Science Times: What Animals See in the Stars

Plus: The International Space Station Takes an Unexpected Spin —

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story August 3, 2021 Chris Collingridge What Animals See in the Stars, and What They Stand to Lose Humans aren't the only species that navigate by starlight. Animals from birds to dung beetles may do it, too — and might become disoriented as our city lights drown out the heavens. By Joshua Sokol Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Out There Touring Trinity, the Birthplace of Nuclear Dread A recent visit the site of the first atomic bomb explosion offered desert vistas, (mildly) radioactive pebbles and troubling reflections. By Dennis Overbye Robert Markowitz/NASA It Was His Day Off. Then the Space Station Went for a Spin. Zebulon Scoville and others at NASA's mission control in Houston spent Thursday righting the International Space Station after a new Russian module unexpectedly fired its thrusters. By Kenneth Chang Tao Wen Trilobites A Plant That 'Cannot Die' Reveals Its Genetic Secrets Events in the genome of Welwitschia have given it the ability to survive in an unforgiving desert for thousands of years. By Richard Sima Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Email us Let us know how we're doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com. Science Photo Library/Alamy 2 Red Objects Were Found in the Asteroid Belt. They Shouldn't Be There. The space rocks may have come from beyond Neptune, and potentially offer hints at the chaos of the early solar system. By Jonathan O'Callaghan Juarawee Kittisilpa/Reuters The Unappreciated Importance of Cats (to Medical Science) Researchers who work on the genomes of domestic and wild cats say their DNA holds clues to human as well as feline health. By James Gorman E.C. Turner These Could Be the Oldest Animal Fossils Ever Found, or Just Squiggles Critics challenged a study's claim that a netlike structure found in rocks in a Canadian mountain range could be an 890-million-year-old sponge fossil. By Marion Renault Biophoto Associates/Science Source Trilobites Ever Feel Your Skin Crawling? Maybe You Can Thank Evolution. A new study suggests that humans have a distinct, itchy defense response to ticks and other ectoparasites. By Sabrina Imbler Bezos' Rocket Company Loses Challenge to NASA SpaceX Moon Contract The Government Accountability Office said a $2.9 billion award to SpaceX to build the next lunar lander for astronauts would stand. By Kenneth Chang and Catie Edmondson Stranded Killer Whale Survives With Help of Good Samaritans Rescuers and wildlife officials kept it cool and wet while waiting for a rising tide. The orca returned to sea about six hours after it was spotted on the rugged shores of an Alaskan island. By Alyssa Lukpat and Jacey Fortin In South Africa, Poachers Now Traffic in Tiny Succulent Plants Police search the desert trying to track down the poachers selling Conophytums to collectors worldwide, threatening to wipe out rare plants in the wild. By Tommy Trenchard Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT CLIMATE CHANGE Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times Biden's Climate Plans Are Stunted After Dejected Experts Fled Trump Hundreds of scientists and policy experts left the government during the Trump administration. The jobs remain unfilled six months into President Biden's term. By Coral Davenport, Lisa Friedman and Christopher Flavelle Federico Gambarini/DPA, via AFP — Getty Images A Carbon Calculation: How Many Deaths Do Emissions Cause? A new study looks at "the mortality cost of carbon": lives lost or gained as emissions change over time. By John Schwartz 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 Margeaux Walter for The New York Times Why Migraine Sufferers May Want to Eat More Fish A diet high in omega-3s, the fats found in fish, and low in omega-6s, found in many vegetable oils, led to fewer headaches. By Anahad O'Connor Gracia Lam Personal Health Solving the Mystery of I.B.S. Experts are starting to untangle the biological underpinnings of this common yet perplexing disorder. What they're finding could offer clues on how to treat it. By Jane E. Brody Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times How Disabled Americans Are Pushing to Overhaul a Key Benefits Program Many older, blind and disabled Americans receive benefits from the Supplemental Security Income program. But it has been essentially unchanged since 1972, and its rules mean that many recipients must remain in poverty. By Maggie Astor Getty Images Phys Ed A Master Class in How to Wipe Out Falling during skateboarding or other activities does not have to end in serious injury. Olympic athletes, coaches and scientists tell us how. By Gretchen Reynolds Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Ask Well Is Nose Hair Essential to Fighting Off Colds and Other Viral Illnesses? Expert advice on whether trimming or waxing your nose hairs might increase the risk of respiratory infections. By Richard Klasco, M.D. Women Surgeons at Greater Risk of Pregnancy Loss, Study Finds The demands of the profession appear to clash with the process of starting a family. "There's a health risk in it." By Emma Goldberg Paula Caplan, 74, Dies; Feminist Psychologist Took On Her Profession She argued that categorizing premenstrual syndrome or feelings of guilt as disorders resulted from sexism in a field dominated by men. By Clay Risen Albert Bandura, Leading Psychologist of Aggression, Dies at 95 He was most known for his Bobo doll experiment, in which children mimicked adults in attacking an inflatable doll. The work challenged basic tenets of psychology. By Erica Goode Dr. J. Allan Hobson, Who Studied the Dreaming Brain, Dies at 88 He disputed the Freudian view that dreams held encrypted codes of meaning, believing instead that they resulted from random firings of neurons in the brain. By Katharine Q. Seelye THE CORONAVIRUS OUBREAK Cody O'Loughlin for The New York Times The Delta Variant in Schools: What to Know Classrooms are opening their doors to a different pandemic. Here is how to think about risk. By Emily Anthes Kenny Holston for The New York Times 'X' Marks the Spot: Officials Map a Route Out of the Pandemic Governments and organizations around the world are using geospatial data and digital mapping tools to guide their vaccination campaigns. By Emily Anthes Mario Tama/Getty Images Vaccinated People May Spread the Virus, Though Rarely, C.D.C. Reports The agency cited an outbreak in Provincetown, Mass., in which most of the infected were immunized. An internal C.D.C. document paints an even more harrowing picture. By Apoorva Mandavilli James Estrin/The New York Times Citing New Data, Pfizer Outlines Case for Booster Shots Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine may become slightly weaker over time, the company reported. But experts said that most people won't need boosters anytime soon. By Carl Zimmer, Apoorva Mandavilli and Sharon LaFraniere Roman Pilipey/EPA, via Shutterstock Those Virus Sequences That Were Suddenly Deleted? They're Back Chinese researchers have uploaded genetic sequences of coronaviruses to a scientific database more than a year after they took them offline. By Carl Zimmer Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press C.D.C. Internal Report Calls Delta Variant as Contagious as Chickenpox Infections in vaccinated Americans are rare, compared with those in unvaccinated people, the document said. But when they occur, vaccinated people may spread the virus just as easily. By Apoorva Mandavilli 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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