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The Gene That Made Mice Squeak Strangely
A new study suggests that the NOVA1 gene may have been a key player in the evolution of human language.2d - Science -
Firings Expand at Interior Department With Purge of Probationary Workers
More than 2,000 workers at the Interior Department were fired in recent days, according to counts from workers groups and those familiar with the cuts, as probationary workers were targeted across ...1d - Science -
USAID Climate Programs Fighting Extremism and Unrest Are Closing Down
Heat, drought and floods are growing security risks, Western defense officials say, feeding instability and violence that could prove costly in the long term.2d - Science -
Lasers, Waffle Fries and the Secrets in Pterosaurs’ Tails
Scientists identified new structures in the tail vanes of the prehistoric flying reptiles.6d - Science -
Snakeskin Isn’t Just a Fashion Statement for Birds
A museum curator with a ladder showed that birds that build cavity-style nests are able to protect their eggs with the skin shed by snakes.Jan. 26 - Science -
Louis Pasteur’s Relentless Hunt for Germs Floating in the Air
In 19th-century France, the young chemist challenged the theory of spontaneous generation and discovered an invisible world of airborne microbes.2d - Science -
Great White Sharks Washing Up Dead in Canada With Brain Swelling
Faced with a rash of shark deaths marked by brain swelling, Canadian and American scientists are trying to solve a marine mystery.Feb. 1 - Science -
Earth’s Mini-Moon Was Probably a Piece of Its Real Moon
Scientists think a small rock discovered near Earth last August was hurled into space by an ancient impact on the lunar surface.Jan. 23 - Science -
This City’s Sewer System Is Full of Alligators, but It’s Not New York
Researchers found crocodilians, bats, raccoons and other creatures prowling a Florida town’s storm drains, “like something out of ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’” one said.6d - Science -
Earthquakes May Explain Summerville Light’s Eerie Glow
A seismologist thinks natural phenomena could explain the Summerville Light and other mysteries around a South Carolina locale.Feb. 1 - Science -
Scientists Finally Make Heads of Giant Stingray Tails
The long structures seen in manta rays and their relatives function as an early warning system, rather than a defensive weapon.Jan. 21 - Science -
Why the Odds of an Asteroid Striking Earth in 2032 Keep Going Up (and Down)
NASA and European scientists explain how they calculate the probability of the space rock 2024 YR4 impacting our planet, and why it’s not yet time to worry.Feb. 8 - Science -
A Spotted Hyena Turns Up in Egypt After a 5,000 Absence
When a scientist received a video of a spotted hyena in the southern part of his country, he thought someone was playing a trick on him.Jan. 31 - Science -
Eeny Meeny Miny Mo, Catch a Pterosaur by Its Neck
A puncture in the fossilized neck of a winged reptile that flew with the dinosaurs suggests the creature became a feast for a crocodile ancestor.Jan. 30 - Science -
Birds of Paradise Glow on Their Mating Parade
The always colorful males light up with biofluorescence, sending off signals.Feb. 11 - Science -
A Fungus That Turns Spiders Into Zombies Is a Discovery to Haunt Your Nightmares
A BBC documentary crew in Northern Ireland stumbled upon a fungus that hijacks spiders in an arachnid version of “The Last of Us.”Feb. 7 - Science -
NASA Astronaut Recruitment Faces Trump’s Moves Against D.E.I.
The government space agency has vocally promoted diversity and inclusion for decades, even during the first Trump administration.Feb. 3 - Science -
See Lucy Run, 3.2 Million Years Ago
Our early human ancestor was capable of running, if slowly, a new study finds.Jan. 31 - Science -
Asteroid 2024 YR4 Could Strike Earth, Researchers Say, But the Odds are Small
Researchers say there’s a 1.3 percent chance that the space rock 2024 YR4 could strike our planet — but not until December 2032.Jan. 29 - Science -
Hummingbirds Living in a Hive Found for the First Time
In a remote mountain cave in Ecuador, hummingbirds were discovered sleeping and nesting together.3d - Science -
Plesiosaur Fossils Preserve Both Skin and Scales on Ancient Sea Monster
The mix of features offers new clues to how plesiosaurs navigated prehistoric oceans.Feb. 6 - Science -
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Hummingbird
Tiny mites seem capable of relying on the power of static cling to hop into hummingbird nostrils and move between flowers.Jan. 27 - Science -
Ancient DNA Points to Origins of Indo-European Language
A new study claims to have identified the first speakers of Indo-European language, which gave rise to English, Sanskrit and hundreds of others.Feb. 5 - Science -
66-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Vomit Is Found in Denmark
In the Cretaceous period, a shark or another kind of fish found sea lilies less than digestible. What you might expect followed.Jan. 29 - Science -
Scientists Detect Shape-Shifting Along Earth’s Solid Inner Core
The new research adds to the mysteries of the planet’s deepest interior region.Feb. 10 - Science -
The Physics That Keeps a Crowd From Becoming a Stampede
A group of scientists studying the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain, believe there’s a way to predict the motions of a large crowd.Feb. 5 - Science -
NASA Gave Up a Ride to the Moon. This Startup’s Rover Took It.
After the space agency canceled its VIPER rover, an empty space was available on a private spacecraft that will still head to the lunar surface.Feb. 5 - Science -
Relative of Ozempic Failed to Treat Parkinson’s Disease in Trial
The study may suggest that other researchers should be less optimistic about the prospects for treating a range of other conditions with newer weight-loss drugs.Feb. 4 - Science -
Grand Canyons on the Moon Were Made in a Matter of Minutes
Scientists proposed an explanation for the formation of Vallis Schrödinger and Vallis Planck near the lunar south pole, which are each about the size of Earth’s Grand Canyon.Feb. 4 - Science -
Could the Bird Flu Become Airborne?
Scientists were slow to recognize that Covid spreads through the air. Some are now trying to get ahead of the bird flu.Feb. 3 - Science -
The Perfect Cacio e Pepe Recipe, According to Science
Italian scientists have drawn from thermodynamic principles to prevent a famous pasta from turning into a gooey mess.Jan. 28 - Science -
Microsoft Says It Has Created a New State of Matter to Power Quantum Computers
Microsoft’s new “topological qubit” is not based on a solid, liquid or gas. It is another phase of matter that many experts did not think was possible.1d - Science -
CDC Posts, Then Deletes, Data on Bird Flu Transmission Between Cats and People
The data, which appeared fleetingly online on Wednesday, confirmed transmission in two households. Scientists called on the agency to release the full report.Feb. 6 - Science -
What Lurks in This Flower’s Bizarrely Large Y Chromosome?
Scientists published a full genetic sequence of the genes that make some white campions male, and hope their work could unlock how the flower got that way.Feb. 6 - Science -
Kennedy Is Keeping His Stake in Vaccine Litigation
If confirmed as health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would oversee the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies that issue key decisions for drug companies.Jan. 29 - Science -
What’s That Stench? A Corpse Flower Blooming at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
At the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a so-called corpse flower bloomed for the first time on Friday. The smell was not unlike rotting flesh.Jan. 24 - Science -
Trump Said, ‘We Have More Coal Than Anybody.’ See Where We Burn It.
There are 206 coal-burning power plants left in the United States, which supply about 16 percent of the country’s energy. Experts say burning more doesn’t make financial sense.Jan. 24 - Science -
January Was Hottest January on Record, Scientists Report
Earth’s prolonged streak of abnormal heat continued into 2025 despite the arrival of La Niña ocean conditions, which typically bring cooler temperatures.Feb. 5 - Science -
Doug Burgum Is Confirmed by Senate as Interior Secretary
The former governor of North Dakota is promoting President Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda and wants more oil, gas and mining on public lands.Jan. 30 - Science -
Karen Pryor, Guru of Positive Reinforcement, Is Dead at 92
She was so successful at training dolphins that she began applying the same techniques to other creatures, including dogs — and humans.Feb. 4 - Science