The Good Part About ‘Waning’ Immunity
You might have fewer antibodies now. But they’re better than the ones you started with.
The Key Insight That Defined 50 Years of Climate Science
A climate scientist has won the Nobel Prize in Physics for the first time. It’s a reminder that the field, which emerged from the mid-20th century’s biggest questions, hasn’t always been fraught.
The Mystery of Why Our Ancestors Left Africa
An enduring scientific debate is about humanity’s past—and its future.
The Volcanologist’s Paradox
Studying powerful eruptions means witnessing beauty and tragedy in the same moment.
‘I Don’t Know That I Would Even Call It Meth Anymore’
Different chemically than it was a decade ago, the drug is creating a wave of severe mental illness and worsening America’s homelessness problem.
Biden Cannot Declare Victory on Climate Without One of These Policies
And the chances of passing either are getting slimmer.
The Children of Sperm Donors Want to Change the Rules of Conception
Does everyone have a right to know their biological parents?
We Accidentally Solved the Flu. Now What?
America has a choice to make.
The Cost of William Shatner’s ‘Most Profound Experience’
The actor got his oldest-in-space record for free, but most commercial astronauts will have to pay for their historic milestones.
The Energy Crunch, in Six Paragraphs
Governments and companies have built the global energy system around natural gas almost without a second thought. Now it’s costing them.
Deforestation Is a Crime
A new bipartisan bill would treat it that way.
Zombie Shark, Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo
Biologists have a new way to save endangered sharks: rescuing eggs from their dead mothers.
The American West Has Way Too Many Fences
Ecologists are starting to better understand just how bad barbed wire is for wildlife.
Nine Pandemic Words That Almost No One Gets Right
Actually, you’re probably not in quarantine.
Flatworms Are Metal
They can tear themselves in half and regrow complete bodies. They can retain memories despite decapitation. And if you chop them into little pieces, each piece will start acting like a perfectly intact worm.
A Mars Rover Explored a Wasteland and Found an Oasis
Billions of years ago, the view from the edge of Jezero crater would have been “spectacular.”
Elite Firefighters Have a Secret Skill
One of rookie smoke jumpers’ first lessons—after leaping from a plane and packing a parachute—is learning how to sew.
In One Place, for One Fish, Climate Change May Be a Boon
While many salmon fisheries are collapsing, Bristol Bay, Alaska, is booming—for now.
A Better Way to Think About Your Risk for COVID
For months we’ve been fixated on the idea that some people are at “high risk” and others aren’t. Now scientists have a better understanding of the continuum.
A Peer-Reviewed Portrait of Suffering
James and Lindsay Sulzer have spent their careers developing technologies to help people recover from disease or injury. Their daughter’s freak accident changed their work—and lives—forever.