Scholars have long debated how the massive stone figures of Rapa Nui got to where they stand today. A new study offers one possible explanation.
By Franz Lidz
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
The Perseverance rover picked up audio evidence of electric discharges in the red planet’s atmosphere.
By Kenneth Chang
The New York Times
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
By Aatish Bhatia, Amy Fan, Jonah Smith and Irena Hwang
Morgan Hornsby for The New York Times
On its own, LATE dementia is less severe than Alzheimer’s, but in combination, it makes Alzheimer’s symptoms worse, scientists say.
By Pam Belluck and Morgan Hornsby
Let us know how we’re doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com.
Alamy
GLP-1 drugs for pets could be the next frontier for the blockbuster weight loss and diabetes drugs.
By Emily Anthes
Luis Morais
The slaty-masked tinamou, found in Brazil, is utterly unafraid of people. That could be its undoing, ornithologists worry.
By Joe Trezza
Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters
The ability of Russia to launch astronauts to the International Space Station remains in limbo after an incident last week at the Baikonur base in Kazakhstan.
Associated Press
With the help of A.I., a historian has identified the killer in a 1941 image that defined the savagery of the Nazi regime.
By Alexander Nazaryan
Industry groups and scientists have urged the Trump administration to reconsider its plan to close a renowned Agriculture Department center in Maryland and disperse its work around the country.
By Linda Qiu
Trilobites
In a small study, pet cats greeted male owners with more vocalizations than they did female caregivers.
By Clarissa Brincat
You won’t be drinking it any time soon, but the aquatic mammal’s milk is much more chemically complex than that of other mammals, including humans.
By Kate Golembiewski
Often called the world’s most famous face reader, he inspired the TV show ‘Lie to Me.’ But some questioned his assumption that human expressions were ‘pan-cultural.’
By Trip Gabriel
Andre Penner/Associated Press
Shifting politics, intensive lobbying and surging disinformation online have undermined international efforts to respond to the threat.
By Lisa Friedman and Steven Lee Myers
Desiree Rios for The New York Times
Oil and gas firms were supposed to start reducing methane, a powerful driver of climate change. The agency is giving them more time and may cancel the requirement.
By Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow
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Luisa Jung
The New Old Age
Paid home care is buckling under the surging demands of an aging population. But there are alternatives that could upgrade jobs and improve patient care.
By Paula Span
Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times
Less than 10 percent of heart and lung surgeons in the United States are women. At a recent conference, they vowed to change that.
By Elisabeth Bumiller and Alyssa Schukar
Lindsay Perryman by The New York Times
“Bubble boy disease” was once a death sentence. A scientific breakthrough changed that.
By Simar Bajaj
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
The agency said it planned to craft a more comprehensive rule, but the move alarmed public health advocates, who have long worked to eliminate asbestos in consumer products.
By Roni Caryn Rabin
The agency’s top vaccine regulator proposed broad changes, claiming that a new review linked 10 children’s deaths to the Covid vaccine. But public health experts questioned the findings, wanting to examine the data.
By Christina Jewett
