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May 29, 2025—NASA scientists are getting kicked out of their New York City offices. Plus, territorial baby caterpillars and a record-breaking Everest climb. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Mount Everest. Feng Wei Photography/Getty Images | | - Four British climbers made it to the top of Mount Everest in record time. They credit their speed with inhaling xenon gas prior to the trip. Could it have helped? | 4 min read
- Astronomers have discovered a celestial object some 15,000 light-years away emitting bright flashes of radio and X-rays. They don't know how to explain it. | 3 min read
- YouTube star Derek Muller built an 18-million-subscriber YouTube empire by challenging misconceptions about science. Now he's using his own blood test results to bring attention to "forever chemicals." | 10 min read
- Bouts of extreme heat are killing oil workers. The industry is trying to kill an OSHA rule that would protect them. | 6 min read
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The building that houses NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, at the corner of Broadway and West 112th Street in New York City. Cirofono via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) | | For more than 50 years, scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) have worked from the six floors above the famous Tom's Diner from Seinfeld on the Upper West Side of New York City. Last month, NASA administrators alerted the 130 GISS employees working there that they had to vacate their offices and move out, explaining it was part of White House efforts to review government leases. Sources familiar with the situation, however, tell Scientific American the lease termination was specifically set in motion earlier this spring by an employee of the U.S. DOGE Service.Why this matters: While GISS has not been technically disbanded, many of its staff are now operating haphazardly—working remotely and scrambling to secure office space at other locations in the city. GISS scientists have made crucial contributions to Earth science and climate science: In the 1980s the scientists' findings sparked broad public awareness of anthropogenic climate change; and the team has contributed to cutting-edge weather forecasting and multiple interplanetary missions. What the experts say: "I'm now watching people who have dedicated their entire careers to understanding the most pressing issues of our time deciding whether they might have to leave the place they've built their life around," says Alessandra Quigley, an early-career scientist, who is affiliated with GISS. | | Newly hatched warty birch caterpillars are smaller than a single sesame seed and live on the very tips of leaves. Scientists found that the young caterpillars are fiercely protective of their territory. If another caterpillar wanders close by, these tiny critters launch into a series of complex vibrations like furiously drumming their heads, shaking their bodies and scraping their butts against the leaf. The scientists used close-up videos and a laser-doppler vibrometer—an instrument that can pick up a leaf's vibrations without touching it—to observe the behavior. Why this is interesting: The caterpillars likely choose leaf tips as their territories because they offer an ideal location for quick escape; if intruding bugs aren't put off by the vibrations, the caterpillar can send out a silk thread and flee.
What the experts say: Like singing birds, "these caterpillars are also declaring ownership of their territories and competing with rivals—in this case by sending vibrations through the leaf surface rather than the air," says Andrew Mason, who studies animal communication at the University of Toronto Scarborough. These findings are a glimpse into a tiny, almost invisible world. | | Biologist Juan Ramón Fernández Cardenete studies the biodiversity in the water features and gardens of the Alhambra Palace in southern Spain. "When I began working here, only two amphibian species remained; the others had disappeared owing to water pollution," he says. "Now, thanks to reintroduction efforts and careful management, four species are thriving. The individuals I'm observing today are the direct descendants of those I released years ago." Nature | 3 min | | Read every article that interests you with a subscription to Scientific American. We offer special discounts for Today in Science readers! | | - Are octopuses too smart to be farmed for food? "Considering what's known about their brain structures, sensory systems and learning capacity, it appears that cephalopods as a group may be similar in intelligence to vertebrates as a group," writes Rachel Blaser, a professor of neuroscience, cognition and behavior at the University of San Diego. "Since many societies have animal welfare standards for mice, rats, chickens and other vertebrates, logic would suggest that there's an equal case for regulations enforcing humane treatment of cephalopods." | 6 min read
| | I had the privilege of visiting the GISS offices in New York when I was living in the city for graduate school. To me they weren't different from the many academic science offices and labs I've been in over the years: Organized chaos of books and papers, poster-covered walls and halls, worn mid-century furnishings and well-used common areas and rec rooms. Science thrives on in-person collaboration. I hope the GISS researchers find a new home soon. | | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | | |
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