Science Times: Searching for Bird Life in a Former ‘Ocean of Forest’

Plus: How to Solve Any Problem Using Just Common Sense —

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story August 31, 2021 Searching for Bird Life in a Former 'Ocean of Forest' A century after museum collectors surveyed Colombia's avian fauna, a new generation of researchers returns to see what remains, and what has changed. By Jennie Erin Smith and Federico Rios Photo illustration by Tamara Shopsin Letter of Recommendation How to Solve Any Problem Using Just Common Sense Contemplating Fermi problems keeps me curious about the world and how things relate to one another. By Caroline Chen Steven D. Miller, NOAA Trilobites Satellites Spot Oceans Aglow With Trillions of Organisms A new generation of detectors let scientists identify a dozen large episodes of bioluminescence, one a hundred times larger than Manhattan — and that's the smallest. By William J. Broad imageBROKER/Alamy A Shifting Climate Gave Humans Many Opportunities to Leave Africa A new paleoclimate model finds many favorable windows when Homo sapiens might have survived a migration out of Africa. By Sabrina Imbler Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Email us Let us know how we're doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com. Flynn et al. Deflecting an Asteroid Before It Hits Earth May Take Multiple Bumps After years of shooting meteorites with a special gun owned by NASA, researchers highlighted challenges for a preferred method of planetary defense. By Katherine Kornei Irene Mendez Cruz Trilobites Female Hummingbirds Avoid Harassment by Looking Like Males Among white-necked Jacobin hummingbirds, those with plumage that resembles colors found on males get harassed less. By Sabrina Imbler Oliver Thompson-Holmes/Alamy Trilobites Looks Like Bird Dung. But It's Really a Predatory Spider. Many creatures use mimicry to hide from predators. This one also uses it to lure in prey. By Richard Sima Victor Beccari Fossils Seized in Police Raid Demystify a Prehistoric Flying Reptile Among the 3,000 fossils seized at a Brazilian port in 2013 was an almost complete skeleton from the pterosaur species Tupandactylus navigans, preserved in six limestone slabs. By Vimal Patel Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Rule Governing Water Pollution The rule allowed fertilizers, pesticides and industrial chemicals to flow into small streams, marshes and wetlands. The judge warned of environmental harm. By Coral Davenport Lila Gleitman, Who Showed How Children Learn Language, Dies at 91 Building on the work of Noam Chomsky, she designed elegant experiments to show that syntax is hard-wired into the human brain. By Clay Risen For States Dealing With the Spotted Lanternfly, the Policy Is No Mercy The spotted lanternfly, an invasive species from Asia, is a voracious plant-eater and public nuisance that could cost state economies hundreds of millions of dollars. By Maria Cramer and Isabella Grullón Paz Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT CLIMATE CHANGE Gerald Herbert/Associated Press Ida Strengthened Quickly Into a Monster. Here's How. Climate change plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms, and in Ida's case, other factors worked as well to ramp up winds in a matter of hours. By Henry Fountain Brandon Dill for The New York Times How Government Decisions Left Tennessee Exposed to Deadly Flooding Choices about building rules, insurance programs, flood maps and more put residents at higher risk, according to climate and disaster experts. By Christopher Flavelle Subscribe Today We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times with this special offer. HEALTH The Marshall Project The Black Mortality Gap, and a Document Written in 1910 Some clues on why health care fails Black Americans can be found in the Flexner Report. By Anna Flagg Gracia Lam Personal Health Will Hearing Aids Ever Be Hip? A new generation of more affordable and stylish hearing aids could help preserve mind, life and limb for millions. By Jane E. Brody Alexandra Hootnick for The New York Times Phys Ed How Exercise May Help Keep Our Memory Sharp Irisin, a hormone produced by muscles during exercise, can enter the brain and improve cognition, a mouse study suggests. By Gretchen Reynolds Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times, via Getty Images Overweight Adults Should Be Screened for Diabetes at 35, Experts Say Nearly one in seven Americans now has diabetes, a record rate. The condition also raises the risk of severe illness after coronavirus infection. By Roni Caryn Rabin Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Ask Well Can Magnesium Supplements Really Help You Sleep? The evidence for their sleep-inducing benefits is thin, but experts say that in some cases there's no harm in giving them a try. By Anahad O'Connor Five Decades Later, Medicare Might Cover Dental Care In the large budget bill now in Congress, supporters of the measure see a rare opportunity to advance a popular policy. By Margot Sanger-Katz Ask Well Should I Be Worried About R.S.V. in My Child? Respiratory syncytial virus is showing an unusual summer surge. By Anahad O'Connor scam or not Can You Give Yourself an At-Home Face-Lift? Emphatically no, say experts — but there are things you can do to make your skin look better. By Holly Burns THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK Natalie Keyssar for The New York Times Guest Essay The Hard Covid-19 Questions We're Not Asking It's time for the U.S. to define what the goals are for Covid-19. By Joseph G. Allen and Helen Jenkins Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto, via Associated Press Demand Surges for Deworming Drug for Covid, Despite Scant Evidence It Works Prescriptions for ivermectin have jumped to more than 88,000 per week, some pharmacists are reporting shortages and people are overdosing on forms of the drug meant for horses. By Emma Goldberg Jae C. Hong/Associated Press How the Delta Variant Infiltrated an Elementary School Classroom A detailed study in California found that the variant easily spread from an unvaccinated teacher to children and, in a few cases, their families. By Sabrina Imbler and Emily Anthes Jalaa Marey/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Heart Problem More Common After Covid-19 Than After Vaccination, Study Finds The research did not assess the risks specifically for young males, who are the most likely to develop the rare side effect. By Emily Anthes and Noah Weiland Ash Adams for The New York Times Breakthrough Covid Cases: Uncommon and Often Mild, but Not Always Vaccination remains the best defense, health experts say. But some infections occur regardless, and can come as a traumatic surprise. By Emma Goldberg Erin Schaff/The New York Times At a Children's Hospital, a Wave of Young Patients Struggling to Breathe A federal "surge team" is helping exhausted doctors and nurses through one of the most trying periods in the history of Children's Hospital New Orleans. By Noah Weiland and Erin Schaff Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Intelligence Review Yields No Firm Conclusion on Origins of Coronavirus Declassified portions of a report presented to President Biden revealed divisions among federal agencies over whether the virus came from a lab leak or emerged more naturally. By Julian E. Barnes Where the Delta Wave Has Driven Up Covid-19 Vaccinations Vaccine uptake has risen from early-summer lows all over the United States, and the upswing is especially pronounced in places that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic's fourth wave. By Lazaro Gamio and Amy Schoenfeld Walker Make a friend's day: Forward this email. Got this from a friend? Subscribe to the Science Times newsletter. Check out other New York Times newsletters (all free!) including: Climate Fwd: for climate coverage and expert analysis. The Upshot for a data-driven look at the news. Well for the latest on health, fitness and nutrition. Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Science Times from The New York Times. To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. 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