Science Times: It’s a Briefcase! It’s a Pizza Box! No, It’s a Mini Satellite

Plus: Hear the Sounds of Wind on Mars —

View in Browser | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. Tuesday, December 11, 2018 NYTimes.com/Science »

High school students and faculty from Irvine, Calif., conduct tests that simulate the harsh conditions of space. Their latest tiny satellite, IRVINE02, went into orbit on Dec. 3. Kain Sosa It's a Briefcase! It's a Pizza Box! No, It's a Mini Satellite By WILLIAM J. BROAD Orbiting instruments are now so small they can be launched by the dozens, and even high school students can build them.

NASA/JPL-Caltech Hear the Sounds of Wind on Mars By KENNETH CHANG An instrument aboard NASA's InSight Lander for measuring the shaking of marsquakes picked up vibrations in the air. John Cancalosi, via Getty Images The Planet Has Seen Sudden Warming Before. It Wiped Out Almost Everything. By CARL ZIMMER In some ways, the planet's worst mass extinction — 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian Period — may parallel climate change today. Catherine Hickson, Tuya Terra Geo Corp A 'Honking Big' Cave in Canada Lures Geologists to Its Mouth By EMILY S. RUEB How did a hole large enough to fit the Statue of Liberty go undetected for so long? Library of Congress Can We Really Inherit Trauma? By BENEDICT CAREY Headlines suggest that the epigenetic marks of trauma can be passed from one generation to the next. But the evidence, at least in humans, is circumstantial at best.

ADVERTISEMENT

Rodrigo Buendia/Agence France-Presse — GettyImages Seeking Clues to Longevity in Lonesome George's Genes By STEPH YIN The giant tortoise lived for more than a century, carrying genes linked to a robust immune system, efficient DNA repair and resistance to cancer. Glaucia Seixas The Genes That Make Parrots Into the Humans of the Bird World By JOANNA KLEIN Long-lived and clever parrots may be as different genetically from other birds as humans are from other primates. NASA-JPL-Caltech Voyager 2 Has Entered the Space Between Solar Systems By KENNETH CHANG It is the second spacecraft to make the crossing into interstellar space, providing a new look at what lies beyond our local galactic neighborhood. Pauline Jennings, UC Berkeley Geckos Can Run on Water By JAMES GORMAN A small lizard joins the elite group of animals that race across the surface of water.

Trump Drilling Plan Threatens 9 Million Acres of Sage Grouse Habitat By CORAL DAVENPORT China's Chang'e-4 Launches on Mission to the Moon's Far Side By KENNETH CHANG What a Hungry Snail Reveals About Your Grocery Store Breakdowns By JOANNA KLEIN An Insect Flees Danger. Suddenly, It Picks Up a Tiny Hitchhiker. By VERONIQUE GREENWOOD Spacewalk Aims to Solve a Space Station Mystery By KENNETH CHANG Q&A Do lizards dream like people do? By C. CLAIBORNE RAY

GIVE FEEDBACK Let us know what you like and don't like about this newsletter. Email us at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com.

Climate Change Wu Hong/EPA, via Shutterstock Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accelerate Like a 'Speeding Freight Train' in 2018 By KENDRA PIERRE-LOUIS Accelerating emissions are putting the world on track to face some of the most severe consequences of global warming sooner than expected, scientists said. • U.S.-China Friction Threatens to Undercut the Fight Against Climate Change • The World Still Isn't Meeting Its Climate Goals Yasuyoshi Chiba/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Can We Grow More Food on Less Land? We'll Have To, a New Study Finds By BRAD PLUMER To make meaningful progress on climate change, cows and wheat fields will have to become radically more efficient. Karolina Jonderko for The New York Times Trump Team Pushes Fossil Fuels at Climate Talks. Protests Erupt, but Allies Emerge, Too. By BRAD PLUMER AND LISA FRIEDMAN While the official United States stance brought scorn from environmentalists, there are signs that the administration is picking up some powerful allies. The Ocean Agency/XL Catlin Seaview Survey Scientists Find Some Hope for Coral Reefs: The Strong May Survive By KENDRA PIERRE-LOUIS Global warming is ravaging coral, including at the Great Barrier Reef. But it may serve as "one enormous natural selection event," a researcher said.

We've got more newsletters! You might like Climate Fwd:.   What on Earth is going on? Sign up for the Climate Fwd: newsletter to get our latest stories and insights about climate change — along with answers to your questions and tips on how to help.

Health Gili Yaari/NurPhoto via Getty Images Is Screen Time Bad for Kids' Brains? By BENEDICT CAREY A study featured on "60 Minutes" is sure to alarm parents. Here's what scientists know, and don't know, about the link between screens, behavior, and development. Mark Abramson for The New York Times What We Know About Diet and Weight Loss By GINA KOLATA After decades of research, there are shockingly few firm conclusions. William DeShazer for The New York Times What These Medical Journals Don't Reveal: Top Doctors' Ties to Industry By CHARLES ORNSTEIN AND KATIE THOMAS Academic research publications rely on doctors to voluntarily disclose their payments from drug and health companies in a lax reporting system some say is broken. Gracia Lam Personal Health How to Foster Empathy in Children By JANE E. BRODY Research shows that we are each born with a given number of neurons that participate in an empathetic response. But early life experience shapes how we act on it. Toby Madden/Transaid In Remote Villages, Surprising New Measures Save Children With Malaria By DONALD G. MCNEIL JR. Malaria quickly kills toddlers. But rapid diagnostic tests, a new suppository drug and bicycle ambulances can buy enough time to get stricken children to hospitals. Rozette Rago for The New York Times Older Americans Are Flocking to Medical Marijuana By PAULA SPAN Oils, tinctures and salves — and sometimes old-fashioned buds — are increasingly common in seniors' homes. Doctors warn that popularity has outstripped scientific evidence.

Ask Well Are cruciferous vegetables really helpful for fighting cancer? By RONI CARYN RABIN Nike Vaporfly 4% Shoe May Make Some Run Faster By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS Six to 8 Hours a Night May Be the Sweet Spot for Sleep By NICHOLAS BAKALAR Why Is Children's Masturbation Such a Secret? By PERRI KLASS, M.D.

Make a friend's day: Forward this email.  Got this from a friend? Subscribe to the Science Times newletter.

ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW SCIENCE FACEBOOK @nytscience Get more NYTimes.com newsletters » | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. Subscribe »

ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Science Times newsletter. Unsubscribe | Manage Subscriptions | Change Your Email | Privacy Policy | Contact | Advertise Copyright 2018 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018