In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers
DNA databases holding samples from thousands of rhinoceroses and elephants are helping to convict illegal traffickers.
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CreditStefan Heunis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images -
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CreditDa Yin/University of Maryland Trilobites
This Worm Evolved Self-Fertilization and Lost a Quarter of Its DNA
When a worm’s hermaphroditic females developed the ability to reproduce on their own, they may have shed a lot of genes related to male reproduction.
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CreditLynn Donaldson for The New York Times States Confront the Spread of a Deadly Disease in Deer
Montana is the latest Western state to discover animals infected with chronic wasting disease. It may decimate herds and, biologists say, invade Yellowstone.
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CreditBianca Lavies/National Geographic, via Getty Images Trilobites
The Invisible Underwater Messaging System in Blue Crab Urine
Scientists identified the chemical signal in urine produced by blue crabs that warns mud crabs that they could be on the menu.
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CreditNicole Craine for The New York Times Scanning an Ancient Biblical Text That Humans Fear to Open
Pioneers of new software for reading damaged parchment and scrolls are now deploying a CT scanner at the Morgan Library, hoping to recover Coptic writings dating back at least to 600 A.D.
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CreditGino Fornaciari/University of Pisa A Mummified Child’s Remains Show Signs of a Modern Scourge
For decades, scientists thought the toddler died nearly 500 years ago from smallpox. New research shows it carried hepatitis B.
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CreditCharles M. Duke Jr./NASA John Young, Who Led First Space Shuttle Mission, Dies at 87
Mr. Young also walked on the moon and was the only astronaut to fly in the Gemini, Apollo and shuttle programs.
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CreditEric S. Carlson In the Bones of a Buried Child, Signs of a Massive Human Migration to the Americas
Genetic analysis of an 11,500-year-old skeleton discovered in Alaska suggests that North America was settled by a previously unknown people who originated in Siberia.
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CreditJimmy Westlake/NASA Sync your calendar with the solar system
Never miss an eclipse, a meteor shower, a rocket launch or any other astronomical and space event that's out of this world.
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Credit The Strange Origin of a Manakin’s Golden Crown
Biologists are unlocking how three neighboring birds became distinct species, with a golden-crowned hybrid emerging from two species with different head colorings.
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Credit In Winter, You Might Wish You Had This Rodent Superpower
Scientists discovered a quirk in the proteins of some squirrels and hamsters that helps them behave a bit like a coldblooded animal.
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Credit Give Thanks for the Winter Solstice. You Might Not Be Here Without It.
The scientific start of winter offers a moment to reflect on how we might not be here to witness the changing seasons without Earth’s particular tilt toward the sun.
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Credit An Ancient Step Toward Modern Birds
Anchiornis was a feathered dinosaur, about the size of a pigeon and incapable of flight. Its wings say a lot about how birds came to be.
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Trilobites
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Credit An 8th Planet Is Found Orbiting a Distant Star, With A.I.’s Help
A Google neural network analyzed data collected by NASA and helped astronomers detect another planet around a star some 2,500 light years away.
