Don't Bogart My Blog: Science Times: These Otters Are Popular Pets in Asia. That May Be Their Undoing.

Plus: Scientists Revive Cells in Brains From Dead Pigs —

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Tuesday, April 23, 2019

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Customers play with small-clawed otters in a booth at a cafe in Tokyo. Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times

These Otters Are Popular Pets in Asia. That May Be Their Undoing.

By RACHEL NUWER

Asian small-clawed otters are increasingly popular as novelty pets, particularly in Japan. Now international trade in the species may be banned.

'Partly Alive': Scientists Revive Cells in Brains From Dead Pigs

By GINA KOLATA

In a study that upends assumptions about brain death, researchers brought some cells back to life — or something like it.

William Widmer for The New York Times

Lifesaving Forecasts Start Here: Inside the Storm Prediction Center

By ALAN BLINDER AND WILLIAM WIDMER

On any given day, severe weather can threaten millions of people. An Oklahoma office tries to see it all coming.

The MD Anderson Cancer Center said it decided to fire three scientists who, among other allegations, failed to disclose international collaborators. Two of them resigned.

Scott Dalton for The New York Times

Wary of Chinese Espionage, Houston Cancer Center Chose to Fire 3 Scientists

By MIHIR ZAVERI

The director of the National Institutes of Health said that 55 similar investigations into possible foreign exploitation of American research are happening nationwide.

Mutations in the MC4R gene usually lead to obesity by preventing a sense of fullness. But one such mutation leaves people uninterested in eating, scientists report.

Susan Wright for The New York Times

This Genetic Mutation Makes People Feel Full — All the Time

By GINA KOLATA

Two new studies confirm that weight control is often the result of genetics, not willpower.

Baby Tyrannosaurus rex models at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

George Etheredge for The New York Times

He Listed a T. Rex Fossil on eBay for $2.95 Million. Scientists Weren't Thrilled.

By LAURA M. HOLSON

"I own this thing," Alan Detrich recalled telling a museum director. "It is mine. I can do whatever I want."

Henning et al

Watch a Flower That Seems to Remember When Pollinators Will Come Calling

By CARA GIAIMO

A colorful Peruvian plant dispenses its pollen according to a savvy, memory-based system, new research suggests.

In 1987, a forensic expert testified that there was a less than one in 10,000 chance that these hairs came from the same person. The problem? Those odds were plucked from thin air.

Virginia Journal of Criminal Law

A Leading Cause for Wrongful Convictions: Experts Overstating Forensic Results

By HEATHER MURPHY

These three men spent decades in prison as a result of statistical exaggerations. They were among 150 men and women released from prison after their wrongful convictions were overturned in 2018.

Beverly Emerson, Ph.D., who worked at the Salk Institute from 1986 to 2017.

Holly Andres for The New York Times

'I Want What My Male Colleague Has, and That Will Cost a Few Million Dollars'

By MALLORY PICKETT

Women at the Salk Institute say they faced a culture of marginalization and hostility. The numbers from other elite scientific institutions suggest they're not alone.

Mining operations near Douglas, Wyo. A judge on Friday delivered a setback to a Trump policy to encourage coal mining on federal land.

Judge Delivers Major Setback to Trump Policy to Increase Coal Mining on Federal Land

By CORAL DAVENPORT

Cats can contract parasites from insects, prey, soil or other animals and can spread them to humans, pets or wildlife.

Look What the Cat Dragged In: Parasites

By JOANNA KLEIN

David J. Thouless in an undated photo. His theoretical mathematical research in areas like superconductivity has real and potential applications to a wide range of electronic devices and even quantum computers.

David Thouless, 84, Dies; Nobel Laureate Cast Light on Matter

By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN

Q&A

Years ago in Key West, Fla., I bought a natural sponge as a souvenir. It has never developed mildew. Why?

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY

SAY HI AND TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

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Climate Change

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand spoke at a rally for the Green New Deal at the Capitol last month.

Sarah Silbiger/The New York Times

We Asked the 2020 Democrats About Climate Change (Yes, All of Them). Here Are Their Ideas.

By LISA FRIEDMAN AND MAGGIE ASTOR

The New York Times sent a climate policy survey to the 18 declared candidates. They all want to stick to the Paris Agreement. Beyond that, they diverge.