Science

"The contiguous United States sizzled to its hottest month ever last month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

"The nation’s top scientific body has removed a chapter on climate science from a reference manual for judges after an outcry from critics on the right, including President Trump."

"Donald Trump has signed an executive order with plans for sweeping changes to the childhood vaccination schedule that attempts to override the authority of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."

"Wandering gliders are descended from some of the earliest known insects – and breed as one global population. ... Whenever we see a dragonfly zipping through the airspace and devouring tiny insects with aplomb, we can appreciate they are so timelessly effective that they have barely needed to tweak their way of life in 200m years."

"As regulations have reduced prenatal exposure to harmful emissions from vehicles and industry in recent years, smoke from climate-fueled wildfires is erasing air quality gains."

"Republicans on Thursday voted down a proposed amendment to the Farm Bill that would have  protected consumer rights to sue pesticide manufacturers over alleged harm after the US Supreme Court recently narrowed those rights."

"For the first time, scientists have used artificial intelligence to create new kinds of viruses, raising hopes for medical advances while also raising the disturbing possibility that the technology could someday be used to invent dangerous pathogens."

"The Senate on Wednesday voted mainly along party lines to confirm Erica Schwartz to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vote ends months of leadership uncertainty at the nation’s premier public health agency but leaves unresolved the central question that dominated her confirmation process: Will she preserve the agency’s scientific independence under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.?"

"A new U.S. policy that aims to reduce the risks arising from federally funded research with dangerous pathogens is drawing mixed reviews from scientists, with even some who support tighter regulation fearing its vague wording could complicate, not clarify, the rules on what kinds of studies the government will support."