.I. technologies, a process known as distillation.

By Cade Metz

Jeffrey Tazzara, via Storyful

Dogs Will Fight Bears. But Not Because of the Reason You Might Think.

Scientists analyzed hundreds of encounters between bears and canines. The results raise the suggestion that dogs may not always protect people in the wild.

By Alexander Nazaryan

CLIMATE CHANGE

Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Trump Sharply Scales Back Fuel Economy Rules for New Cars

The move marked the final step in the administration’s efforts to dismantle policies aimed at speeding the shift to electric vehicles.

By Brad Plumer and Maxine Joselow

Getty Images

California Needs Water. El Niño Might Bring Too Much.

The drought-stricken state has improved its ability to collect and store rainwater. But many gallons may still rush into the Pacific.

By Scott Dance

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HEALTH

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission

The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.

By Apoorva Mandavilli

The New York Times

Have We Reached Peak PROTEIN?

Protein is everywhere — in chips, candy, cookies, even water. Does that make these products healthy?

By Margot Sanger-Katz and Larry Buchanan

U.S. Rejects U.N. Declaration on Preparing for Future Pandemics

Most member nations spoke in support of the declaration, but some rich countries had strong objections.

By Apoorva Mandavilli

Pennsylvania Measles Outbreak Grows to Nearly 900 Cases

State health officials said 55 new cases had been reported since Wednesday. In all, 890 measles cases have been reported across 39 counties so far this year.

By Johnny Diaz

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2026-10-06 NYT Science

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 07:00:13 GMT

Science Times: Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded for work on neutrinos

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October 6, 2026

Christine Olsson/TT News Agency, via Reuters

Nobel Prize in Physics Is Awarded for Work on Neutrinos

The award committee recognized Francis Halzen for his work on the bountiful but elusive subatomic particles that could give astronomers a new look at the universe.

Andrea Edwards

Are Babies Conscious?

By pinpointing when it begins in young humans, scientists hope to better understand what consciousness is, and how it arises, in all of us.

By Carl Zimmer

NASA

Superpowers Race to Put Nuclear Reactors on the Moon

The United States wants a reactor on the moon by 2030. A Russian-Chinese alliance is working on one for 2036. Some leading scientists say the danger is great.

By Selam Gebrekidan

Photo illustration by Jane Stockdale for The New York Times

What Are the Biggest Questions in Science Today? 100 Scientists Weigh In.

We asked 100 scientists about unsolved problems in their fields. They sent back provocations — on the origins of life, the possibilities for human progress and much more.

By Bill Wasik

João Menezes

These Birds Are Louder Than Elephants, Jackhammers and Chain Saws

A new study has identified two species of Brazilian birds, the bare-throated bellbird and the red-legged seriema, as the loudest in nature.

By Taylor Mitchell Brown

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Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Nobel Prize Awarded for Tool That Probes the Living Brain

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel were recognized for their work on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, a technique that uses pulses of light to activate neurons in the brain.

By Carolyn Y. Johnson and Leo Sands

Fox Chase Cancer Center

Scientists Untangle the Biology of an ‘Undruggable’ Cancer Gene

Found in 70 percent of cancers, the gene is seen as a grand orchestrator, but has been surprisingly difficult to stop.

By Carolyn Y. Johnson

Jade Gao/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In Race With U.S., China Struggles to Recruit Foreign A.I. Researchers

China’s booming artificial intelligence sector has given local researchers good reason to remain in the country, but it has yet to lure overseas scientists despite a government push.

By Zeyi Yang

Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Scientists Warn of Another Unseen Risk From Fire: Ozone

Small particulates sent up by wildfires are a well-documented health hazard. But recent research finds that ground-level ozone is now on the rise, too.

By Clayton Dalton

The Humanoid Robot Future Has Arrived at a South Korean Park. Sort of.

I went to Galaxy Robot Park in Seoul to see how we might one day live with robots. It was part cutting-edge technology, part theatrics.

By Yan Zhuang and Jiwoong Hong

A Hacking Competition Shows the Power of China’s Approach to A.I.

The winner of a cybersecurity contest prevailed by relying on an ‘open weight’ Chinese model — another sign that available A.I. systems could already be too powerful to easily regulate.

By Cade Metz

Agency Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress

The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.

By Adam Sella, Christopher Flavelle and Irena Hwang

CLIMATE CHANGE

Mark Makela for The New York Times

A Supreme Court Battle Over Climate Change Begins

The justices are about to hear a lawsuit that could determine whether the oil industry faces billions of dollars in liability for damages caused by global warming.

By Karen Zraick

Kristina Barker for The New York Times

After Outcry, Monitors the Trump Administration Tried to Scrap Return to Sea

Under pressure from Congress, a network of ocean monitors that provides vital data to meteorologists, climate scientists, oceanographers and the fishing industry is being restored.

By Eric Niiler

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HEALTH

From the Thadani family

Dying Patients Are Inundated by Misinformation. My Dad Was One of Them.

Cancer patients are being persuaded to spend tens of thousands on unproven treatments by alternative-medicine clinics.

By Trisha Thadani

Kaylee Greenlee for The New York Times

Texas Pediatricians Face Paxton Investigations for Vaccinating Children

Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general and Republican Senate candidate, has alleged a sprawling profit-driven conspiracy. Pediatricians say the accusations are an attempt at intimidation.

By Christina Jewett

F.D.A. Classifies Salad Dressing Recall to Highest Health Risk

Salata Dressings initiated the recall of its Jalapeño Avocado Dressing in August over concerns about possible salmonella contamination.

By Alena Cerro

She Says Vaccines Killed Her Twins. The Authorities Say She Did.

In a small Idaho town, a young mother is accused of killing her young twins. She blames the childhood vaccines they received.

By Lisa Miller

Can Health Trackers Help You Manage Menopause Symptoms?

Apple, Oura and Whoop have all recently added features for midlife women. Here’s what the tools can — and can’t — measure.

By Liz Baker Plosser

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2026-10-10 NYT Science

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:00:05 GMT

Science Times: Are you in New York? Join us for an event!

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October 10, 2026

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Are you in New York? Science Times is putting on an event.

Now more than ever, The New York Times is the place to learn about the world of science. This fall, the Science department is revamping its coverage — with new beats and columns, a redesigned Science Times newsletter and much, much more.

In honor of that relaunch, on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 28, Science Times will be at the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for a free event called “The Future of Discovery: Science Times at the Museum.”

It will feature panels about the past, present and future of space exploration and the recent revolutions in cancer treatment, as well as some surprising questions about dinosaurs you’ve probably never pondered.

Guests will include Jeremy Hansen, one of the Artemis II astronauts; Neil deGrasse Tyson and Roger Benson from the museum; and Carl Zimmer and Victoria Jaggard from The Times’s Science desk. You’ll also hear from Sean Decatur, the museum’s president, as well as from Bill Wasik, The Times’s new science editor.

Join us! Click here to learn more and R.S.V.P. on the museum’s site.

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2026-10-13 NYT Science

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:00:14 GMT

Science Times: Will we ever understand dementia?

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October 13, 2026

Oliver Farshi for The New York Times

Will We Ever Understand Dementia?

Since the days of Dr. Alzheimer himself, there has been a dream that severe senility might have an explanation — and a cure. The search for both has never been more urgent.

Prisma Archivo/Alamy

Who Were the Vikings? 21 Graves Weave a Tale of Hunters, Nomads and Sorceresses.

“The Sea-King and the Sorceress” examines the lives and deaths of the diverse people who called themselves Vikings.

By Franz Lidz

Simon Bailly

How to Cash In on Autumn’s Fallen Leaves

To homeowners, fallen leaves look like work. To nature, they’re an investment, with tremendous value on the secondary market as invertebrate real estate.

By Alan Burdick

Vivian Dehning; photographs by Annie Flanagan for The New York Times

For Two Sisters, a ‘Biological Age Test’ Became a Ledger of Their Past

They thought it might explain why their health had diverged. Instead, it stirred up feelings that weren’t so easily quantified.

By Emily Baumgaertner Nunn and Annie Flanagan

TU Thorsten Schumm/TU Wien

In Vienna and Beijing, the First Nuclear Clocks Begin to Tick

By measuring the squishing and unsquishing of thorium-229 nuclei, two teams created a new type of clock that could someday beat the precision of atomic clocks.

By Dan Garisto

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Michael Gurven

Was the Human Gut Healthier in Ancient Times?

The microbiome isn’t what it used to be in many parts of the world. The shift may be affecting the well-being of people in industrialized countries.

By Carl Zimmer

Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg

Cancer Vaccines Are the N.I.H.’s Next ‘Big Bet’

New details have emerged about an initiative that starts in December to fast-track the vaccines, similar to the successful push for the Covid-19 vaccine.

By Gina Kolata

Francesca Jones for The New York Times

U.N. Warns Against Technology Used to Read Citizens’ Minds

A report by the secretary general warned that new technologies could be used to access and criminalize people’s innermost thoughts.

By Jonathan Moens

CLIMATE CHANGE

A 2,500-Year-Old Ski? The Melting Alps Release Ancient Secrets.

Archaeologists are scouring mountain passes as artifacts from a bygone world all but tumble out of Switzerland’s shrinking ice.

By Raymond Zhong, Giacomo d’Orlando and Mira Rojanasakul

Scott Olson/Getty Images

A New Trend in Nuclear Energy: Squeezing More Power Out of Old Plants

It takes a long time to build new nuclear plants. So, some U.S. companies are looking to get more electricity out of reactors that already exist.

By Brad Plumer and Rebecca F. Elliott

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HEALTH

Eiko Ojala

It’s the Most Common Cancer in Women. How Much Do You Know About It?

Test your knowledge of breast cancer with our quiz.

By Nina Agrawal

Sandy Huffaker for The New York Times

Why Ketamine Immobilizes Some Users

Potent powders can produce a nearly catatonic state, particularly in those who have not tried the drug before.

By Andrew Jacobs

Kaoly Gutierrez for The New York Times

Clinical Trial Indicates A.I. Chatbots Could Aid Urgent Care

Nearly 100 patients discussed their maladies with a Google bot, called AMIE, before meeting with physicians.

By Cade Metz

Sasha Arutyunova for The New York Times

Why Weight Lifting Is Good for Your Heart

Strength training isn’t just for muscle and bone health — it’s also surprisingly good cardio.

By Hilary Achauer

Kennedy Plans Federal Vaccine Injury Initiative, Drawing Wary Eye From Experts

Vaccine safety experts say more research into the side effects would be welcome yet question whether the health secretary’s effort will be grounded in science.

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg

Millions Lose Private Medicare Plans and Face Rising Costs

As enrollment for Medicare Advantage begins this month, older Americans are confronting fewer options because insurers are discontinuing coverage in many areas.

By Christopher Rowland and Reed Abelson

C.D.C. Offers States $100 Million in Measles Support as Cases Climb

States said the cash infusion will help bolster efforts to increase vaccinations and identify cases.

By Apoorva Mandavilli and Dani Blum

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2026-10-20 NYT Science

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 07:00:16 GMT

Science Times: How did life arise?

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October 20, 2026

Photoillustration by Will Warasila for The New York Times

How Did Life Arise?

Where did it start? How did it grow complex? Why did it get big? Three moments in Earth’s early history when evolution suddenly, inexplicably turned up the dial.

Miguel Román, Joshua Stevens/NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

The Leap Second Has Been Canceled

Earth’s rotation subtly changes the length of the day. Now our clocks won’t change with it — at least not for a very long time.

By K. R. Callaway

Petra Péterffy

The New Science of Stuttering

Experts are reaching consensus on what the condition is. Now they’re debating how best to treat it.

By Jack Tamisiea

The New York Times

What Are Data Centers Doing? A Mind-Boggling Amount of Math.

The calculations needed to train A.I. are nearly impossible to visualize — but we tried anyway.

By Aatish Bhatia

It Looked Like a New Species. The Trouble Was, It Didn’t Exist.

Facing a flood of A.I. slop, groups bent on democratizing science create new checks and balances.

By Eric Boodman

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For a Mere $2 Million, You Could Own Three Books That Unlocked the Universe

At Sotheby’s, a feast of rare science books includes volumes from Copernicus, Galileo and Newton that together revolutionized human understanding of the cosmos.

By William J. Broad and Andres Kudacki

Yuichi Yamazaki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A Japanese Spacecraft Aims to Bring Back a Bit of a Martian Moon

The mission, which launched on Monday, is headed to Phobos, the larger of the two moons of Mars. It could carry back the first samples from the Martian system.

By Kenneth Chang

Andrea Cau et al. and the Museum of Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang, China

Trilobites

What Can Four-Winged Dinosaurs Teach Us About Birds?

Flight was probably more widespread in dinosaurs than previously thought. A newly identified species sheds light on how some achieved liftoff.

By Jack Tamisiea

Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times

Why One of the World’s Greatest Mathematicians Is on a ‘War Footing’

The Fields Medalist Terence Tao is on the front lines of a debate about artificial intelligence and the future of his field.

By Elisabeth Bumiller

They Created a Cell That’s Almost Alive. What to Do With It Now?

SpudCells may one day produce new medicines and materials. But first scientists have to improve them — and make sure they aren’t misused.

By Carl Zimmer

‘The Mystery Continues’: Latest Hunt for Amelia Earhart’s Plane Comes Up Empty

A satellite image sent researchers to a remote Pacific atoll, but their findings brought no resolution to the decades-old search. Here’s what to know.

By Jin Yu Young

CLIMATE CHANGE

Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times

The Overlapping Plagues Quietly Devastating American Forests

Trees are suffering one devastating epidemic after another, unleashed by insects and bacteria that enter the country because of global trade.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Latest Climate Report Warns of Major Upheaval to California Way of Life

The dire projections come from the state’s Climate Change Assessment, which analyzes the impacts of changing weather patterns on the nation’s most-populous state.

By Soumya Karlamangla

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HEALTH

Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

A New World of Lung Cancer Therapy Awaits Pope Leo

Lung cancer is still a leading cause of cancer death, but that rate is half what it was in the 1990s, partly because newly developed treatments are working.

By Gina Kolata and Carolyn Y. Johnson

Eleni Kalorkoti

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NYT Science

2026-09-10 NYT Science

READ THE LATEST

Glass Thinner Than a Human Hair: How the New iPhone Bends but Doesn’t Break

An N.Y.U. Mathematician Clashed With OpenAI Over a $1 Million Proof

Could Your Chatbot Be Stealing Ideas From You? It’s a Thorny Question.

Scientists Discover the Earliest Evidence of Drug Use in Really Old Teeth

2026-09-11 NYT Science

A.I. cracked one of the great unsolved math problems

Your questions, answered

What is Navier-Stokes?

Mathematician clashes with OpenAI

Could A.I. end humanity?

MORE A.I. IN THE NEWS

Could Your Chatbot Be Stealing Ideas From You? It’s a Thorny Question.

Top Mathematician Announces New Institute for A.I. Safety

Anthropic Says It Blocked Possible Efforts to Build Biological Weapons

One more thing

2026-09-15 NYT Science

Scientists Discover the Earliest Evidence of Drug Use in Really Old Teeth

The Planets We Can Only Imagine

A.I. Queries From Abroad Raise Fears of a Biological Weapons Race

Mercury Is Shrinking, and Faster Than We Thought

How Did a Heart Drug With So Much Promise Fall So Flat?

Email us

Can Geneticists Fight Disease by Targeting ‘Nurture’ Instead of ‘Nature’?

Most People Don’t Think About Culverts. Their Failure Can Be Deadly.

Glass Thinner Than a Human Hair: How the New iPhone Bends but Doesn’t Break

How Sleepy Dogs and Collapsing Mice Taught Scientists About Narcolepsy

CLIMATE CHANGE

E.P.A. Erases Limits on Climate Pollution From Power Plants

Where Are All the Atlantic Hurricanes? Why This Year Is So Quiet.

HEALTH

How A.D.H.D. Changes as You Age

As Midterms Rage, a Top Democrat Wants Congress to Talk Menopause

U.S. Health Officials Move Quickly to Deploy Medical A.I. Despite Concerns

A New Drug Lifts the Fog of Sleepiness for Those With Narcolepsy

Trump Announces $500 Rebates for Some Obamacare Customers, Weeks Before the Election

U.S. Officials Announce Cyclospora Outbreak Is Over

A Teen Autopsy Marks the Arrival of a Deadly Drug in San Francisco

2026-09-18 NYT Science

Science at The Times

Is Earth truly unique?

Your questions, answered

Invisible worlds

TRENDING

The Liftoff Scenario That Terrifies A.I. Doomsayers →

One more thing

2026-09-22 NYT Science

Are A.I. Models Being Misled to Act Too Human?

The Urgent Mystery of Where Viruses Hide

The Next Gene-Editing Technology May Also Be the Oldest

What Happens When A.I. Stops Doing What Humans Want?

Clancy’s ‘Horrible Thoughts’ and the Mysteries of the Postpartum Brain

Email us

These Mice Have Partly Human Brains

A Feather Found in Dinosaur Poop Might Explain How Birds Beat Extinction

Massive Black Holes May Have Started as Little Red Dots

Is There Anything a Fruit Fly Brain Can’t Do?

A T. Rex Walked Here: Teacher Finds Rare Footprints in North Dakota

Scientists Overhaul Giant Particle Collider in Search of Universe’s Hidden Building Blocks

In Old NASA Data, Scientists Find a Surprising New Type of Cosmic Object

CLIMATE CHANGE

Trump Administration Moves to Gut a Core Endangered Species Protection

Toxic Fracking Waste Bubbling Up in Ohio Is Becoming a Political Issue

HEALTH

White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants

Kennedy Assures Vaccine Skeptics That They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’

This Rare Gene Drastically Raises Lung Cancer Risk in People Who Never Smoked

Trump Promotes Program to Reduce Medicaid Drug Prices

Fiji Declares a National Emergency as H.I.V. Cases Skyrocket

2026-09-25 NYT Science

The secret history of bats

An animal in which a virus abides in over time is known as a:

Copying American A.I. tech?

Your questions, answered

Can tech companies really put data centers in space?

New research for C.T.E.

TRENDING

A new cat species, the tilcayo, has been discovered for the first time in a century. →