Trilobites
How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree
You don’t want your tree to end up in a landfill. Let it have a second life as compost, a barrier for erosion or food for goats.
By Steph Yin
Advertisement
Supported by
Science
Highlights
Photo CreditMichael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle, via Associated Press Photo 
CreditAhn Young-joon/Associated Press Essay
One Giant Step for a Chess-Playing Machine
The stunning success of AlphaZero, a deep-learning algorithm, heralds a new age of insight — one that, for humans, may not last long.
By Steven Strogatz
Photo 
Credit It’s Intermission for the Large Hadron Collider
The largest machine ever built is shutting down for two years of upgrades. Take an immersive tour of the collider with AR and 360° photos.
By Dennis Overbye, Jonathan Corum, Evan Grothjan, Jon Huang, Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, Karthik Patanjali, Graham Roberts and Marcelle Hopkins
Photo 
CreditNASA Out There
Apollo 8’s Earthrise: The Shot Seen Round the World
Half a century ago today, a photograph from the moon helped humans rediscover Earth.
By Dennis Overbye
Photo 
CreditAzwar Ipank/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images How Volcanic Activity Can Spawn Tsunamis
No earthquakes were recorded before the tsunami struck, the Indonesian authorities said. But there had been an eruption on the volcanic island of Anak Krakatau about half an hour before.
By Henry Fountain
Photo 
CreditClockwise from top right: NASA; Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today, via AP; NASA/JPL-Caltech; Jeenah Moon for NYT Highlights From the Year in Space and Astronomy Developments
Many of the stories this year kept our eyes pointed toward the stars, no matter what was happening on the ground.
By The New York Times
Photo 
CreditJens Mortensen for The New York Times What We Learned in 2018: Science
Developments in science that we’re still thinking about at year’s end.
By The New York Times
Photo 
CreditGaetan Borgonie, Extreme Life Isyensya, Belgium Deep Beneath Your Feet, They Live in the Octillions
The real journey to the center of the Earth has begun, and scientists are discovering subsurface microbial beings that shake up what we think we know about life.
By JoAnna Klein
matter
Photo 
CreditSherene Lambert ‘Spirits Won’t Rest’: DNA Links Ancient Bones to Living Aboriginal Australians
Museums around the world hold the remains of Aboriginal Australians, many of them stolen. Now geneticists may have found a way to return the bones to their homes.
By Carl Zimmer
11 Things We'd Really Like to Know (And a Few We'd Rather Not)
More in 11 Things We'd Really Like to Know (And a Few We'd Rather Not) »Photo 
CreditJens Mortensen for The New York Times How Can We Unleash the Immune System?
Although immunotherapy can work wonders for cancer, it does not help everyone, side effects can be fierce, and costs are high. But the field is young.
By Denise Grady
Photo 
CreditFranziska Barczyk Where’s Our Warp Drive to the Stars?
Physicists haven’t given up on the dream of zipping around the universe. Now they’ve come up with a far-out idea for making it happen.
By Kenneth Chang
Photo 
CreditJens Mortensen for The New York Times Will We Survive Climate Change?
Possibly. There is ‘no scientific support for inevitable doom,’ one expert notes.
By John Schwartz
Photo 
CreditFranziska Barczyk How Will We Outsmart A.I. Liars?
For better and worse, humans are only improving their ability to deceive themselves with technology.
By Cade Metz
Photo 
CreditFranziska Barczyk Honestly, Some Questions Are Better Left Unanswered
Cat-poop coffee. Time travel. Alien messages. We should leave some mysteries alone.
By Dennis Overbye
Trilobites
More in Trilobites »Photo CreditMichael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle, via Associated Press How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree
You don’t want your tree to end up in a landfill. Let it have a second life as compost, a barrier for erosion or food for goats.
By Steph Yin
Photo 
CreditDanny Green/Minden Pictures Perhaps Santa Had to Shout to His Eight Reindeer Because They Fell Asleep
A small study suggests the body clocks of the reindeer said to pull Mr. Claus’s sleigh swing wildly through the seasons, bringing near-hibernation in winter.
By Veronique Greenwood
Photo 
CreditDr. Jose I. Marquez and Dr. Michael A. Schindlbeck; New England Journal of Medicine The Bullet Lodged in His Knee. Then the Injuries Really Began.
In an unusual medical case, a bullet left in the knee of a patient for 14 years led to joint damage and lead poisoning.
By Gina Kolata
Photo 
CreditJosie Hughes Watch a Robotic Hand Play the Piano With a More Human Touch
It hasn’t mastered Chopin or Debussy, but it can eke out a decent “Jingle Bells.”
By Steph Yin
Photo 
CreditRoberto Molar Candanosa/Carnegie Institution for Science It’s the Solar System’s Most Distant Object. Astronomers Named It Farout.
Orbiting 11 billion miles from the sun, this tiny world offers additional clues in the search for the proposed Planet Nine.
By Kenneth Chang
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement