Monks once hoped to turn lead into gold through alchemy. But consider the cauliflower instead. It takes just two genes to transform the ordinary stems, stalks and flowers of the weedy, tasteless species Brassica oleracea into a formation as marvelous as this fractal, cloudlike vegetable. This is the true alchemy, says Christophe Godin, a senior…
Courtesy Nordstrom, Connie Zhou In the year since the non-profit 15 Percent Pledge launched in June 2021, urging retailers to commit fifteen percent of their shelf space to products from Black-owned businesses, nearly 30 major sellers—including Macy’s, Old Navy, and Sephora—have publicly taken the pledge. On July 8th, luxury department store Nordstrom became the latest…
The Delta variant of the coronavirus can evade antibodies that target certain parts of the virus, according to a new study published on Thursday in Nature. The findings provide an explanation for diminished effectiveness of the vaccines against Delta, compared with other variants. The variant, first identified in India, is believed to be about 60…
Viruses evolve. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is no exception. So the emergence of variants is no surprise, and not every new genetic mutation poses a serious threat. But in recent weeks, a growing drumbeat of news coverage has started to raise alarm about Lambda, a variant first detected in Peru late last year.…
Here’s what you need to know: A member of the U.S. military and an employee of the New Jersey Institute of Technology prepared doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at an immunization site in Newark last month.Credit…Bryan Anselm for The New York Times The Delta variant of the coronavirus can evade antibodies that target certain parts…
Places like Savoie exist all over historic wine areas, little-known cul-de-sacs that are suddenly embraced by the outside world, though the residents have been making wine there for centuries. Then again, there’s only one Savoie. This small, hilly protrusion in the Alpine foothills of eastern France juts into the mountainous region where Switzerland meets Italy.…
But the recent intelligence challenges have required a different range of scientific expertise, including some areas that agencies have invested fewer resources in over the years. “This is a really interesting moment where the national security interests have changed from some of the Cold War interests,” said Sue Gordon, a former top intelligence official. “Priorities…
Fifteen states have reached an agreement with Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, that would pave the way toward a $4.5 billion settlement of thousands of opioid cases. The states decided late Wednesday to drop their opposition to Purdue’s bankruptcy reorganization plan, in exchange for a release of millions of documents and…
My father had a terminal illness and died recently. Throughout, there was drama between my adult siblings and our stepmother. She refused to take him to a better hospital; he told us she made him feel like an inconvenience and that she tried to stop my dad’s mother from visiting. Since his death, it’s gotten…
Romantic partnership is an ever-evolving experience — couples constantly shift, change and, in some cases, start over. In “It’s No Secret,” long-term partners share what they have learned through the years. (Answers are edited for context and space.) Who Melissa McCue Lawson, 57, and William Lawson, 73, have been married for 29 years, two months…