New York Times - Science

How Musk Ox Make It Through Arctic Nights and Never-Ending Days

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 14:18:54 GMT

Scientists wondered whether animals living above the Arctic Circle had the same circadian rhythms as the rest of us.Musk oxen bulls sparring near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.

Some Covid Survivors Have Antibodies That Attack the Body, not Virus

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 21:37:39 GMT

New research found ‘autoantibodies’ similar to those in lupus and rheumatoid arthritis patients. But patients may also benefit from treatments for those autoimmune diseases.Covid-19 patients were discharged from a temporary hospital in Lima, Peru, last month. The study may help explain why so-called “long-haulers” continue to experience symptoms long after the virus has left their bodies.

As Election Nears, Trump Makes a Final Push Against Climate Science

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 20:19:32 GMT

The administration is imposing new limits on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that would undercut action against global warming.NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, Md. The official responsible for scientific integrity was recently replaced.

Pfizer CEO All but Rules Out Covid-19 Vaccine Before Election Day

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 19:54:43 GMT

Pfizer’s C.E.O. said on Tuesday that much-anticipated results from its vaccine trial would not be coming this month, after all.Pfizer’s chief executive, Dr. Albert Bourla, appearing before a Senate committee last year.

Colon Cancer Screening Should Begin Earlier, at Age 45, Panel Says

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 19:15:25 GMT

The draft recommendation acknowledges a trend of higher rates of colon and rectal cancer in generations born since 1950.Jim Nauen learned he had Stage 3 rectal cancer when he was 49 after his doctor urged him to get a colonoscopy. “If I’d been screened at 45,” he said, “it may well have just been a polyp that would have been zapped and we’d all have gone along our way.”

A Chance to Expand Medicaid Rallies Democrats in North Carolina

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 16:49:58 GMT

The legislature in this battleground state could flip to Democratic control, a prospect that is bringing out lower-income voters who stayed home in 2016.Sarah Crawford, a Democrat running for state senate in North Carolina’s 18th District, cheered on voters at the Knightdale Recreational Center.

Sharks Wash Up on Beaches, Stabbed by Swordfish

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 16:40:18 GMT

The discovery of impaled sharks on Mediterranean shores backs up old fishermen’s tales of the marine predators dueling with swordfish.Evidence suggests sometimes a swordfish really is a fish with a sword.

Zeta Is Downgraded on the Way to the Gulf Coast

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 16:31:53 GMT

The storm, which was a Category 1 hurricane, was expected to restrengthen later on Tuesday.Clouds gathered over the Playa Gaviota Azul in Cancún, Mexico, on Monday as Hurricane Zeta approached.

In a Battered New York Office Market, Life Science Is Flourishing

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 13:00:13 GMT

With state and city government support, developers are building laboratories for medical research and incubator spaces for biotech start-ups amid the race for a coronavirus vaccine. A cluster of glass life science buildings has sprouted up in New York’s West Harlem neighborhood. The life science sector has emerged as a bright spot in an uncertain picture for commercial real estate.

Nurses Are at High Risk for Covid Among Health Workers, C.D.C. Says

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 20:56:06 GMT

A new study looked at the high numbers of health care workers hospitalized during the early months of the pandemic.A nurse in the intensive care unit of a hospital in El Centro, Calif., jotted notes on the window of a Covid-19 patient’s room.

NASA Finds Water and Ice on Moon in More Places Than Thought

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 18:25:14 GMT

Future astronauts seeking water on the moon may not need to go into the most treacherous craters in its polar regions to find it.A visualization, using data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, of the Shackleton crater at the moon’s south pole.

A Malaria Mystery, Partly Solved: What Happens When the Rains End?

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 17:53:28 GMT

A study in Mali suggests that malaria parasites hide out during the dry season by altering the properties of red blood cells.A colored transmission electron micrograph showing malaria infecting red blood cells.

In Madagascar, Endangered Lemurs Find a Private Refuge

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 09:00:30 GMT

Climate change is shifting the habitats of endangered species and requiring conservation scientists to think outside traditional park boundaries.A diadem sifaka, a type of lemur, in northern Madagascar.

How to Grow a Hydroponic Garden

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 03:20:07 GMT

It’s getting cold out there. Take your pandemic gardening inside.Vicki Liston checks the rosemary growing in her hydroponic garden in Clovis, N.M.

UnitedHealth Ships Flu Kits to Medicare Recipients

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 09:00:12 GMT

Under MedAdvantage plans, the major insurer is sending packages including Tamiflu and coronavirus tests to those considered especially vulnerable to Covid and the flu.UnitedHealth’s kits will include Tamiflu, a prescription treatment, as well as a digital thermometer and a coronavirus test.

Murder Hornet Nest, First in U.S., Is Found in Washington State

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 01:18:36 GMT

Officials said they planned to destroy the nest in Blaine, Wash., on Saturday before the voracious Asian giant hornets could multiply and lay waste to bees.Hornets with radio trackers attached led entomologists to the nest.

Footprints Mark a Toddler’s Perilous Prehistoric Journey

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 00:48:13 GMT

Mammoths and giant ground sloths roamed the same terrain that a young adult swiftly moved through while toting a young child.

NASA OSIRIS-REX Mission Springs Leak After Touching Asteroid

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 23:43:26 GMT

The OSIRIS-REX spacecraft collected rock and dirt samples from Bennu, but it appears to be losing some of what it grabbed.A series of three images shows that the sampler head on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is so full of rocks and dust collected from the surface of the asteroid Bennu that it’s shedding pieces.

Two Companies Restart Virus Trials in U.S. After Safety Pauses

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 23:29:51 GMT

AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have restarted their late-stage trials after finding that serious illnesses in a few volunteers appeared not to be related to the vaccines.AstraZeneca U.S. headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md.

The Trump Administration Shut a Vaccine Safety Office Last Year. What’s the Plan Now?

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 23:17:01 GMT

The office was dedicated to the long-term safety of vaccines. Experts say plans to track coronavirus vaccines are fragmented and “behind the eight ball.”President Trump and the Health and Human Services secretary, Alex M. Azar II, who disbanded the National Vaccine Program Office last year.