The bicycle and pedestrian bridge known as Byggebroen in Copenhagen, Denmark on June 13, 2021. Denmark, a country of six million, has universal health care, so Danes can get treated more easily for diseases than Americans and often seek medical help earlier. (Charlotte de la Fuente/The New York Times) By AMELIA NIERENBERG and MAYA TEKELI The United States, a nation of 343 million people with a complex and overburdened health care system, is poised to adopt the childhood vacci

In an undated image provided by Chris Gunn/NASA, inspecting the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Wide Field Instrument upon delivery to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. In 2026, there will be journeys to the moon and Mars, new visions of the cosmos and a solar eclipse that might be worth traveling for. (Chris Gunn/NASA via The New York Times) By KATRINA MILLER and MICHAEL ROSTON The thing about space is that you have to be patient. The universe does not

A measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is prepared at Seminole Hospital District in Seminole, Texas, Feb. 24, 2025. The Trump administration is expected to announce in the 2026 that American children should be immunized according to a different schedule with fewer vaccines — on used by the much smaller, largely homogenous country of Denmark. (Desiree Rios/The New York Times) By APOORVA MANDAVILLI Over the last year, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his appointees hav

The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., August 2016. Russell Vought, the White House budget director, called the laboratory a source of “climate alarmism” that will be taken apart. (Caine Delacy/The New York Times) By LISA FRIEDMAN, BRAD PLUMER and JACK HEALY The Trump administration said it will be dismantling the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, one of the world’s leading Earth science research institutions. The center, founded i

A person with diabetes uses a glucose monitoring system in Berkeley, Calif., Aug. 23, 2025. People with prediabetes who get their blood sugar under control may cut their risk of death from heart disease or heart failure by half, according to new research. (Rachel Bujalski/The New York Times) By NINA AGRAWAL People with prediabetes who get their blood sugar under control may cut their risk of death from heart disease or heart failure by half, according to new research. Prediab

In an undated image provided by Denis Finnin/AMNH, Mark Norell. Norell, a globe-trotting paleontologist whose research focused on the evolutionary links between dinosaurs and birds, and whose expeditions yielded rare discoveries like the nearly intact embryo of a birdlike oviraptor, died on Sept. 9, 2025, in Manhattan. He was 68. (Denis Finnin/AMNH via The New York Times) By RICHARD SANDOMIR Mark Norell, a globe-trotting paleontologist whose research focused on the evolutiona

A measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is prepared at Seminole Hospital District in Seminole, Texas, Feb. 24, 2025. In South Carolina, parents struggle to deal with infections that have brought quarantines and remote learning as health workers are bracing for an increase in cases. (Desiree Rios/The New York Times) By EDUARDO MEDINA and NICK MADIGAN Late-night emails sent to parents informing them that someone in their child’s classroom has been infected with measles. Pediatric

Over the last few years, a growing body of research has suggested that people who eat more ultraprocessed foods have higher risks of developing certain conditions that affect the stomach and the intestines. (Jiaqi Wang/The New York Times) By ALICE CALLAHAN Walk into a typical supermarket in the United States, and much of what you see — breakfast cereals, frozen meals, processed meats, sodas — is considered ultraprocessed food. These products, typically defined as foods and dr

Alzheimer’s disease is the most commonly diagnosed form of dementia, but it’s far from the only one. (Robert Samuel Hanson/The New York Times) By DANA G. SMITH Alzheimer’s disease is the most commonly diagnosed form of dementia, but it’s far from the only one. In fact, most people who have dementia (including Alzheimer’s) show signs of several different types of neurodegenerative disease in their brains. That can include the amyloid plaques and tau tangles that are hallmarks

An undated photo provided by Craig Williams/The Trustees of the British Museum shows an artist’s conception of a fire in Barnham, southeast England, 400,000 years ago. (Craig Williams/The Trustees of the British Museum via The New York Times) By CARL ZIMMER Some 400,000 years ago, in what is now eastern England, a group of Neanderthals used flint and pyrite to make fires by a watering hole — not just once, but time after time, over several generations. That is the conclusion