The Fungus That's Making Cicadas Sex Crazy A fungus called Massospora produces an amphetamine in some cicadas and makes them lose control. Cicadas that are infected lose their genitals — and they don't even notice. Karen Zamora
To Be Carbon-Neutral By 2050, No New Oil And Coal Projects, Report Says "This gap between rhetoric and action needs to close if we are to have a fighting chance" of reaching emissions goals, the head of the International Energy Agency says. Bill Chappell
Scientists Say It's Time For America To End Fixation On Herd Immunity The idea of herd immunity has been sold to the public as the way out of the pandemic. Some medical experts say the idea is probably not that useful in terms of understanding how the pandemic ends. Geoff Brumfiel
Confused By CDC's Latest Mask Guidance? Here's What We've Learned The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shifted its stance this week on the need to wear masks if you're vaccinated. What's that mean for kids? For travel? For work? Experts weigh in. NPR Staff
What To Make Of The Yankees Outbreak? Scientists Say: Don't Panic, We Expected This The New York Yankees have reported eight "breakthrough" cases among vaccinated staff and a player. Scientists say the outbreak is in line with what's already known about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Becky Sullivan
Shopping Without A Mask Depends On Where You Live, Despite New CDC Guidelines CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said," We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some kind of normalcy." But local authorities are making their own decisions on relaxing the rules. Vanessa Romo
Freshly Made Plutonium From Outer Space Found On Ocean Floor Something went boom in outer space and sent radioactive stardust our way, and it's just been found at the bottom of the ocean. Nell Greenfieldboyce
Man Who Is Paralyzed Communicates By Imagining Handwriting By decoding the brain signals involved in handwriting, researchers have allowed a man who is paralyzed to transform his thoughts into words on a computer screen. Jon Hamilton
Cats Take 'If I Fits I Sits' Seriously, Even If The Space Is Just An Illusion If you've spent any time around cats, you've seen them curl up in cozy spaces. A new study on feline cognition shows that they also like to sit in snug squares created by a kind of optical illusion. Nell Greenfieldboyce
Uncovering The Neuston, A Mysterious Living Island Of Sea Creatures NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with a researcher at the University of North Carolina Asheville, Rebecca Helm, about mysterious islands made of sea creatures floating on the ocean's surface.