Science Times: The Rubik’s Cube turns 50

Plus: Deep-dwelling microbes, woolly mammoths and fleshy-faced robots —

View in browser|nytimes.com July 2, 2024 Akos Stiller for The New York Times The Rubik's Cube Turns 50 Mathematicians and hobbyists have had a half-century of fun exploring the 43 billion billion permutations of Erno Rubik's creation. By Siobhan Roberts Illustration by Brian Rea The Mysterious, Deep-Dwelling Microbes That Sculpt Our Planet Earth's crust teems with subterranean life that we are only now beginning to understand. By Ferris Jabr Beth Zaiken The Last Stand of the Woolly Mammoths The species survived on an island north of Siberia for thousands of years, scientists reported, but were most likely plagued by genetic abnormalities. By Carl Zimmer Arnaud Mazurier/University of Poitiers Trilobites A Trilobite Pompeii Preserves Exquisite Fossils in Volcanic Ash A fossil bed in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco is allowing new insights into the anatomies of arthropods that lived a half-billion years ago. By Jack Tamisiea Email us Let us know how we're doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com. M. Scott Brauer for The New York Times How Science Went to the Dogs (and Cats) Pets were once dismissed as trivial scientific subjects. Today, companion animal science is hot. By Emily Anthes Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation Famine Drove Jamestown Settlers to Eat Native Dogs, DNA Reveals By analyzing dog bones buried at the site, scientists found butcher marks and surprising breeds. By Carl Zimmer NASA, via Associated Press Astronauts Are Not Stuck on the I.S.S., NASA and Boeing Officials Say Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will spend additional weeks in orbit as teams on the ground study malfunctioning thrusters on the Starliner spacecraft. By Kenneth Chang Alexander Blinov/Alamy A Dead Russian Satellite Broke Into More Than 100 Pieces in Space The cause of the incident, which added to a growing amount of dangerous space junk in low Earth orbit, remains unknown. By Katrina Miller Han Lu Chinese Rocket Accidentally Launches During Test, Then Crashes The commercial company Space Pioneer said the accident occurred because of a structural failure in the connection between the rocket and its testing platform. By Yan Zhuang and John Liu The Glamping Collective Debris Found in North Carolina Came From SpaceX Dragon, NASA Says An object found on a hiking trail west of Asheville, N.C., had traveled to the International Space Station, the space agency said. By Amanda Holpuch Scientists in Japan Give Robots a Fleshy Face and a Smile Researchers at the University of Tokyo published findings on a method of attaching artificial skin to robot faces to protect machinery and mimic human expressiveness. By Emily Schmall Trilobites If You Give a Frog a Sauna, It Might Fight Off a Deadly Fungus A fatal fungal disease has devastated the world's amphibians. But the fungus has a vulnerability: It cannot tolerate heat. By Emily Anthes CLIMATE CHANGE Jason Gulley for The New York Times The Vanishing Islands That Failed to Vanish Low-lying tropical island nations were expected to be early victims of rising seas. But research tells a surprising story: Many islands are stable. Some have even grown. By Raymond Zhong, Jason Gulley and Jonathan Corum Brandon Bell/Getty Images A String of Supreme Court Decisions Hits Hard at Environmental Rules Four cases backed by conservative activists in recent years have combined to diminish the power of the Environmental Protection Agency. By Coral Davenport Niki Chan Wylie for The New York Times Study Finds Small Streams, Recently Stripped of Protections, Are a Big Deal Half of the water flowing through regional river basins starts in so-called ephemeral streams. Last year, the Supreme Court curtailed federal protections for these waterways. By Brad Plumer James Estrin/The New York Times Trump Says Clean Energy Is a Scam. That Could Benefit China, Experts Say. President Biden's landmark climate law could be repealed in a Trump administration. Economists said that would jeopardize $488 billion in American investments. By Lisa Friedman We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. HEALTH Arin Yoon for The New York Times How Does Bird Flu Spread in Cows? Experiment Yields Some 'Good News.' Scientists say that findings from a small experiment lend hope the outbreak among dairy cattle can potentially be contained. By Carl Zimmer Holoconnects Your Hologram Doctor Will See You Now A Texas hospital is experimenting with hologram technology for doctors to see patients. Some health care experts wonder if it's beneficial. By Hank Sanders Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times New Covid Shots Recommended for Americans 6 Months and Older This Fall As the virus continues to mutate, the C.D.C. urged Americans to roll up their sleeves again for annual vaccinations. By Apoorva Mandavilli Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times In States That Won't Pay for Obesity Drugs, 'They May as Well Have Never Been Created' Public employees in West Virginia who took the drugs lost weight and were healthier, and some are despondent that the state is canceling a program to help pay for them. By Oliver Whang Eric Lee/The New York Times News Analysis Supreme Court's Abortion Rulings May Set the Stage for More Restrictions The court's strategy of avoidance and delay cannot last and may have been shaped by a desire to avoid controversy in an election year. By Adam Liptak Biden Administration Opposes Surgery for Transgender Minors The statement followed a report in The Times that a federal health official had urged the removal of age minimums from treatment guidelines for transgender minors. By Roni Caryn Rabin, Teddy Rosenbluth and Noah Weiland Federal Officials Revise Recommendations for R.S.V. Vaccine Among Americans aged 60 to 74, only those with certain health conditions need to receive the shots, the agency concluded. By Apoorva Mandavilli Supreme Court Jeopardizes Opioid Deal, Rejecting Protections for Sacklers The justices rejected a bankruptcy settlement maneuver that would have protected members of the Sackler family from civil claims related to the opioid epidemic. By Abbie VanSickle How Healthy Is Watermelon? It's hydrating, to start. Here's what else experts had to say about this warm-weather treat — along with some refreshing recipes. By Caroline Hopkins Mildred Thornton Stahlman, Pioneer in Neonatal Care, Dies at 101 She developed one of the first modern intensive care units for premature babies, helping newborns to breathe with lifesaving new treatments. By Randi Hutter Epstein Make a friend's day: Forward this email. Got this from a friend? Subscribe to the Science Times newsletter. 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