Science Times: If you want to explore the universe, but leaving the house is too much trouble…
Plus: The Kryptos sculpture, psychedelic mushrooms and pickleball eye injuries —
Science Times
October 21, 2025
A yellow, sprawling mat of microbes surrounding a hot spring.

Jon G. Fuller/VWPics, via Associated Press

Origins

Save the Whales. But Save the Microbes, Too.

Conservation biologists propose a daunting task: protecting Earth’s diversity of bacteria and other microbes.

By Carl Zimmer

A curved metal sculpture with light shining through its letters in front of an office building.

Drew Angerer/The New York Times

A C.I.A. Secret Kept for 35 Years Is Found in the Smithsonian’s Vault

Jim Sanborn is auctioning off the solution to Kryptos, the puzzle he sculpted for the intelligence agency’s headquarters. Two fans of the work then discovered the key.

By John Schwartz

A man sits with legs crossed on a folding chair on a green lawn.

Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

Lost Science

He Studied Elephant Behavior to Save Lives

Joshua Plotnik worked to prevent deadly encounters between people and elephants. Then the funding froze.

By Emily Anthes

LeVar Baxter affectionately chucks his adult son Khalil on the chin while they both stand in the yard of their home.

Rachel Wisniewski for The New York Times

A Furious Debate Over Autism’s Causes Leaves Parents Grasping for Answers

The Trump administration’s embrace of unproven or debunked theories about vaccines and Tylenol has left doctors fielding questions from worried parents.

By Gina Kolata and Azeen Ghorayshi

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A computer-generated image of an astronaut standing on the surface of the moon and in front of a lunar lander.

Lockheed Martin

With SpaceX Behind Schedule, NASA Will Seek More Moon Lander Ideas

Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos, and Lockheed Martin are among the contractors that may compete with Elon Musk’s company in the race back to the lunar surface.

By Kenneth Chang

A person with a white beard and glasses, wearing a red shirt, sits among many empty red seats in an auditorium.

A Trip to Mars? They’re Ready to Go.

Fans of the red planet joined scientists at an annual conference sponsored by the Mars Society. One attendee said he would take a “one-way ticket.”

By Alex Vadukul and Jamie Lee Taete

A sea otter leaps out of the water next to a man wearing a black wet suit standing atop a surfboard that is in motion.

Shmuel Thaler/The Santa Cruz Sentinel, via Associated Press

Sea Otters Are Stealing Surfboards in California. Again.

Two years after Otter 841 menaced wave riders near Santa Cruz, there have been new encounters between the furry marine mammals and surfers.

By Annie Roth

A hand in a blue glove holds a Psilocybe mushroom as it casts a shadow.

Alana Paterson for The New York Times

Trilobites

How Psychedelic Mushrooms Evolved Their Magic

Two distantly related groups of mushrooms take radically different routes to producing psilocybin, a mind-bending molecule.

By Rachel Nuwer

A close-up of the head and neck of a stegosaurus skeleton, with a ladder in the background.

One of the World’s Largest Stegosaurus Skeletons Was Moved. Twice.

The American Museum of Natural History has found a more appropriate space for Apex, a nearly complete dinosaur skeleton lent to it last year, when it was first assembled and put on view.

By Mark A. Stein and Daniel Terna

A silvery, juvenile fish appearing to hold a larval anemone, which resembles a small, pink balloon.

Trilobites

Armed With Anemones: How Some Young Fishes Survive in the Sea

Photos taken by blackwater divers offered a new glimpse into the early life stages of marine fishes and their interactions with other animals.

By Alexa Robles-Gil

A young man in a checkered sports coat, he looks at the camera and points his finger in a black-and-white photo.

Chen Ning Yang, Nobel-Winning Physicist, Is Dead at 103

He and a colleague created a sensation in 1956 by proposing that one of the four forces of nature might violate a law of physics.

By George Johnson

A middle-aged George Smoot with short, dark hair and a salt-and-pepper beard and mustache, wearing glasses, a red polo shirt and dark pants, standing in front of a white board filled with scientific equations.

George F. Smoot, Who Showed How the Cosmos Began, Is Dead at 80

He led a team of scientists who helped confirm that a Big Bang was the source of the universe. The discovery earned him a Nobel Prize.

By Katrina Miller

CLIMATE CHANGE

Several people are reflected in a window with an American flag in the background.

Tailyr Irvine for The New York Times

The Kids Who Sued Trump Just Lost Big in Court. Or Did They?

A federal judge threw out their climate lawsuit against the president a few days ago. But legal experts say there was a silver lining in the judge’s opinion.

By Karen Zraick

A sky turned red from wildfire smoke is seen behind a row of trees and houses.

Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

Carbon Dioxide Levels Jumped by a Record Amount, U.N. Says

Surging emissions from wildfires may have been behind the increase, which was the largest since modern measurements began more than half a century ago.

By Raymond Zhong and Sachi Kitajima Mulkey

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HEALTH

Two black and white images of the same boy side by side. The image on the left is in a higher resolution than the one on the right.

Science Corporation

Vision Restored Using Prosthetic Retinal Implant

The device could help a million people with a severe form of macular degeneration to be able to see enough to read.

By Gina Kolata

An illustration of a person with a cochlear implant.

Eugenia Mello

the new old age

When a Hearing Aid Isn’t Enough

More older adults have turned to cochlear implants after Medicare expanded eligibility for the devices.

By Paula Span

Article Image

Brian Otieno for The New York Times

America’s Retreat From Aid Is Devastating Somalia’s Health System

Hunger and the diseases that stalk small children have surged in Somalia after the U.S. slashed its aid to the country.

By Stephanie Nolen and Brian Otieno

People playing on rows of pickleball courts.

Desiree Rios for The New York Times

Eye Injuries Are Rising Among Pickleball Players

Older players of pickleball, the fastest-growing sport in the United States, are more vulnerable to eye injuries, some of which could lead to vision loss, researchers reported.

By Roni Caryn Rabin