The Week in Science: Rescuing Voyager 1, COVID brain effects, cicadas are coming

March 15—This week we're covering the latest rescue efforts for the ailing Voyager 1 interstellar probe, COVID's effects on brain health, this year's coming double brood of cicadas and more. Read it all below! -Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

Top Stories

Voyager 1's Immortal Interstellar Requiem NASA is reaching across more than 15 billion miles to rescue its malfunctioning Voyager 1 probe—but this hallowed interstellar mission can't live forever Nadia Drake

COVID-19 Leaves Its Mark on the Brain. Significant Drops in IQ Scores Are Noted Research shows that even mild COVID-19 can lead to the equivalent of seven years of brain aging Ziyad Al-Aly, expert writer; The Conversation US

A Double Emergence of Periodical Cicadas Isn't Cicada-geddon—It's a Marvel The U.S. will see two adjacent broods of periodical cicadas emerge this spring Meghan Bartels

The Simplest Math Problem Could Be Unsolvable The Collatz conjecture has plagued mathematicians for decades—so much so that professors warn their students away from it Manon Bischoff

Microplastics Linked to Heart Attack, Stroke and Death People who had tiny plastic particles lodged in a key blood vessel were more likely to experience serious health problems or die during a three-year study Max Kozlov; Nature magazine

Males Aren't Larger Than Females in Most Mammalian Species A new study corrects a biased assumption promoted by Charles Darwin 150 years ago and repeated ever since Rachel Nuwer

Meet the Real-Life Versions of Dune's Epic Sandworms A Dune-loving worm paleontologist makes the case that worms have been just as important on Earth as they are in the blockbuster film Julian Nowogrodzki, partner content; Nature magazine

Is 'Bed Rotting' Good or Bad for Your Sleep? "Bed rotting," or staying in bed all day, has been touted as a self-care routine on TikTok, but it might actually make you feel worse. Here's why that happens and how you can snap out of it Elana Spivack

Total Solar Eclipses Are Cosmic Coincidences That Won't Last Forever Earthlings are very lucky to see the spectacle of a total solar eclipse Meghan Bartels

The Scale of Space Will Break Your Brain The scale of the cosmos exceeds the bounds of human comprehension. But that doesn't mean the universe is beyond our understanding Phil Plait

Paying Attention to Sensations Can Help Reset the Mind Learning to observe bodily sensation is a powerful strategy for improving mental health Norman Farb; Zindel Segal, expert writer

How a Classic Bridge-Crossing Puzzle Inspired New Math Are you smarter than an 18th-century Prussian? Jack Murtagh

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