H5N1 bird flu viruses have acquired a molecular trick that makes them more easily infect mammary glands in cattle, but this adaptation does not appear to affect humans. To infect cells, influenza viruses
Text By Meghan RosenPhotos By Stephen Voss April 14, 2026 Meteorites billions of years old, alienlike worms, a blue whale’s massive jaw bones. These are just some of the millions of marvels that
Next time you’re about to ask an AI chatbot to help you solve a hard problem, you might want to slow your roll. People who waited to consult an AI chatbot until
Beneath the surface of the Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding Gulf lies a biological sanctuary. The region is home to around 7,000 dugongs and fewer than 100 Arabian humpback whales—a nonmigratory population
Two U.S. states and more than a dozen cities and counties have moved in the past year to stop adding fluoride to community drinking water, citing research suggesting the mineral could harm children’s
In the animated movie Up, a boisterous dog wears an electronic collar that translates his doggy thoughts into English words. “My master made me this collar,” he tells his new acquaintances. “He is
Like a lot of people, Ann Garner thought that shingles was a “mild” illness—until 2024, when she became sick with it herself. If she had known at the time that Norwegians call shingles
Spotting a gray whale in San Francisco Bay can be thrilling, but researchers now know it can be bad news for the marine mammals. Nearly 1 in 5 gray whales that enter the
Infectious diseases borne by mosquitoes—such as malaria, dengue fever, and Zika fever—claim more than 770,000 lives worldwide each year. Understanding how mosquitoes find humans has long been a challenge in controlling the spread
The farthest journey in human history concluded Friday evening when NASA’s Artemis II astronauts returned to Earth after a flight around the moon. The crew’s Orion space capsule named Integrity splashed down in
