Science Times: A toxic pit could be a gold mine for rare-earth elements

Plus: There's no 'undo' button for extinct species —

View in browser|nytimes.com May 13, 2025 Will Warasila A Toxic Pit Could Be a Gold Mine for Rare-Earth Elements Mining continues at the Continental Pit. Nearby is the Berkeley Pit, a site for acid mine drainage that poses an opportunity for extracting valuable metals. By Jim Robbins Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Genetic Study Retraces the Origins of Coronaviruses in Bats As China and the United States trade charges of a lab leak, researchers contend in a new paper that the Covid pandemic got its start, like a previous one, in the wildlife trade. By Carl Zimmer Don Pettit/NASA In photos 1 Astronaut, Many Cameras and 220 Days of Amazing Images From Space Don Pettit brought a photographer's eye to orbit, capturing the artistry of the cosmos and our planet. By Kenneth Chang Photo Illustration by Chantal Jahchan There's No 'Undo' Button for Extinct Species When one company proclaimed it had brought back the dire wolf, the response was joyous. But de-extinction remains a dangerous fantasy. By Brooke Jarvis Email us Let us know how we're doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com. Archaeological Park of Pompeii Trilobites In Their Final Moments, a Pompeii Family Fought to Survive Archaeologists unearthed skeletal remains of four people in a well-appointed Roman home, along with signs of their efforts to outlast the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. By Sara Novak Sovfoto/Universal Images Group/Shutterstock Soviet Spacecraft Crash Lands on Earth After a Journey of Half a Century Kosmos-482, a spacecraft bound for Venus in 1972, was a time capsule from the Cold War when superpowers had broad ambitions for exploring the solar system. By Nadia Drake Victor Ortega-Jiménez Trilobites Flamingos Make Underwater Vortexes to Suck Up Prey Three cooperative birds and a model bird head helped scientists figure out what flamingos are actually doing when they stick their heads upside down underwater. By Rachel Nuwer The New York Times Inside Starbase, Elon Musk's New City On Saturday, local residents who mostly work for Elon Musk's rocket company voted to create an official city for themselves: Starbase, Texas. By Junho Lee and J. David Goodman Trilobites The Best Way to Drop an Egg How the shell cracks in an exercise known as the egg drop challenge turned out to be more complicated than science teachers have been telling students for many years. By Veronique Greenwood Trilobites These Beautiful Birds Form Something Like Lasting Friendships Superb starlings help care for the offspring of birds they are not related to. "To me, that sounds like friendship," one scientist said. By Asher Elbein Want to Be a Deep Sea Explorer? Don't Worry, There's Lots Left. Researchers collected more than 43,000 records of dives and assessed the photos and videos to determine how much of the bottom has been seen by humans. By Rebecca Dzombak CLIMATE CHANGE Benjamin Rasmussen for The New York Times A Clean Energy Boom Was Just Starting. Now, a Republican Bill Aims to End It. The party's signature tax plan would kill most Biden-era incentives, but there's a sticking point: G.O.P. districts have the most to lose. By Brad Plumer and Harry Stevens Karsten Moran for The New York Times What's the Cost to Society of Pollution? Trump Says Zero. The Trump administration has directed agencies to stop estimating the economic impact of climate change when developing policies and regulations. By Lisa Friedman Jordan Vonderhaar for The New York Times Farmers Sued Over Deleted Climate Data. So the Government Will Put It Back. The Agriculture Department pledged to restore online climate information that farmers said helped them do business, but which officials had deleted. By Karen Zraick Tony Luong for The New York Times A Decade-Long Search for a Battery That Can End the Gasoline Era Can a small Massachusetts start-up perfect a battery that would make electric vehicles cheaper and more convenient than conventional cars? By Jack Ewing HEALTH Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times Why Patients Are Being Forced to Switch to a 2nd-Choice Obesity Drug CVS Caremark decided to stop offering Zepbound in favor of Wegovy for weight loss. It's the latest example of limits imposed by insurance that disrupt treatments for patients. By Rebecca Robbins and Reed Abelson Isadora Kosofsky for the New York Times An L.A. Doctor's House Burned. Now He Treats the Fires' Effects in Neighbors. A new clinic, opened by a pulmonologist who lost his home in the Palisades blaze, is addressing the health issues developing among people exposed to the fires. By Emily Baumgaertner Nunn and Isadora Kosofsky Whitney Curtis for The New York Times Scientists Hail This Medical Breakthrough. A Political Storm Could Cripple It. Therapies involving mRNA, a key to Covid vaccines, hold great potential in treating several diseases, but some lawmakers want to ban them and the government is cutting funding. By Kate Zernike Katy Grannan for The New York Times The $200 Billion Gamble: Bill Gates's Plan to Wind Down His Foundation In a wide-ranging interview, he explains his decision — amid the Trump administration's assault on foreign aid — to accelerate the end of his giving. By David Wallace-Wells What to Know About the Hepatitis A Outbreak in L.A. County A highly contagious liver infection is surging among groups who are not typically at risk. At least seven people have died. By Emily Baumgaertner Nunn With No Real Policy, Trump Asks Drugmakers to Lower U.S. Prices The president has long complained that the United States pays more for medicines than other wealthy countries. But he offered no clear legal authority to mandate lower prices. By Margot Sanger-Katz and Rebecca Robbins Kennedy Announces New Database for Research Into 'Root Causes' of Autism The director of the National Institutes of Health previously floated — then walked back — the idea of an autism registry, alarming researchers and parents. By Sheryl Gay Stolberg N.I.H. Bans New Funding From U.S. Scientists to Partners Abroad Generally, researchers will no longer be allowed to direct federal funds to international collaborators. By Roni Caryn Rabin Philip Sunshine, 94, Dies; Pioneer in Treatment of Premature Babies A founder of neonatology, he helped revolutionize the care of preterm and critically ill newborns. "We were able to keep babies alive that would not have survived," he said. 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