In an image provided by NASA, an artist’s concept of Phase 3 of the proposed moon base. After years of talking about lunar outposts in vague terms for sometime in the indefinite future, leaders of the space agency on Tuesday put a continuing American presence at the moon solidly on their road map for the coming decade, setting out specific plans and timelines. (NASA via The New York Times) By KENNETH CHANG NASA is getting serious about building a base on the moon. After year

In the United States, nearly half of adults have high blood pressure. Known as a “silent killer,” hypertension can contribute to heart attack, stroke and heart failure without ever causing symptoms. (Jordan Bohannon/The New York Times) By NINA AGRAWAL In the United States, nearly half of adults have high blood pressure. Known as a “silent killer,” hypertension can contribute to heart attack, stroke and heart failure without ever causing symptoms. Where hypertension was once t

Studies in recent years have shown colorectal cancer rates on the rise among adults younger than 50. The new paper showed that rates among adults ages 50 to 64 also increased between 2013 and 2022 and that rates of rectal cancer in particular climbed among all ages combined after years of decline. (Freepik) By NINA AGRAWAL Nearly half of all new colorectal cancer cases now occur in adults younger than 65, signaling a major shift in the demographics of the disease, according t

A photo provided by the Field Museum shows Matt von Konrat, the head of the botanical collections at the Field Museum, in his laboratory in Chicago, Feb. 26, 2026, examining tiny bits of dirt and moss collected in Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Ill., in 2009. A group of scientists and law enforcement officials are pointing to the role moss can play to help solve crimes. (Field Museum via The New York Times) By SAMANTHA DRAKE A remote forest in south central Pennsylvania seems to

An image provided by Joschua Knüppe shows a life reconstruction of the forearm of Manipulonyx reshetovi, a bird-like dinosaur. A fossil of the dinosaur was discovered in Mongolia in 1979. (Joschua Knüppe via The New York Times) By JACK TAMISIEA Under the cover of darkness 67 million years ago, a dog-size dinosaur crept up to the nest of a bigger, unsuspecting contemporary. Its goal: to snatch a large egg. The tiny thief had a handy hack to get to that meal: a multitooled fore

Weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound have been hailed as miracle treatments, but one in 10 people are what scientists call “non-responders.” (Fortunate Joaquin/The New York Times) By SIMAR BAJAJ and DANI BLUM When Jessica Layeux, a cybersecurity expert from Monticello, Minnesota, started taking the weight-loss drug Zepbound last year, she didn’t have any of the side effects she had heard about. She didn’t feel much of a change in her hunger or cravings either. At first,

The number doctors use to demarcate hypertension keeps going down, a trend applauded by many experts, who point to studies linking high blood pressure and dementia. (John P. Dessereau/The New York Times) By PAULA SPAN The patient initially came to see Dr. Mark Supiano in 2017 because her family was concerned about her short-term memory loss. While taking her history and vital signs, Supiano, a geriatrician at the University of Utah, saw one disturbing signal: Her blood pressu

An image provided by NASA/Johns Hopkins APL shows the asteroid named Dimorphos. Dimorphos is about 525 feet around and orbits a larger parent asteroid, Didymos. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL via The New York Times) By KATRINA MILLER In 2022, NASA deliberately crashed a spacecraft into a small asteroid named Dimorphos. The goal of this interplanetary smashup was to prove that if a killer space rock ever threatened Earth in the future, humans could deflect it and save our world. The

A user consults with a chatbot created by the far-right social media platform Gab, in Berkeley, Calif., Oct. 29, 2025. A new study found that chatbots were no better than Google — already a flawed source of health information — at guiding users toward correct medical diagnoses or helping them determine what they should do next. (Andria Lo/The New York Times) By TEDDY ROSENBLUTH A new study published last month provided a sobering look at whether chatbots, which have fast beco

A photo provided by the Max Planck Institute shows Nobel Prize-winning Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo with a reconstructed Neanderthal skull. As a result of interbreeding between Neanderthals and humans tens of thousands of years ago, most people alive today carry a bit of Neanderthal DNA in their genome — and that residual DNA, in turn, is giving scientists a detailed look at the ancient sexual encounters that put it there. (Frank Vinken/Max Planck Institute via The New Yor