❌

Normal view

Received yesterday — 13 February 2026NYT: Science

Trump Erased the Endangerment Finding. Here Come the Lawsuits.

✇NYT: Science
By:Karen Zraick
13 February 2026 at 17:52
The battle is expected to reach the Supreme Court, which is far more conservative today than it was when the measure was established.

© Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

President Trump announced on Thursday that his administration would scrap the endangerment finding.

A Climate Supercomputer Is Getting New Bosses. It’s Not Clear Who.

✇NYT: Science
By:Eric Niiler
13 February 2026 at 17:37
The National Science Foundation said management of the machine, used by researchers for forecasts, disaster warnings and pure science, would be transferred to a “third-party operator.”

© Caine Delacy for The New York Times

The supercomputer is currently run from the National Center for Atmospheric Research headquarters in Boulder, Colo.

Elephant Bone in Spain May Be Proof of Hannibal’s Tanks With Trunks

✇NYT: Science
By:Franz Lidz
13 February 2026 at 05:04
Archaeologists say a 2,200-year-old specimen is the first direct evidence of how the Carthaginian war machine used the giant mammals in the Punic Wars.

© Adam Eastland/Alamy

A Renaissance-era fresco attributed to Jacopo Ripanda depicting Hannibal on the back of an elephant during the Second Punic War, in the third century B.C.

RFK Jr. Allies Target States to Overturn Vaccine Mandates for Schools

✇NYT: Science
By:Christina Jewett
13 February 2026 at 05:02
Proponents of vaccines warn that the efforts will further dismantle the immunization infrastructure and lead to more outbreaks of disease.

© Erin Schaff/The New York Times

An empty classroom at the high school in Williston, N.D., during an outbreak of measles there last year.
Received before yesterdayNYT: Science

El Niño May Be Back This Summer, Bringing Drought and Floods

✇NYT: Science
By:Eric Niiler
12 February 2026 at 15:06
The powerful weather pattern is expected to shift into gear again around June, NOAA said, though its strength this time remains a question.

© David McNew/Getty Images

A storm in California during the last El Niño phase, in 2023. The El Niño weather pattern has far-reaching influence.

Trump Repeals Key Greenhouse Gas Finding, Erasing EPA’s Power to Fight Climate Change

✇NYT: Science
By:Lisa Friedman
13 February 2026 at 09:27
The Environmental Protection Agency rejected the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being. It means the agency can no longer regulate them.

© Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Rigorous scientific findings since 2009 have shown that greenhouse gases and global warming are harming public health.

What to Know About the E.P.A.’s Big Attack on Climate Regulation

✇NYT: Science
By:Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow
13 February 2026 at 21:03
The Trump administration has repealed the scientific determination that underpins the government’s legal authority to combat climate change.

© Jenny Kane/Associated Press

E.P.A. administrator Lee Zeldin has claimed that previous administrations used the endangerment finding to justify “trillions of dollars” in regulations on polluting industries and its reversal will help the economy.

‘Kramer/Fauci’ Revisits a Sparring Match During the AIDS Crisis

✇NYT: Science
By:Juan A. Ramírez
12 February 2026 at 12:18
At the heart of Daniel Fish’s verbatim staging of a C-SPAN segment is a complex relationship, between Larry Kramer and Anthony Fauci, that “goes from ‘I hate you’ to ‘I love you’ and back.”

© Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

Thomas Jay Ryan as Larry Kramer in “Kramer/Fauci,” a verbatim staging of the 1993 televised clash between Anthony Fauci, who was the nation’s leading AIDS researcher, and Kramer, the playwright and activist.

4 Months Trapped in a Hospital for an Obsolete Way of Treating Their Disease

✇NYT: Science
By:Stephanie Nolen and Arlette Bashizi
12 February 2026 at 12:14
Health workers in developing countries know that isolating tuberculosis patients is an outdated and potentially harmful practice, but lack the resources to move away from it.

© Arlette Bashizi for The New York Times

Asta Djouma, a tuberculosis patient in isolation at the Djarengol Kodek Health Center in Maroua, northern Cameroon, who hasn’t seen her three children since she was admitted in October. “We’re just here,” she said.

Senate Questions Health Care Firm for Profiting Off Program Meant for Poor

✇NYT: Science
By:Ellen Gabler
12 February 2026 at 12:00
The program was meant to help hospitals provide for poor patients by offering drug savings. But critics say a Texas company has turned it into a big business, driving up costs for patients and insurers.

© Desiree Rios for The New York Times

The offices of Apexus in Irving, Texas. The company, a subsidiary of Vizient, negotiates drug discounts.

New Method Can Find Hidden Eggs to Aid in Fertility Treatment

✇NYT: Science
By:Pam Belluck
12 February 2026 at 05:02
A study reported that the conventional method of searching follicular fluid didn’t find all the eggs. The new technology found extra eggs more than half the time.

© Cassandra Klos for The New York Times

A viable egg found by the OvaReady device that was not found using the conventional method.

Bans on Many CBD Products Loom This Year

✇NYT: Science
By:Jan Hoffman
12 February 2026 at 05:00
A federal law taking effect in November severely limits the amount of THC, the euphoric cannabis compound, allowed in over-the-counter items. Many groups are fighting back.

© Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

Mexico May Be on Brink of Losing Its Measles-Free Status

✇NYT: Science
By:Emiliano Rodríguez Mega
12 February 2026 at 11:57
The country’s confirmed cases have topped 9,000 since last year, raising fears that a high-stakes evaluation in April could lead to its status being revoked.

© Marco Ugarte/Associated Press

A health worker administering a dose of the measles vaccine in Mexico City last week. “We are confident that the outbreak will be controlled,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday.

Four States Sue Administration Over Loss of Public Health Funds

✇NYT: Science
By:Apoorva Mandavilli
11 February 2026 at 19:45
The states, all led by Democrats, claim the cuts were intended as retribution and will harm efforts to control H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted infections.

© Dustin Chambers for The New York Times

The headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The agency administered block grants for H.I.V. prevention that were allocated to public health departments in California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota.

Trump Orders Dept. of Defense to Buy Electricity From Coal Sources

✇NYT: Science
By:Brad Plumer
11 February 2026 at 18:11
Mr. Trump is trying to revive coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel. At the White House, coal executives awarded him a trophy as the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal.”

© Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

President Trump signed an executive order. On the desk beside him is a trophy labeled “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful Clean Coal.”

U.S. Health Officials Defend Rejection of Moderna’s Flu Vaccine

✇NYT: Science
By:Christina Jewett
11 February 2026 at 16:53
The F.D.A.’s refusal to examine the company’s mRNA shot drew widespread criticism from doctors and was divisive within the agency.

© Eric Lee for The New York Times

Dr. Marty Makary, the F.D.A. commissioner, suggested that the agency might eventually approve Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine.

Portland Lawsuit Alleges Tear Gas Use by ICE Is a Health Threat

✇NYT: Science
By:Hiroko Tabuchi
11 February 2026 at 09:55
A novel lawsuit in Portland argues the chemicals are a health threat that have soaked into apartment walls, furniture and even children’s toys.

© Jordan Gale for The New York Times

An October incident outside an ICE facility in Portland, Ore. Residents across the street have sued over the use of tear gas.

F.D.A. Refuses to Review Moderna Flu Vaccine

✇NYT: Science
By:Christina Jewett and Rebecca Robbins
10 February 2026 at 21:49
The vaccine maker’s shots involve the successful Covid vaccines’ RNA technology. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has broadly rejected it, canceling millions of dollars in research projects.

© Brian Snyder/Reuters

Moderna is a pioneer in using mRNA technology, first with the Covid vaccine. Its flu shot was being developed for people 50 and older.

Baboon Sibling Rivalry Suggests Monkeys Feel Jealousy Like People

✇NYT: Science
By:Annie Roth
11 February 2026 at 10:26
Young primates in a southern African nature park were observed to constantly interfere when their mother was giving attention to a younger brother or sister.

© Dr. Axelle Delaunay

Climate Change Is Erased From Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence for Judges

✇NYT: Science
By:Karen Zraick
10 February 2026 at 16:11
After Republican criticism, a group that offers professional resources to judges withdrew a climate science chapter from its Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence.

© Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press

J.B. McCuskey, the West Virginia attorney general, in Washington last month. He led the effort against the climate chapter in the judges’ handbook.

Behind the E.P.A.’s Rush to Repeal the Endangerment Finding

✇NYT: Science
By:Maxine Joselow and Lisa Friedman
10 February 2026 at 15:17
The agency is racing to repeal a scientific finding that requires it to fight global warming. Experts say the goal is to get the matter before the justices while President Trump is still in office.

© Kent Nishimura/Reuters

Lee Zeldin, the E.P.A. administrator, at the agency’s headquarters in Washington last year.

Dr. Oz Says Drinking Is a ‘Social Lubricant.’ Some Experts Worry About That.

✇NYT: Science
By:Roni Caryn Rabin
10 February 2026 at 17:56
“Most of the harm that comes from alcohol,” said one researcher, is “due mostly or mainly to drinking with their buddies.”

© Edu Bayer for The New York Times

Most research examining the effects of alcohol in a controlled laboratory setting has ignored the social context in which most drinking occurs.

Seals Are Recruited to Study the Ocean Under Antarctic Glaciers

✇NYT: Science
By:Raymond Zhong
10 February 2026 at 09:13
The environment is changing rapidly around the melting Thwaites Glacier. Seals can collect data in waters that ships could never reach.

© Bok Jin Kim, Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

The tags themselves don’t seem to bother the animals, but Ms. Cheon and Mr. Chung agreed the tagging process tugs on some complicated heartstrings.

Newly Unbound, Trump Weighs More Nuclear Arms and Underground Tests

✇NYT: Science
By:David E. Sanger and William J. Broad
9 February 2026 at 18:46
It remains to be seen whether the three big nuclear powers are headed into a new arms race, or whether President Trump is trying to spur negotiations on a new accord now that a last Cold War treaty has expired.

© U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, via Associated Press

An underground atomic test at the Nevada Test Site near Yucca Flats in 1955. The last U.S. explosive test of a nuclear weapon was in 1992.

A Gray Wolf’s Visit to Los Angeles County Is a First in Nearly a Century

✇NYT: Science
By:Livia Albeck-Ripka
9 February 2026 at 20:18
The wolf, known as BEY03F, roamed more than 500 miles from Northern California, signaling that the species continues to rebound after being wiped out in the state in the 1920s.

© California Department of Fish and Wildlife

The gray wolf known as BEY03F in April 2025.

2 to 3 Cups of Coffee a Day May Reduce Dementia Risk. But Not if It’s Decaf.

✇NYT: Science
By:Pam Belluck
9 February 2026 at 13:56
One to two cups of caffeinated tea per day helps too, researchers found after following nearly 132,000 people for 40 years.

© Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Beyond two and a half cups of coffee daily, the advantage plateaued, possibly because there’s a limit to how much caffeine our bodies can metabolize, researchers said.

Can Mountain Lions Survive as Humans Close In? California Is Trying to Find a Way.

✇NYT: Science
By:Catrin Einhorn and Loren Elliott
10 February 2026 at 06:53
A giant freeway crossing for wildlife is due to open outside Los Angeles this year. Here’s the story of one young cat hemmed in near the city.

© Loren Elliott for The New York Times

War Came to Ukraine and Its Dogs Are Not the Same

✇NYT: Science
By:Anthony Ham
8 February 2026 at 05:01
Researchers discovered surprising changes to former pets along the front line of combat with Russia.

© Tetiana Dzhafarova/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A dog walked past damaged houses in the city of Svyatohirsk, Donetsk, last summer.

These Mathematicians Are Putting A.I. to the Test

✇NYT: Science
By:Siobhan Roberts
12 February 2026 at 17:04
Large language models struggle to solve research-level math questions. It takes a human to assess just how poorly they perform.

© Aurelien Bergot for The New York Times

Martin Hairer, a mathematician at the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne. He splits his time between there and the Imperial College London.

TrumpRx: What to Know About Insurance Benefits, Pricing and Savings

✇NYT: Science
By:Rebecca Robbins
6 February 2026 at 13:18
People may be able to pay less for prescriptions with their insurance rather than via the new government website. The Trump drugstore is meant to help people buy medications using their own money.

© Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

President Trump; Dr. Mehmet Oz, who oversees Medicare and Medicaid; and Joe Gebbia, who oversees the design of government websites, unveiled TrumpRx at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Thursday.

Climate ‘Superfund’ Bills Spread Nationwide, Despite Legal Battles

✇NYT: Science
By:Karen Zraick
6 February 2026 at 11:03
The laws aim to force oil companies to help pay for damage from global warming. Industry is gearing up for state-by-state battles.

© Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Flooding in Vermont in July 2023. The state was the first to adopt a climate “superfund” law. Other states are now following.

Federal Vaccine Advisers Take Aim at Covid Shots

✇NYT: Science
By:Apoorva Mandavilli
6 February 2026 at 10:00
One panelist accused the F.D.A. of withholding data on potential harms. The advisers also are reviewing research on vaccines given to pregnant women.

© Alyssa Pointer/Reuters

Dr. Robert Malone, during a December meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in Atlanta.

Rebuilding the Lighthouse of Alexandria, Block by Virtual Block

✇NYT: Science
By:Franz Lidz
6 February 2026 at 08:42
An ancient skyscraper considered the seventh wonder of the world crumbled to ruin centuries ago. Now an ambitious archaeological project aims to reassemble it in 3-D.

© Florilegius/Universal Images Group, via Getty Images

A 19th-century engraved depiction of the Pharos of Alexandria.

TrumpRx, the President’s Online Drugstore, Opens for Business

✇NYT: Science
By:Rebecca Robbins and Margot Sanger-Katz
6 February 2026 at 03:57
TrumpRx is aimed at helping patients use their own money to buy medicines. But researchers who study drug pricing warned that many patients could pay too much if they use the site.

© Eric Thayer/Getty Images

The TrumpRx website is meant to be an entry point for consumers to search for their medicines and then direct them to manufacturers’ websites to buy the drugs directly.

Federal Judge Blocks Texas Law Targeting Critics of Fossil Fuels

✇NYT: Science
By:Karen Zraick
5 February 2026 at 16:18
The court ruled that it was unconstitutional to bar state agencies from investing with firms that the state had accused of boycotting the oil industry.

© Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Trucks at an oil field in Midland, Texas. A judge ruled that a 2021 law about investing practices was unconstitutional.

F.D.A. Relaxes Rules on ‘Naturally Derived’ Dyes

✇NYT: Science
By:Sheryl Gay Stolberg
5 February 2026 at 12:23
Food makers will now be able to claim that their products have “no artificial colors,” so long as they use dyes that are not petroleum-based.

© George Walker IV/Associated Press

“We’re asking people now, ‘Eat real food,’” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at the Tennessee State Capitol on Wednesday.
❌