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At latest count, Sidewinder missiles have burst both a wayward Chinese balloon and three “unidentified objects” floating over the U.S. and Canada. These suspected spies cast an unexpected spotlight on a significant national security issue: balloons and drones gathering intelligence for foreign powers. But they also provide a likely explanation for some of the last […]

Time is running out for free-to-consumer covid vaccines, at-home test kits, and even some treatments. The White House announced this month that the national public health emergency, first declared in early 2020 in response to the pandemic, is set to expire May 11. When it ends, so will many of the policies designed to combat the virus’s […]

Reinfections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease, are on the rise, dashing hopes that vaccination or prior disease confers long-lasting immunity to infection. As more people get reinfected, they may be wondering: Do repeat infections lead to more severe COVID symptoms? Evidence is still limited, but the available data show that while most […]

SUBSCRIBE: Apple | Spotify [TikTok Clip] Woman: Sometimes avoidants will try to make you hate them, so that you stop being anxious and pushy. [CLIP: Opening music] [TikTok Clip] Man: In defense of people with an avoidant attachment style. Can we be more compassionate, please? Shayla Love: If you’re on social media and have any interest in psychology, relationships […]

Ten years ago today, as the sun rose over Chelyabinsk, Russia, the sky exploded. On February 15, 2013, an asteroid slammed into Earth’s atmosphere at nearly 70,000 kilometers per hour. Almost the size of a tennis court, it blazed brilliantly in the sky, as if a second sun had appeared and was racing from southeast […]

It’s almost impossible to imagine a world without chocolate. Yet cacao trees, which are the source of chocolate, are vulnerable. I am a passionate chocolate lover and an entomologist who studies cacao pollination. The crop’s sustainability currently appears to depend on several species of tiny fly pollinators, who are frankly struggling to get the job done. Thousands […]

On February 4 the U.S. shot down a massive Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean just off South Carolina, after it spent days traveling across the country. As Americans turned their eyes to the sky, it became apparent that the object was not alone: news soon broke that another Chinese spy balloon was floating […]

The prairie vole is a small Midwestern rodent known for shacking up and settling down, a tendency that is rare among mammals. Mated pairs form bonds, share a nest and raise young together. In the laboratory, a pair-bonded vole will work for access to its mate. Prairie voles even exhibit something like empathy for their […]

The tips of tree roots are intertwined with filaments of fungus, forming a hidden underground network that seems to benefit both organisms: the filaments, known as hyphae, break down minerals from the soil that trees can then take into their roots, while the fungus gets a steady source of sugar from the trees. More poetically, […]

Workers are not doing well. Around the globe, employees report rising rates of burnout despite efforts by many organizations to add programs and resources such as counseling, more paid time off and even free access to meditation apps. The ongoing distress may be because none of these steps directly address one of the biggest impacts […]