Science Times: The ship that drilled the oceans

Plus: Lost birds, fish counts and psychedelic drugs —

View in browser|nytimes.com August 27, 2024 Heba Khamis for The New York Times Dismantling the Ship That Drilled for the Ocean's Deepest Secrets The JOIDES Resolution, which for decades was key to advancing the understanding of the Earth and its innards, concluded what could be its final scientific expedition. By Maya Wei-Haas Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative Ancient Tablets Foretold Doom Awaiting Babylonian Kings A new translation of cuneiform relics from the second millennium B.C. highlights the warnings that astrologers saw in eclipses. By Franz Lidz The New York Times When A.I.'s Output Is a Threat to A.I. Itself As A.I.-generated data becomes harder to detect, it's increasingly likely to be ingested by future A.I., leading to worse results. By Aatish Bhatia SpaceX For His Second Trip to Space, Billionaire Has Grander, Riskier Aspirations Jared Isaacman is leading three other privately trained astronauts on a SpaceX vehicle for Polaris Dawn, a mission that will include a daring spacewalk. By Kenneth Chang Email us Let us know how we're doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com. Carole Turek; Tim Laman; Federico Rios for The New York Times; Karine Aigner; Ernie James; Tim Laman/Nature Picture Library, via Minden Pictures Scientists Made a List of Lost Birds and Now They Want Us to Find Them Some 144 bird species had not been seen in at least a decade, but a project by conservation organizations proposes they all may still be hidden somewhere in the wild. By Jim Robbins Joshua Brown/University of Vermont A Conversation With Under a Frozen Army Base, He Found Incredible Fossils In a new book, geologist Paul Bierman recounts the moment he found astonishing evidence that Greenland's ice sheet had melted in the ancient past. By Emily Anthes Adam Makarenko/W. M. Keck Observatory A 'Speedy Little Star' May Be on Course to Escape Our Galaxy The so-called hypervelocity object, which is either a low-mass star or a brown dwarf, is traveling through the Milky Way at around a million miles an hour. By Katrina Miller Andrea DiCenzo for The New York Times The Global Profile Risking His Own Extinction to Rescue the Rarest of Flowers Carlos Magdalena, whose botanical adventures have shades of Indiana Jones, was a driving force in saving the world's smallest water lily and finding the largest one. He has been called the "plant messiah." By Silvana Paternostro Trilobites These Fossils Are Found All Over, but What Made Them Was a Mystery Scientists in Brazil identified marine worms that made at least some trace fossil burrows called Bifungites. By Priyanka Runwal NASA Extends Boeing Starliner Astronauts' Space Station Stay to 2025 Persistent concerns with the vehicle's propulsion systems mean Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will return home next year in a SpaceX vehicle. By Kenneth Chang Origins How Did the First Cells Arise? With a Little Rain, Study Finds. Researchers stumbled upon an ingredient that can stabilize droplets of genetic material: water. By Carl Zimmer Counting All the Fish in the Sea May Be Even Trickier Than Scientists Thought A new study suggests that estimates of the health of the world's fisheries may be too optimistic. By Manuela Andreoni Rocket Test on Remote Scottish Island Ends in Flames As European countries push to develop more independent space capabilities, a test at one new site produced an explosion. By Lynsey Chutel CLIMATE CHANGE James Yungel/NASA 'Worst-Case' Disaster for Antarctic Ice Looks Less Likely, Study Finds Global warming is putting the continent's ice at risk of destruction in many forms. But one especially calamitous scenario might be a less pressing concern, a new study found. By Raymond Zhong Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Many Climate Policies Struggle to Cut Emissions, Study Finds The most effective ones tend to combine several emissions-cutting strategies, not a stand-alone approach, according to an examination of 1,500 policies globally. By Austyn Gaffney We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. HEALTH Adam Gray/Getty Images On the Covid 'Off-Ramp': No Tests, Isolation or Masks For many, Covid is increasingly regarded like the common cold. A scratchy throat and canceled plans bring a bewildering new critique from friends: You shouldn't have tested. By Emily Baumgaertner Illustration by Max Guther. Concept by Alex Merto. Why Is the Loneliness Epidemic so Hard to Cure? Maybe because we aren't thinking about it in the right way. By Matthew Shaer Charlie Riedel/Associated Press Psychedelic Drugs May Give a Glimpse Into Near-Death Experiences A survey revealed similarities between these two altered states of consciousness. By Rachel Nuwer Jim Vondruska/Reuters How U.S. Farms Could Start a Bird Flu Pandemic The virus is poised to become a permanent presence in cattle, raising the odds of an eventual outbreak among people. By Apoorva Mandavilli Pool photo by Alain Jocard Global Health Why Mpox Vaccines Aren't Flowing to Africans in Desperate Need Drugmakers have supplies ready to ship that are necessary to stop a potential pandemic. But W.H.O. regulations have slowed access. By Stephanie Nolen U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions He Regulated Medical Devices. His Wife Represented Their Makers. Ethics rules barred Dr. Jeffrey E. Shuren from working on matters involving clients of his wife's law firm. But he did not always step aside. By Christina Jewett New Covid Shots Were Approved. But Who Will Get Them? Many older Americans, including those in nursing homes, aren't getting booster shots. By Benjamin Mueller and Noah Weiland Doctors Saved Her Life. She Didn't Want Them To. When her "do not resuscitate" order was ignored, Marie Cooper found herself in a painful situation she had hoped to avoid. By Kate Raphael and Kristian Thacker How to Soothe an Itchy Bug Bite There are a number of ways to stop scratching, from medicines to mental tricks. By Elizabeth Passarella 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. 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