Science Times: NASA Aims to Crash into an Asteroid

Plus: Will the Vaccines Stop Omicron? —

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story November 30, 2021 NASA/Johns Hopkins/APL NASA Launches New Mission: Crash Into Asteroid, Defend Planet Earth The Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft, launched on Wednesday, could be the first to alter an asteroid's path, a technique that may be used to defend the planet in the future. By Joey Roulette TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE Which of these places in the solar system contains the least amount of mass? Pluto The asteroid belt The Earth's moon Triton Themba Hadebe/Associated Press Will the Vaccines Stop Omicron? Scientists Are Racing to Find Out. A "Frankenstein mix" of mutations raises concerns, but the variant may remain vulnerable to current vaccines. If not, revisions will be necessary. By Apoorva Mandavilli Illustration by Jaedoo Lee The Tech and Design Issue The Gene-Synthesis Revolution Researchers can now design and mass-produce genetic material — a technique that helped build the mRNA vaccines. What could it give us next? By Yiren Lu Felipe Dana/Associated Press Trilobites This Ocean Invaded Its Neighbor Earlier Than Anyone Thought The saltier Atlantic broke through layers of ice and freshwater, contributing to the Arctic's warming. By Sabrina Imbler Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Email us Let us know how we're doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com. An Rong Xu for The New York Times As U.S. Hunts for Chinese Spies, University Scientists Warn of Backlash A chilling effect has taken hold on American campuses, contributing to an outflow of academic talent that may hurt the United States while benefiting Beijing. By Amy Qin Etienne Laurent/EPA, via Shutterstock Trilobites This Fire-Loving Fungus Eats Charcoal, if It Must Some fungi sprout in fiery shades of orange and pink after wildfires, feasting on what was left behind by the burn. By Ellie Shechet Duraj-Thatte et al., Nature Communications This Ink Is Alive and Made Entirely of Microbes Scientists have created a bacterial ink that reproduces itself and can be 3D-printed into living architecture. By Sabrina Imbler Martin Zwick/Universal Images Group, via Getty Images Climate Change Is Driving Some Albatrosses to 'Divorce,' Study Finds Warming oceans are sending the monogamous sea birds farther afield to find food, putting stress on their breeding and prompting some to ditch their partners. By Natasha Frost CLIMATE CHANGE Erin Schaff/The New York Times Saving History With Sandbags: Climate Change Threatens the Smithsonian Beneath the National Museum of American History, floodwaters are intruding into collection rooms, a consequence of a warming planet. A fix remains years away. By Christopher Flavelle Race to the Future A Power Struggle Over Cobalt Rattles the Clean Energy Revolution The quest for Congo's cobalt, which is vital for electric vehicles and the worldwide push against climate change, is caught in an international cycle of exploitation, greed and gamesmanship. By Dionne Searcey, Michael Forsythe, Eric Lipton and Ashley Gilbertson Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT 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 Harvard Stem Cell Institute Stamping Bar Codes on Cells to Solve Medical Mysteries By tracking every cell in an organism, scientists are working out why certain cancer treatments fail, which could lead to improved medicine. By Gina Kolata Amber Ford for The New York Times A Cure for Type 1 Diabetes? For One Man, It Seems to Have Worked. A new treatment using stem cells that produce insulin has surprised experts and given them hope for the 1.5 million Americans living with the disease. By Gina Kolata Rachel Levit Ruiz Personal Health A Heart-Healthy Way to Eat Aim for an overall healthful dietary pattern, the American Heart Association advises, rather than focusing on "good" or "bad" foods. By Jane E. Brody Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium, via Associated Press Phys Ed How Exercise Affects Your Appetite For most of us, exercise impacts our hunger and weight in unexpected and sometimes contradictory ways. By Gretchen Reynolds Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT The New Old Age Families Cheer, Some Doctors Worry as Nursing Homes Open Doors Wide to Visitors The federal government recently lifted most visitation restrictions at nursing homes. But concerns linger that a full reopening could leave residents vulnerable to another coronavirus surge. By Paula Span Texas Abortion Law Complicates Care for Risky Pregnancies Doctors in Texas say they cannot head off life-threatening medical crises in pregnant women if abortions cannot be offered or even discussed. By Roni Caryn Rabin CVS, Walgreens and Walmart Fueled Opioid Crisis, Jury Finds This is the first jury verdict in an opioid case. The decision embraced a key legal argument that judges in other opioid cases had recently rejected. By Jan Hoffman THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK Joao Silva/The New York Times Omicron carries scary mutations. That doesn't mean they work well together. Mutations can work together to make a virus more fearsome, but they can also cancel one another out. This phenomenon, called epistasis, is why scientists are reluctant to speculate on Omicron. By Apoorva Mandavilli Joao Silva/The New York Times How Omicron, the New Covid-19 Variant, Got Its Name The World Health Organization began naming the variants after Greek letters to avoid public confusion and stigma. By Vimal Patel Tracking Omicron and Other Coronavirus Variants See which countries have reported cases of the Omicron variant. By Jonathan Corum and Carl Zimmer Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times Counterfeit Covid Masks Are Still Sold Everywhere, Despite Misleading Claims Rising Covid cases have spurred a return to mask-wearing in the U.S. and overseas, at a time when flawed KN95s from China continue to dominate e-commerce sites. By Andrew Jacobs EPA, via Shutterstock A panel of F.D.A. advisers is set to discuss Merck's Covid pill. If an expert committee votes to recommend it, the drug, molnupiravir, could be authorized within days for patients at high risk of severe illness. By Rebecca Robbins and Carl Zimmer Pfizer, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images As Antiviral Pills Arrive, Can Testing Keep Up? The pills must be given early in the course of infection, which means access to timely, accurate test results will be crucial. By Emily Anthes Alisha Jucevic for The New York Times As Covid Infections Spread, Nursing Homes Lag Behind on the Rollout for Booster Shots Thousands of new cases have been reported among vulnerable elderly residents in the last several months, as the virulent Delta variant fuels outbreaks. By Reed Abelson 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? 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