The New York Times

The Last Moments of Jeju Air Flight 2216

The crew of a stricken South Korean flight faced a cascade of unforgiving decisions in the last moments. The kind other pilots might look at and ask: What would I have done?

What We Know About Weight-Loss Drugs Is Rapidly Changing

The widespread use of drugs like Ozempic is giving scientists a clearer picture than ever of their effects.

Random Numbers Quantum Encryption

Encryption systems rely on “random” numbers, but conventional computers can’t generate them perfectly. New research shows that quantum physics can.

Death Jars Internment Laos

Thousands of mysterious containers lie scattered across northern Laos. These “death jars” may have provided a form of communal interment, archaeologists reported.

The Evolution of Eyes Began With One

Even Charles Darwin was puzzled by the evolution of the vertebrate eye. New research suggests that it traces back to a cyclopean invertebrate with a single eye atop the head.

This Is the Holocaust Story I Said I Wouldn’t Write

For years, my friend’s father asked me to recount his childhood escape from the Nazis. Why did it take me this long?

When Dynamite Turned Terrorism Into an Everyday Threat

In early 20th-century America, political bombings became a constant menace — but then helped give rise to law enforcement as we know it.

How Slavery Really Ended in America

The forgotten story of three “contrabands,” a pragmatic general and a shrug that made history.

How Humanity Gave Itself an Extra Life

Between 1920 and 2020, the average human life span doubled. How did we do it? Science mattered — but so did activism.

Neanderthals Were People, Too

New research shows they shared many behaviors that we long believed to be uniquely human. Why did science get them so wrong?

The Road to 1948

How the decisions that led to the founding of Israel left the region in a state of eternal conflict.

Welcome to Donkey Country, U.S.A.

There’s a place outside Los Angeles where donkeys roam free, stumbling into backyard weddings. The creatures were the cause of headaches, until they became a cause of their own.

On the Trail of Legends and Giants in Wales

A Welsh writer’s trip hugs the coastline of Gwynedd, a land of castles, dramatic cliffs and wide river estuaries.