A Hotter, Poorer, and Less Free America
In the next few weeks, Senate Democrats could fall short—for arguably the third time in 30 years—of passing a climate deal. What will that mean for the planet and the country?
A Frog So Small, It Could Not Frog
Most frogs can jump and land with the precision and grace of an Olympic gymnast. And then there’s the pumpkin toadlet.
Our Powerful, Shiny New Space Telescope Got Its First Upsetting Ding
There are micrometeoroids, and then there are email-your-boss-on-vacation micrometeoroids.
Monkeypox Vaccines Are Too Gnarly for the Masses
Monkeypox is very different from COVID—and will require a very different vaccination approach.
How Animals Perceive the World
Every creature lives within its own sensory bubble, but only humans have the capacity to appreciate the experiences of other species. What we’ve learned is astounding.
If Your Car Hits a Deer You Might as Well Eat It
Eating roadkill makes so much sense.
Now Even NASA Wants to Talk About UFOs
The world’s top space agency has decided to lean into the discussion.
A Negative COVID Test Has Never Been So Meaningless
A string of negatives can still presage a clear-as-day positive.
Vaccines for the Littlest Kids Have Already Flopped
COVID vaccines for infants and toddlers are stalling and stumbling even before they’ve left the gate.
Biden’s Climate Goals Rest on a 71-Year-Old Defense Law
The Defense Production Act has become an important tool as the White House’s climate policy has stalled in Congress.
We Don’t Know Neptune at All
You know, the planet?
Don’t Wait to Get Your Kid Vaccinated
Kids are at risk of severe COVID outcomes—and immunity from infection isn’t enough.
What Are Ocean Predators Doing So Deep Underwater?
Whale sharks can dive more than a mile deep. Marine biologists are still trying to figure out why they bother.
We Should Have Seen Monkeypox Coming
Five years ago, monkeypox made a leap—and most of the world ignored it.
What Really Happens When Mercury Is in Retrograde
The first planet from the sun would like to be excluded from this narrative.
Rats Learned to Hide and Seek. Scientists Learned Way More.
To study something as freewheeling, spontaneous, and variable as play, researchers had to get creative.
An ER Doctor’s ‘Third Way’ Approach to the Gun Crisis
Why violence demands not just policy solutions, but public-health ones
Kelp Is Weirdly Great at Sucking Carbon Out of the Sky
The start-up Running Tide wants to use kelp buoys to fight climate change. The plan might not work, but it’s still a preview of our climate future.
Vaccines Are Still Mostly Blocking Severe Disease
Our original-recipe shots are holding up against new variants. But we may need to improve them, and soon.
A Radioactive Gas Is Lurking Beneath the Permafrost
Cancer-causing radon has been trapped beneath the frozen Arctic soil for millennia. Climate change is setting it free.