A Robot That Can Perform Brain Surgery on a Fruit Fly
By JOHN MARKOFF
A prototype developed by researchers at Stanford can outperform grad students, studying nearly a thousand flies in 10 hours.
Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
Sister Megan Rice in New York on Friday, days after her release from federal prison.
Sister Megan Rice, Freed From Prison, Is Unapologetic for Anti-Nuclear Activism
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
The nun, who spent two years behind bars for splattering blood and antiwar slogans on a nuclear plant in Tennessee in 2012, said she had “no qualms.”
Observatory
Ancient Skull Suggests an Early Murder
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
The 430,000-year-old skull has two penetrating lesions above the left eye, either one of which might have been lethal, scientists report.
New Jersey Lassa Fever Death Prompts C.D.C. Action
By SABRINA TAVERNISE and ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
The patient had recently returned from Liberia, where the disease is common. It is similar to Ebola, but less deadly.
Lassa Fever Carries Little Risk to Public, Experts Say
By DENISE GRADY
The viral illness killed a man who had traveled to New Jersey from Liberia, where it is common, but it does not carry the threat of Ebola or spread easily from person to person.
Obama Announces New Rule Limiting Water Pollution
By CORAL DAVENPORT
The new clean water regulation would restore the federal government’s authority to limit pollution in the nation’s rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands.
ScienceTake
Ants That Show Some Spring in Their Jaws to Escape
By JAMES GORMAN
Trap-jaw ants have mandibles with which they can jump by striking something solid. A recent study showed how the action is used against ant lions.
Doubts About Study of Gay Canvassers Rattle the Field
By BENEDICT CAREY and PAM BELLUCK
The questioned findings, published in December in Science, have shaken not only political scientists but also public trust in the way the scientific establishment vets new findings.
Similac Advance Infant Formula to Be Offered G.M.O.-Free
By STEPHANIE STROM
Abbott, maker of the Similac brand, said a third of consumers said infant formula without genetically modified ingredients would bring “peace of mind.”
Explaining a Cornerstone of Game Theory: John Nash’s Equilibrium
By KENNETH CHANG
Dr. Nash extended the analysis beyond zero-sum, I-win-you-lose types of games to more complex situations in which all of the players could gain, or all could lose.
Decade After Katrina, Pointing Finger More Firmly at Army Corps
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON and JOHN SCHWARTZ
An article by experts involved in some previous examinations of the catastrophe contends that fault should fall squarely on the Army Corps of Engineers.
Scientists Sample the Ocean and Find Tiny Additions to the Tree of Life
By KAREN WEINTRAUB
Researchers studied plankton from around the globe and uncovered vast genetic diversity and clues to how warming temperatures may affect ocean life.
Family Tree of Dogs and Wolves Is Found to Split Earlier Than Thought
By JAMES GORMAN
A bone fragment found in Siberia suggests that the ancestors of modern wolves and dogs split into different lineages between 27,000 and 40,000 years ago, scientists say.
Matter
For an Octopus, Seeing the Light Doesn’t Require Eyes
By CARL ZIMMER
Two new studies suggest that cephalopods can perceive light through their skin, making, in effect, a body-wide eye.
Stone Tools From Kenya Are Oldest Yet Discovered
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
The tools, dating to 3.3 million years ago, may indicate that hominins were making tools much earlier than previously thought by some 700,000 years.
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John Scalzi, Science Fiction Writer, Signs $3.4 Million Deal for 13 Books
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Farmers Agree to Water Cuts in California
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Obama Plans New Rule to Limit Water Pollution
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Fighting Pollution From Microbeads Used in Soaps and Creams
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Oil Again Fouling California Coast Near Site of Historic Spill
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Obama Recasts Climate Change as a Peril With Far-Reaching Effects
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Retraction Sought in Study on Views of Gay Marriage
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Study Links Dolphin Deaths to Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
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Puffy, Feathered Sticking Point of a $612 Billion House Bill
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Inquiry Finds Misconduct by a Top Surgeon, Paolo Macchiarini
Science Times, May 26, 2015
Basics
Nature’s Waste Management Crews
By NATALIE ANGIER
Scientists are increasingly interested in what might be called animal sanitation studies — how different species seek to stay clean and get rid of wastes.
Doctoring, Without the Doctor
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
States with a shortage of doctors are giving nurse practitioners greater responsibilities and autonomy.
Scientists Make Novel Attempt to Save Giant Turtle Species
By RACHEL NUWER
A pair of Yangtze giant softshell turtles in a zoo near Shanghai have produced only infertile eggs. Now scientists are trying a first: artificial insemination.
Students Measure Space Dust as New Horizons Heads for Pluto
By LAURA PARKER
An instrument built at the University of Colorado is analyzing space dust for the remnants of colliding objects to learn more about our solar system.
Relax, the Terminator Is Far Away
By JOHN MARKOFF
Despite the warnings of visionaries like Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates, today’s artificial intelligence is still tethered to human controllers.
Global Health
Making LED Light Bulbs Less Attractive to Insects
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
A scientist is working with Royal Philips to create bulbs that give off less blue light and thus help protect against insect-borne diseases.
Columns
Q&A;
Next to Fairyflies, Ants Are Giants
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
A delicate wasp known as the Kikiki huna is believed to be the smallest flying insect, as short as 160 micrometers.
Observatory
Even Einstein’s Research Can Take Time to Matter
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
A new analysis has found that “sleeping beauties,” research papers whose importance is not recognized for years, are common
A New Approach for Moving Robotic Arms With the Brain
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Researchers have tested a neural prosthetic device that is implanted in a part of the brain that plans and imagines activities, instead of in the motor cortex.
Observatory
Male Java Sparrow Adds a Beat to Its Song
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
The bird clicks its bill against a hard surface while it sings, much as a percussion instrument accompanies a melody.
Books
Review: ‘The Digital Doctor’ by Robert Wachter Weighs Medicine’s Technological Transformation
By ABIGAIL ZUGER, M.D.
The author is both doubtful and hopeful, old enough to remember the way things used to work, young enough to appreciate technology.
Space Graphics
Messenger’s Collision Course With Mercury
By JONATHAN CORUM
NASA’s Messenger spacecraft crashed into Mercury on Thursday.
Unforgettable Hubble Space Telescope Photos
On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, we asked astronomers and others involved in the telescope’s groundbreaking story to tell us about their favorite images.
NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Studies Bright Spots on Ceres
By JONATHAN CORUM
Dawn is orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres, a Texas-size ball of ice and rock.
NASA’s New Horizons Probe Sees Pluto in Color
By JONATHAN CORUM
The New Horizons spacecraft is now closer to Pluto than Earth is to the sun.
From Technology
App Smart
Video Feature: Apps That Bring Science to Life
By KIT EATON
Learning about physics and chemistry is often not easy, but through interactivity and other methods, technology can help simplify some concepts.
For the latest news, analysis and journalists' perspectives. Twitter list of staff journalists »
Editors' Picks
ScienceTake
A weekly video series on new research discoveries from how snakes fly and why fruit flies fight to how water bounces and metal chains can flow like fountains.
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