Don't Bogart My Blog: Science Times: A Colonial-Era Cemetery Resurfaces in Philadelphia

Plus: Can We Get Better at Forgetting? —

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Tuesday, March 26, 2019

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Skeletal remains recovered from the site of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia's cemetery, founded in 1698. Bryan Anselm

A Colonial-Era Cemetery Resurfaces in Philadelphia

By JENNIFER PINKOWSKI AND BRYAN ANSELM

Remains buried in the First Baptist cemetery were believed to have been moved in 1860. But many coffins and bones were still there.

The parents of Henri Bigalow, 8, of Millcreek, Utah, hoped that he would qualify for the only gene-therapy trial for Duchenne muscular dystrophy that will accept boys his age. He did not.

Kim Raff for The New York Times

For Many Boys With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Bright Hope Lies Just Beyond Reach

By GINA KOLATA

Scientists are testing nearly two dozen treatments that might stop the disease. But enrollment in the trials is very restricted, and few children qualify.

The tadpole of the paradoxical frog, or shrinking frog, can be up to four times larger than the adult form.

Florilegius, via Alamy

Why Would an Animal Trade One Body for Another?

By CARL ZIMMER

Most species undergo metamorphosis, but scientists aren't sure why the process evolved. One new theory: Metamorphosis gives animals greater access to food.

Issues of Sky & Telescope from, clockwise from top left, 1941, 1953, 1971, 1990, 1984 and 1980.

Sky & Telescope Magazine

When Sky & Telescope Had No Limit

By DENNIS OVERBYE

A venerable astronomy magazine goes on the auction block, and a writer who grew up there reflects on its influence.

Daniel Zender

Can We Get Better at Forgetting?

By BENEDICT CAREY

Some things aren't worth remembering. Science is slowly working out how we might let that stuff go.

Samples being collected from mummified remains at El Museo Canario in the Canary Islands.

Desenfoque Producciones

DNA Clues to an Ancient Canary Islands Voyage

By NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR

The islands' pioneers likely arrived centuries before European conquest, as part of a large-scale movement of people from North Africa.

Chinese Academy of Sciences

This Water Drop, It's the Greatest Dancer

By NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR

You've probably never seen water do this.

The Ryugu asteroid taken by JAXA's Hayabusa-2 spacecraft, left, whose shadow is visible; and a view of the asteroid Bennu taken by NASA's Osiris-rex.

JAXA; NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

The Asteroid Was Shooting Rocks Into Space. 'Were We Safe in Orbit?'

By KENNETH CHANG AND SHANNON STIRONE

NASA's Osiris-Rex and Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft reached the space rocks they are surveying last year, and scientists from both teams announced early findings on Tuesday.

• Pictures of a Rugged Asteroid and Its Unexpected Plumes

An Omura's whale in waters off Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.

Gabriel Barathieu/Biosphoto, via Alamy

An Elusive Whale Is Found All Around the World

By KAREN WEINTRAUB

Researchers are learning about a newly identified species of baleen whales, tracing sightings and sounds to learn that they stay mainly in tropical waters.

Christina Koch is scheduled to do her first spacewalk on Friday, but not with another female astronaut as had previously been planned.

NASA Cancels First All-Female Spacewalk Over Spacesuit Sizes

By SHEILA KAPLAN

Q&A

What accounts for the color differences in diamonds?

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY

Climate Change

The beginning of a ski run on the roof of Copenhagen's new trash incinerator, which will help heat buildings in the city.

Charlotte de la Fuente

Copenhagen Wants to Show How Cities Can Fight Climate Change

By SOMINI SENGUPTA AND CHARLOTTE DE LA FUENTE

The Danish capital wants to be carbon neutral six years from now. Its plan involves wind, recycling and a very innovative ski hill.

The Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota was at the heart of a difficult decision during recent flooding along the Missouri River.

Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruber for The New York Times

The Fight to Tame a Swelling River With Dams That May Be Outmatched by Climate Change

By TYLER J. KELLEY

Along the Missouri, John Remus controls a network of dams that dictates the fate of millions. 'It was not designed to handle this.'

• 25 States Are at Risk of Serious Flooding This Spring, U.S. Forecast Says

• What Makes a Catastrophic Flood? And Is Climate Change Causing More of Them?

SAY HI AND TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

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Health

An ultrasound scan showing a tiny fetus forming in the abdomen of her twin sister while in the womb.

Dr. Miguel Parra-Saavedra

A Twin Inside a Twin: In Colombia, an Extraordinary Birth

By DONALD G. MCNEIL JR.

What appeared to be a cyst in a healthy fetus turned out to be an unformed twin "absorbed" early in pregnancy, connected by a second umbilical cord and still growing.

Stuart Bradford

An Alzheimer's Drug Trial Gave Me Hope, and Then It Ended

By PHILLIP S. GUTIS

I was a small piece in the search to find a cure. Now I feel as if I'm getting erased, and medical science doesn't have any answers.

Getty Images

Why Lifting Weights Can Be So Potent for Aging Well

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

People who discovered that they enjoyed and felt capable of completing a weight-training session subsequently joined a new gym and showed up for workouts.

Getty Images

Reading to Your Toddler? Print Books Are Better Than Digital Ones

By PERRI KLASS, M.D.

"The tablet itself made it harder for parents and children to engage in the rich back-and-forth turn-taking that was happening in print books," a researcher said.

Medicare for All Would Abolish Private Insurance. 'There's No Precedent in American History.'

By REED ABELSON AND MARGOT SANGER-KATZ

Unlike Obamacare, emerging plans would sweep away the private health insurance system. What would that mean for the companies' workers, the stock market and the cost of care?

Holly Davis was among the women who testified about health concerns involving breast implants at an advisory panel hearing for the Food and Drug Administration.

Greg Kahn for The New York Times

Women at Breast Implant Hearing Call for Disclosure of Safety Risks

By DENISE GRADY AND RONI CARYN RABIN

While industry representatives insisted the implants are safe, others at an F.D.A. panel meeting urged for warnings about links to illnesses and cancer.

Marijuana edibles on display at the Apothecary Shoppe marijuana dispensary in Las Vegas.

Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun, via Associated Press

Marijuana Edibles May Pose Special Risks

By RONI CARYN RABIN

Edibles induced a disproportionate number of pot-related medical crises, an analysis of emergency room admissions in Colorado found.

Gracia Lam

Personal Health

The Risks to Babies of Older Fathers

By JANE E. BRODY

Most women know that reproductive risks to themselves and their babies rise as they get older, but few men realize that their advancing years may also confer a risk.