AUDIOMATERIA

President Donald Trump stands on the South Lawn of the White House on May 22. | Samuel Corum/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images Nearly two decades ago, scientists made an alarming discovery in upstate New York: Bats, the world’s only flying mammal, were becoming infected with a new, deadly fungal disease that, in some cases, could wipe…

Here’s a selection of recent headlines about artificial intelligence, picked more or less at random: For some recent graduates, the AI job apocalypse may already be here Artificial intelligence threatens to raid the water reserves of Europe’s driest regions Top AI CEO foresees white-collar bloodbath Okay, not exactly at random — I did look for…

The common tailorbird, a species famous for its ability to sew its nest together — hence its name. | MD Iqbal Hossain/Getty Images Vox reader Stefanos Nasiopoulos asks: How do instincts work in animals? Do they use the same mechanism as memories? How are they different from learned behavior? For example, when the tailorbird is actually…

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, left, shares a laugh with Chief Justice John Roberts after inauguration ceremonies on January 20, 2025. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Supreme Court handed down an opinion on Thursday that reads like it was written by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, the authors of an influential book arguing that excessive regulation of…

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin says the agency is “driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion.” The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that it’s starting the process of undoing 31 environmental regulations, including a ruling that’s foundational to US climate policy. But undoing any regulation is a cumbersome process, and with the climate…

Few individual animals have ever been more important to their species than 2323M — a red wolf, dubbed Airplane Ears by advocates for his prominent extremities, who spent his brief but fruitful life on North Carolina’s Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Red wolves, smaller, rust-tinged cousins to gray wolves, are among the world’s rarest mammals,…