Auke-Florian Hiemstra, a doctoral student at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands, has spent years studying how birds use human materials in their nests. Much of his research involves collecting abandoned coot nests and painstakingly logging their contents: drug paraphernalia, earbuds, windshield wipers. “Everything that ends up in the canals in Amsterdam most likely … Read more
Leonardo Augustus Patterson was born on April 15, 1942, in Limon, a town on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Little is known about his family history. He said that his father left home when he was very young and that his mother, a farmer, died when he was a teenager. He said he found … Read more
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced wide-ranging cutbacks at federal health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, that would eliminate duplicative services and paper pushers. But in interviews with more than a dozen current and former F.D.A. staff members, a different picture emerged of the far-reaching effects of the layoffs that would ultimately … Read more
The sweeping tariffs that President Trump announced on Wednesday could hobble the use of giant batteries that energy companies are increasingly installing to help them tap more wind and solar power and make the broader electric grid more reliable. Over the past five years, grid batteries have become one of the biggest growth industries in … Read more
This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times. Katharine Dexter McCormick, who was born to a life of wealth, which she compounded through marriage, could have sat back and simply enjoyed the many advantages that flowed her way. Instead, she … Read more
Alongside extensive reductions to the staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Trump administration has asked the agency to cut $2.9 billion of its spending on contracts, according to three federal officials with knowledge of the matter. The administration’s cost-cutting program, called the Department of Government Efficiency, asked the public health agency … Read more
The nation’s most polluting coal-burning power plant has asked President Trump to exempt it from stricter limits on hazardous air pollution after the administration recently invited companies to apply for presidential pollution waivers by email. The aging Colstrip power plant in Colstrip, Mont., emits more harmful fine particulate matter pollution, or soot, than any other … Read more
Ralph Holloway, an anthropologist who pioneered the idea that changes in brain structure, and not just size, were critical in the evolution of humans, died on March 12 at his home in Manhattan. He was 90. His death was announced by Columbia University’s anthropology department, where he taught for nearly 50 years. Mr. Holloway’s contrarian … Read more
The extensive layoffs of federal health workers that began on Tuesday will greatly curtail the scope and influence of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the world’s premier public health agency, an outcome long sought by conservatives critical of its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. The reorganization of the Department of Health and Human … Read more
From: Roby, Sarah (CDC/NCIPC/DVP) Sent: Friday, March 28, 2025 5:07:15 PM To: CDC NCIPC DVP ALL Cc: Subject: A love letter to the Division of Violence Prevention As I sit down to write this letter, I am not sure what the future holds. However, I do know how important it feels for me … Read more