Don't Bogart My Blog: Science Times: Fifty Years Ago Today, Apollo 11 Launched

Plus: The 5G Health Hazard That Isn't —

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Tuesday, July 16, 2019

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Fifty Years Ago Today, Apollo 11 Launched

We're sending you this email at 8 a.m. Eastern time when you may just be starting your day. But 50 years ago at this time, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins had already had quite a morning.

They were awakened at 4:15 a.m., NASA's official history of the mission says. They dined on juice, steak, eggs, toast and coffee. And by just after 7 a.m., all three men were waiting for 9:32 a.m. when the Saturn 5 rocket beneath them would launch toward destiny.

On Sunday, The New York Times published a special 32-page print section to celebrate Apollo 11's 50th anniversary. Every morning for the rest of this week, we'll share a selection of the section's articles and essays.

We'll start each email with a few short highlights from the astronauts' journey that day. We hope it'll help you keep this moment and what it means in your mind as you go through each day.

Michael Roston

Michael Collins Didn't Walk on the Moon. But He Got to Drink Warm Coffee.

Michael Collins, Apollo 11 astronaut, at an Explorers Club dinner in in Manhattan in March, commemorating the moon mission's 50th anniversary. Krista Schlueter for The New York Times

By KENNETH CHANG

The Apollo 11 astronaut who kept an orbital vigil during Neil's and Buzz's moonwalk really didn't feel that lonely.

ONE GIANT LEAP: THE APOLLO 11 MOON LANDING, 50 YEARS ON

On July 21, The New York Times presents the reading of a short play by Tony Award-winning author J.T. Rogers. Commissioned specifically for this event, the play weaves together transcripts of the Apollo 11 mission, Times coverage from the period and excerpts from interviews with the men and women who made it happen.

Following the reading, Michael Barbaro of "The Daily" will host an onstage conversation with Michael Collins, command module pilot on Apollo 11, Peggy Whitson, the first female commander of the International Space Station, and Poppy Northcutt, the first female engineer to work in NASA's mission control, starting with Apollo 8.

Tickets $50–$200. For more information, see https://timesevents.nytimes.com/onegiantleap.

Golden Cosmos

The 5G Health Hazard That Isn't

By WILLIAM J. BROAD

How one scientist and his inaccurate chart led to unwarranted fears of wireless technology.

Lions rest in the Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa. Conservationists fear that the legal export of lion skeletons from the country may be fueling poaching.

Kevin Anderson/Associated Press

Lion Bones Are Profitable for Breeders, and Poachers

By RACHEL NUWER

An American ban on trophies may have contributed to a growing trade in lion skeletons.

Chandrayaan-2, India's first moon lander, on the launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, on Sunday. The launch was postponed because of

Indian Space Research Organisation

After Delay of Chandrayaan-2 Launch, Indians Are Disappointed but Confident

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

The country had been watching, eager for India to seize its place in space with a lunar landing. Scientists say the mission is still on — they just don't know when.

Artificial intelligence has come a long way since 1979, when this card-playing robot pulled a straight flush.

David Cooper/Toronto Star, via Getty Images

Hold 'Em or Fold 'Em? This A.I. Bluffs With the Best

By CADE METZ

Pluribus, a poker-playing algorithm, can beat the world's top human players, proving that machines, too, can master our mind games.

Dr. Lee Riley of the University of California, Berkeley, has been studying antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli, which can cause urinary tract infections.

Brian L. Frank for The New York Times

Deadly germs, lost cures

Urinary Tract Infections Affect Millions. The Cures Are Faltering.

By MATT RICHTEL

As the infections become increasingly resistant to antibiotics, some standard treatments no longer work for an ailment that was once easily cured.

A reconstruction of Apidima 2, which was shown to be a Neanderthal skull. A far older skull fragment, Apidima 1, was also assumed to be Neanderthal, but scientists now say it belonged to a modern human.

Katerina Harvati, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen

A Skull Bone Discovered in Greece May Alter the Story of Human Prehistory

By CARL ZIMMER

The bone, found in a cave, is the oldest modern human fossil ever discovered in Europe. It hints that humans began leaving Africa far earlier than once thought.

Clearing brush, brought by flooding, from beneath a home in Franklin, La., on Sunday.

Bryan Thomas for The New York Times

'Toxic Stew' Stirred Up by Disasters Poses Long-Term Danger, New Findings Show

By CHRISTOPHER FLAVELLE

Wildfires and hurricanes are pushing chemicals into the environment, with health effects that scientists are just beginning to understand.

An artist's reconstruction of Elektorornis chenguangi, which may have used its elongated toe to search for food.

Zhongda Zhang

Why Did This Extinct Bird Have Such a Weird, Long Toe?

By BECKY FERREIRA

The Cretaceous Period flier, trapped in amber 99 million years ago, had features unlike any bird living today.

Lara Vimercati and Jack Darcy, two graduate students, at the edge of a penitente field on a Chilean volcano where researchers unexpectedly found algae.

Steven K. Schmidt

If Algae Clings to Snow on This Volcano, Can It Grow on Other Desolate Worlds?

By JOANNA KLEIN

Scientists were surprised to find something living on the sterile heights of this Chilean volcano.

Alan Turing will be the face of Britain's new 50-pound note, the Bank of England announced on Monday.

Britain's £50 Note Will Honor Computing Pioneer Alan Turing

By AMIE TSANG

An autonomous vehicle flipped on the course of the 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge through the Mojave Desert.

Driverless Cars Are Taking Longer Than We Expected. Here's Why.

By CLYDE HABERMAN

President Trump with Scott Pruitt, left front, and a group of coal miners at the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in 2017.

E.P.A. Broke Rules in Shake-Up of Science Panels, Federal Watchdog Says

By LISA FRIEDMAN

Q&A

How are the times of sunrise and sunset determined for the weather report? What if my location is well above sea level and hilly?

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY

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Let us know how we're doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com.

Health

Gracia Lam

Personal Health

Sunglasses That Help Your Eyes as Well as Your Look

By JANE E. BRODY

Lenses that transition in sunlight to become sunglasses help protect eyes from dust, bugs, drying breezes and, most important of all, the damaging effects of ultraviolet light.

iStock by Getty Images

Shielding Kids From the Sun Isn't Just About Sunscreen

By PERRI KLASS, M.D.

Experts say other steps should include seeking shade, avoiding the most intense hours of sun exposure and wearing hats and clothing to protect the skin.

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Cutting 300 Calories a Day Shows Health Benefits

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Calorie restriction led to weight loss, lower cholesterol and less inflammation. Whether it extends life span and wards off disease long-term remains unproven.

Getty Images

How Music Can Rev Up a High-Intensity Workout

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

Volunteers reported enjoying intense exercise most when upbeat music was playing, compared with when they heard a podcast or nothing.

A health worker checking a woman's temperature as part of Ebola screening at the General Hospital in Goma, a major transit hub in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Olivia Acland/Reuters

Ebola Outbreak Reaches Major City in Congo, Renewing Calls for Emergency Order

By DENISE GRADY

The year-old outbreak has now reached Goma, a heavily populated city near the border with Rwanda. The W.H.O. will ask experts again to decide whether to issue a declaration that could increase funding to fight the disease spread.