Science Times: The dodo, reconsidered

Plus: The wild banana, punching octopuses and a ring around Earth —

View in browser|nytimes.com September 24, 2024 SUPPORTED BY SELC Chronicle/Alamy Who's the Dodo Now? A Famously Extinct Bird, Reconsidered. A comprehensive review of dodo science offers new insights into the biology and behavior of the much-ridiculed bird. By Franz Lidz David Cobb/Alamy Stalking the Wild Banana One man's "never-ending quest" for the least-known varieties of the world's most-eaten fruit. By Jack Truesdale Eduardo Sampaio and Simon Gingins Trilobites Punching Octopuses Lead Fish on Hunting Parties Octopuses and fish are routinely seen working together on the ocean floor, and now scientists say that the cephalopods are the leaders of the pack. By Elizabeth Preston WaterFrame/Alamy This Shark Lives 400 Years. Its DNA May Explain Why. Scientists have mapped the genome of the Greenland shark, which could offer clues to the animal's extreme longevity. By Jonathan Moens A MESSAGE FROM SELC New Season of the Broken Ground Podcast Don't miss the new season of the Southern Environmental Law Center's podcast, Broken Ground. When you picture the rural South, country stores, blue skies and fields of farmland may come to mind. But what environmental stories lay just down the road? Meet the small-town neighbors coming together to fight for a better future as this season of Broken Ground digs into the environmental injustices playing out in the rural South. New episodes are available wherever you listen to podcasts. LISTEN NOW Email us Let us know how we're doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com. Oliver Hull Earth Had a Ring 466 Million Years Ago, Study Says Impact craters found around the Earth that were made around the same time could be linked to debris falling from a ring, a new study suggests. By Becky Ferreira University of Pretoria, Library Services Trilobites A Fossilized Creature May Explain a Puzzling Painting on a Rock Wall The artwork suggests that the San people of South Africa have an Indigenous knowledge of paleontology that predated Western approaches to the field. By Jack Tamisiea Felix Images/Alamy Prehistoric Earth Was Very Hot. That Offers Clues About Future Earth. At times during the past half-billion years, carbon dioxide warmed our planet more than previously thought, according to a new reconstruction of Earth's deep past. By Raymond Zhong Christian Ziegler/Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Study Reveals Bird-Migration Mystery By outfitting blackbirds with heart-rate monitors, scientists debunked a long-held assumption about the benefits of spending the winter in warm climates. By Emily Anthes The Squishy Truth About Why You're Seeing Fewer Spotted Lanternflies Your stomping may have helped trim this invasive insect's population. But experts say other factors probably explain their reduced numbers around New York City. By Emily Anthes Titan Disaster Hearing Upends Earlier Expert Theories on Crew Deaths Two days of reporting and testifying by experts during a U.S. Coast Guard inquiry challenge the idea that the submersible's passengers knew they were facing death. By William J. Broad and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs Trilobites Why This Tiny Lizard Dives With a Natural Scuba Tank Almost every animal in the rainforest enjoys snacking on water anoles, but slippery skin and an ability to carry an air bubble underwater help them survive. By Sara Novak Michel Siffre, 85, Dies; Descended Into Caves to Study the Human Mind He was a pioneer in chronobiology, the study of how our bodies understand the passage of time. By Clay Risen CLIMATE CHANGE Greta Rybus for The New York Times BUYING TIME They've Got a Plan to Fight Global Warming. It Could Alter the Oceans. By tweaking the chemistry of rivers and oceans, humans could remove billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the air. But huge challenges loom. By Brad Plumer, Raymond Zhong and Greta Rybus Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images News Analysis The World Is a Mess. That Makes the Climate Crisis Harder to Solve. A transformed China, conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere, and intractable clashes over money have pushed the prospects of progress to a new low. By Somini Sengupta and Max Bearak Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Three Mile Island Plans to Reopen as Demand for Nuclear Power Grows The infamous plant, closed since 2019, is getting a new lease on life after Microsoft agreed to buy its electricity to supply a growing fleet of data centers. By Brad Plumer We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. HEALTH MyChart That Message From Your Doctor? It May Have Been Drafted by A.I. Overwhelmed by queries, physicians are turning to artificial intelligence to correspond with patients. Many have no clue that the replies are software-generated. By Teddy Rosenbluth Jon Cherry/Getty Images Was It Really a Hot Zone Summer? From Covid to dengue, viral outbreaks seemed to be popping up all over. But maybe Americans are just more attuned to threats now. By Apoorva Mandavilli Tom Brenner for The New York Times F.T.C. Accuses Drug Middlemen of Inflating Insulin Prices The case takes aim at the major pharmacy benefit managers, agency officials said, claiming that they favored more expensive insulin products and forced patients to pay more. By Reed Abelson and Rebecca Robbins Rachel Woolf for The New York Times What R.F.K. Jr.'s Alliance With Trump Could Mean for Public Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long voiced doubts about vaccine safety, has hopes of influencing federal health policy. Could he finally get the chance? By Emily Baumgaertner Deep Links Between Alcohol and Cancer Are Described in New Report Scientists continue to rethink the idea that moderate drinking offers health benefits. By Roni Caryn Rabin Drug Overdose Deaths Are Dropping. The Reasons Are Not Perfectly Clear. The decrease across the country is a major breakthrough in efforts to reverse the effects of fentanyl. Researchers and health officials say there is no easy explanation for the trend. By Noah Weiland Nasal Flu Vaccine Is Approved for At-Home Use The F.D.A. authorized AstraZeneca's treatment to be given outside a health care setting, although it will still need a prescription. By Christina Jewett Research That Led to Obesity Drugs Wins Major Medical Prize Three scientists were recognized by the Lasker Awards for their work on the GLP-1 hormone. Others were honored for work to stop H.I.V. and for immune system discoveries. By Gina Kolata and Stephanie Nolen John A. Clements Dies at 101; His Research Saved Thousands of Babies He identified the cause of a respiratory condition that was killing 10,000 infants a year in the United States. Then he helped design a drug that slashed those mortality rates. By Trip Gabriel 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. 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, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. 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