Science Times: Your DNA can now be pulled from thin air

Plus: The biggest explosion in the cosmos just keeps going —

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story May 16, 2023 Isabel Seliger Your DNA Can Now Be Pulled From Thin Air. Privacy Experts Are Worried. Environmental DNA research has aided conservation, but scientists say its ability to glean information about human populations and individuals poses dangers. By Elizabeth Anne Brown Michael Durham METHODOLOGY How to Spy on Condor Parents With a High-Tech Egg Scientists are working to improve the breeding success of the endangered California condor. Their secret assistant: a plastic, 3-D printed, sensor-laden "smart egg." By Emily Anthes Julia Gresky In Ancient Egypt, Severed Hands Were Spoils of War Archaeologists offer a new explanation for one of the century's grislier finds, "a carefully gathered collection of hands" in a 3,500-year-old temple. By Franz Lidz Clockwise from top left, Werle/Imagebroker, via Alamy; Guillaume Souvant/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Pool photo by Elaine Thompson; MaGo/Stockimo, via Alamy; Pool photo by Elaine Thompson; Lee Dalton/Alamy Can You Pick a 'Murder Hornet' Out of a Lineup? As spring gives way to summer, you're sure to notice wasps and hornets buzzing around you. Test your identification skills. By Elizabeth Preston Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Email us Let us know how we're doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com. John A. Paice The Biggest Explosion in the Cosmos Just Keeps Going For three years, telescopes have monitored "one of the most luminous" events ever: a supermassive black hole consuming a gigantic cloud of interstellar gas. By Dennis Overbye NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute With 62 Newly Discovered Moons, Saturn Knocks Jupiter Off Its Pedestal If all the objects are recognized by scientific authorities, the ringed giant world will have 145 moons in its orbit. By Jonathan O'Callaghan Georgia Institute of Technology TRILOBITES An Experiment Repeated 600 Times Finds Hints to Evolution's Secrets Snowflakes of yeast in a lab offer insights into how life on Earth transitioned from single-celled into multicellular organisms. By Veronique Greenwood Darryl Leja/NHGRI Scientists Unveil a More Diverse Human Genome The "pangenome," which collated genetic sequences from 47 people of diverse ethnic backgrounds, could greatly expand the reach of personalized medicine. By Elie Dolgin Before Smartphones and the National Weather Service, There Was Grandma's Knee Humans have long depended on weather forecasts for survival. While observations of the sky can make for reliable predictions, experts say, those of animal activity can lead weather-watchers astray. By Derrick Bryson Taylor TRILOBITES How Deep-Diving Sharks Stay Warm Will Take Your Breath Away To survive as they seek food in freezing parts of the ocean, hammerhead sharks use a trick that hasn't been observed in other fish. By Darren Incorvaia 'A Bit Spooky': The New Shark Species With Bright, White Eyes A newly discovered species of demon catshark is found in the deep waters off Australia. By Lauren McCarthy Bernadine Strik, Whose Insights Helped Blueberries Thrive, Dies at 60 A horticulturist, she discovered farming methods that increased yields of the fruit as its health benefits became widely understood and demand for it grew. By Daniel E. Slotnik Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT CLIMATE CHANGE Illustration by Wesley Allsbrook Hurricanes of Data: The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea Understanding the secrets of a warming ocean means steering straight into the biggest hurricanes. Enter the saildrone. By Porter Fox Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloomberg A Swaggering Clean-Energy Pioneer, With $400 Billion to Hand Out Jigar Shah runs a federal program that suddenly has a gusher of money to lend before the next election. By Brad Plumer and Lisa Friedman Enjoy all of The New York Times in one subscription — the original reporting and analysis, plus puzzles from Games, recipes from Cooking, product reviews from Wirecutter and sports journalism from The Athletic. Experience it all with a New York Times All Access subscription. HEALTH Tony Luong for The New York Times Mutation Protected Man From Alzheimer's Disease, Hinting at Treatment A man in his early 40s showed physical signs of the illness, but didn't develop symptoms until he was nearly 70 because of a protective gene. By Gina Kolata Nathan Frandino/Reuters As Covid Emergency Ends, Surveillance Shifts to the Sewers With other virus tracking efforts winding down, wastewater data is likely to become increasingly important in the months ahead, scientists say. By Emily Anthes Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald, via Associated Press When Should Women Get Regular Mammograms? At 40, U.S. Panel Now Says. The new advice comes as breast cancer diagnoses rise among younger women and mortality rates among Black women remain persistently high. By Roni Caryn Rabin Pool photo by Jeff Chiu A Cancer Surgeon and Patient Is Biden's Pick to Lead N.I.H. President Biden said on Monday that he had selected Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli, who has led the National Cancer Institute since October, to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health. By Sheryl Gay Stolberg Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Appeals Court Pauses Ruling That Threatened Free Preventive Health Care The action, which stayed a lower court ruling, will require health plans to fully cover preventive services while the appeals process plays out. By Emily Baumgaertner World Health Organization Warns Against Using Artificial Sweeteners Continued consumption doesn't reduce weight and could increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality in adults, the W.H.O. said on Monday. By April Rubin F.D.A. Approves New Drug to Treat Hot Flashes It is the first nonhormonal treatment for the menopause symptom. By Christina Jewett F.D.A. Eases Ban on Blood Donations From Gay and Bisexual Men But men who had multiple sex partners or were taking PrEP medications in the last three months would still be barred from donating blood. By Christina Jewett Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise in Small Trial Using mRNA tailored to each patient's tumor, the vaccine may have staved off the return of one of the deadliest forms of cancer in half of those who received it. By Benjamin Mueller Addiction Treatment Medicine Is Vastly Underprescribed, Especially by Race, Study Finds Black patients with opioid use disorder were far less likely to fill prescriptions for the most effective addiction treatments than white patients. But strikingly few patients of all races got the medicine. By Jan Hoffman 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 Science Times, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, manage your email preferences. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018