Vaccine Chaos Is Looming
The COVID-19 vaccines furthest along in clinical trials are the fastest to make, but they are also the hardest to deploy.
Life Up Close
Coffee Rust Is Going to Ruin Your Morning
Coffee plants were supposed to be safe on this side of the Atlantic. But the fungus found them.
Can We Still Go to Mars?
The pandemic is making a journey to the red planet feel further away than ever.
Trump’s Climate Self-Own
At last night’s debate, the president got confused about his own policy—and Joe Biden’s.
The Loss That’s Killing the West’s Wildlife
The patchwork of burnt lands that once characterized fire-prone forests is disappearing.
The Plant Pandemics Just Keep on Coming
How the world’s trees got so sick
Wisconsin Is on the Brink of a Major Outbreak
The state’s coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are at an all-time high.
Fauci to a Meddling HHS Official: ‘Take a Hike’
The nation’s top public-health expert addresses political interference in the COVID-19 response, but urges Americans to focus on the winter ahead.
The United States Has Become a Disaster Area
Hurricanes in the Gulf, fires in the West, the coronavirus everywhere—the country is a mess.
The Clock Is Ticking on America’s ‘Feral Swine Bomb’
Wild pigs are running rampant—and doing billions of dollars of damage each year.
How We Survive the Winter
The coming months of the pandemic could be catastrophic. The U.S. still has ways to prepare.
No One Should ‘Colonize’ Space
Invoking language such as “manifest destiny” sends a signal about who belongs in America’s future in space and who doesn’t.
The Most Important Number for the West’s Hideous Fire Season
A little-noticed indicator was flashing red before any of the blazes began.
Something Weird Is Happening on Venus
The discovery of a strange gas in its atmosphere puts the planet “into the realm of a perhaps inhabited world,” a researcher says.
Photos of California’s Suffocating Smoke
A photographer rushed home to California to capture scenes from a historic fire season.
The Universe Might Be Too Thin
Scientists may have found a new crack in our understanding of the universe.
One Sperm Donor. 36 Children. A Mess of Lawsuits.
Parents thought Donor 9623 was a genius who spoke four languages, not a college dropout with a criminal record.
The West Has Never Felt So Small
With fires raging up and down the West Coast, and the pandemic restricting travel, the instinct to bolt has nowhere to go.
America Is Trapped in a Pandemic Spiral
As the U.S. heads toward the winter, the country is going round in circles, making the same conceptual errors that have plagued it since spring.
An ‘Absolute Explosion’ of Stuttering Breakthroughs
Researchers are getting closer to unraveling some of the deepest mysteries about the condition.
America Is Running Low on a Crucial Resource for COVID-19 Vaccines
The country is facing a monkey shortage.
What It Takes to Feed Billions of Farmed Fish Every Day
They’re usually just given ground-up fish. One company is exploring a more sustainable alternative: maggots.