Coronavirus Reinfection Will Soon Become Our Reality
The virus can take many paths to reinvading a person’s body. Most of them shouldn’t scare us.
Life Up Close
The Mediterranean’s Red Gold Is Running Out
For centuries, red coral was traded all over the world. Now it’s disappearing.
Do You Have More Self-Control Than a Cuttlefish?
The squishy creatures can pass the notorious marshmallow test.
How Female Frogs Tune Out Useless, Noisy Males
They found love in a noisy place.
This Black Hole Probably Shouldn’t Exist
New observations have prompted astronomers to rethink their theories about some of the universe’s invisible objects.
The Weekly Planet: Why a Political Philosopher Is Thinking About Carbon Removal
Rich countries should mop up their climate pollution, the Georgetown professor Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò argues.
Antarctica Is Crammed With Abandoned ‘Ghost’ Stations
As wild and empty as the continent might seem, human ambition is changing it permanently.
The Arctic Has a Cloud Problem
Tiny iodine particles are clumping together to trap sunlight and melt polar sea ice.
‘To Me, This Penis Is Out of Control’
The Danish series John Dillermand makes a very big deal about a very big body part.
You’re Thinking About Home Heating Wrong
Getting a heat pump is one of the easiest ways for homeowners to fight climate change.
You Got the Vaccine! What Can You Do Now?
A guide to America’s awkward, semi-vaccinated months
The Weekly Planet: The Great Climate Bill of 2021 Is Being Shaped Now
The game before the game has started.
No One Has Seen a Mars Landing Quite Like This
NASA engineers have captured a rover’s swift descent to the surface of the red planet.
A New Era of Black Holes Is Here
Astronomers have discovered a black-hole treasure trove that is changing our view of the cosmos.
A Quite Possibly Wonderful Summer
Families will gather. Restaurants will reopen. People will travel. The pandemic may feel like it’s behind us—even if it’s not.
Scientists Really, Really Want a Piece of Mars
A new NASA rover has jump-started an intense effort to finally bring home a pristine sample from the red planet.
Delay a Shot? Skip One? Vaccine-Dosing Messaging Is a Nightmare.
Vaccine regimens need both science and public trust to succeed.
The Weekly Planet: The Big Idea From Bill Gates’s New Climate Book
Call it the “Gates Rule.”
Life Is Tough for Teenage Parasites
For a deep-sea parasitic worm, the epic journey to adulthood starts in a fish’s intestines.
Coastal Darkening Is a Hidden Environmental Nuisance
Murky water poses a growing threat to all sorts of marine life.
An Ever-Moving, Unloved Fish Is Stirring Chaos in the North Atlantic
When mackerel started showing up in Iceland, it started a decade-long fight over how to divide the ocean’s riches.
The Body Is Far From Helpless Against Coronavirus Variants
The virus is evolving, but the antibodies that fight it can change, too.