James Watson, who helped discover the double-helix structure of DNA, in the Library of the Human Genome at the Wellcome Collection in London, June 20, 2007. The discovery of the structure of DNA in the early 1950s is one of the most riveting dramas in the history of science, crammed with brilliant research, naked ambition, intense rivalry and outright deception. (Jonathan Player/The New York Times) By CARL ZIMMER The discovery of the structure of DNA in the early 1950s is one

A.I. search tools, chatbots and social media are associated with lower cognitive performance, studies say. What to do? (Derek Abella/The New York Times) By BRIAN X. CHEN Last spring, Shiri Melumad, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, gave a group of 250 people a simple writing assignment: Share advice with a friend on how to lead a healthier lifestyle. To come up with tips, some were allowed to use a traditional Google search, while others cou

A woman walks for exercise in New York, March 13, 2024. A new study suggests that going on longer walks may have more health benefits than taking the same number of steps a day over multiple short walks. (Nicholas Sansone/The New York Times) By SIMAR BAJAJ A new study suggests that going on longer walks may have more health benefits than taking the same number of steps a day over multiple short walks. Hundreds of studies have shown that higher step counts are tied to lower ri

Jane Goodall, the celebrated primatologist, in New York, Oct. 17, 2017. Goodall, one of the world’s most revered conservationists, who earned scientific stature and global celebrity by chronicling the distinctive behavior of wild chimpanzees in East Africa, grasped the vast power that lay in careful, mutual observation. (Gabriela Herman/The New York Times) By RHONDA GARELICK We don’t think of Jane Goodall as a style icon. But we should. Style is about having a keen awareness

Tylenol pills in New York on May 22, 2025. Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, sued the makers of Tylenol on Oct. 28, claiming that the companies hid the risks of the drug on brain development of children. (Eric Helgas/The New York Times) By REBECCA ROBBINS, AZEEN GHORAYSHI and J. DAVID GOODMAN Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general of Texas, sued the makers of Tylenol last week claiming that the companies hid the risks of the drug on brain development in children. T

For an activity most of us spend about a third of our lives doing, there’s a lot scientists still don’t understand about sleep, including why we evolved to do it in the first place. (Hoi Chan/The New York Times) By CAROLINE HOPKINS LEGASPI For an activity most of us spend about a third of our lives doing, there’s a lot scientists still don’t understand about sleep, including why we evolved to do it in the first place. But experts do know that we wouldn’t survive without it, a

By MAGGIE ASTOR It’s that time of year again. School is starting, the days are getting shorter, and the familiar “flu shots available” signs are appearing outside pharmacies. Each year, the flu kills tens of thousands of people in the United States, on average, and hundreds of thousands are hospitalized. How can you protect yourself this season? Here’s what you need to know. Should I get a flu vaccine? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends annual flu shots

By ALEXA ROBLES-GIL and ALI WATKINS Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for the development of molecular building blocks with spaces large enough that gases and other chemicals can flow through them. The cavities on the inside are “almost like rooms in a hotel, so that guest molecules can enter and also exit again from the same material,” Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said during th

A man walks in floodwaters where the vast Tulare Lake once existed outside Corcoran, Calif., March 25, 2023. (Mark Abramson/The New York...

COVID vaccine doses at a vaccination site at a shopping mall in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, Jan. 7, 2022. The FDA has approved updated COVID...