On Jan. 23, 2020, as the coronavirus spread in China, residents of Wuhan, where it was first identified, donned masks to go shopping. The U.S. didn't officially endorse masks as a preventive measure for the public for a number of weeks. Stringer/Getty Images hide caption
Thinking about the next pandemic keeps lots of researchers busy. Peter Zelei Images/Getty Images hide caption
Prairie voles mate for life and are frequently used to study human behavior. Todd H. Ahern/Emory University hide caption
Seeds are seen as students at Eucalyptus Elementary School in in Hawthorne, Calif., learn to plant a vegetable garden on March 13, 2019. The U.S. supply of native seeds is currently too low to respond to climate change-related events, a new report finds. David McNew/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
This image shows purified particles of mpox virus, formerly called monkeypox. Viruses like these can be genetically altered in the lab in ways that might make them more dangerous. NIAID hide caption
Of the many species the scientists photographed aboard the RV Investigator, the deep-sea batfish made one of the biggest splashes across social media. Benjamin Healley / Museums Victoria hide caption
Asteroid 2023 BU will streak about 2,200 miles above the Earth's surface on Thursday night. Its path is seen here in an image from NASA's Scout impact hazard assessment system. The moon's path is in gray. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption
An empty park outside a railway station due to a lockdown in Pyongyang. Kim Won Jin/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A nurse enrolls a participant in an HIV vaccine trial in Masaka, Uganda, an African-led project. Luke Dray/Getty Images hide caption
ICARDA lab employee Bilal Inaty cuts a lentil plant in order to test it for various diseases at the ICARDA research station in the village of Terbol in Lebanon's Bekaa valley, on Dec. 21, 2022. Dalia Khamissy for NPR hide caption
The directors of Everything Everywhere All At Once credit their "math brain" for this genre bending story, about laundromat owner Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) battling for the fate of the multiverse. A24 hide caption
Boats are pushed up on a causeway after Hurricane Ian passed through the area on September 29, 2022 in Fort Myers, Florida. Research suggests support for some climate policies increases immediately after climate-driven disasters such as Ian. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
An artist's reconstruction of adult and newly born ichthyosaur, Shonisaurus popularis, which lived during the Triassic Period. Gabriel Ugueto / Smithsonian hide caption
Abortion-rights protesters shout into the Senate chamber in the Indiana Capitol on July 25, 2022, about a month after Roe was overturned, in Indianapolis. Jon Cherry/Getty Images hide caption
Kylee Gray, a ranger with the Queensland Department of Environment and Science, holds a giant cane toad on Jan. 12 near Airlie Beach, Australia. The toad weighed 5.95 pounds. Queensland Department of Environment and Science via AP hide caption
The ROSA machine allows surgeons to zero in on areas of the brain tied to seizures, and guides a surgical arm precisely to the target. University of California, San Diego hide caption
Flat, light rocks like the ones pictured above are favored for skipping stones A new study has found that heavier rocks can also skim the water's surface. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images hide caption
Sibley Street, along with other residential roads were closed due to flooding from recent rain storms resulting in high water levels in Willow Creek, in Folsom, California. Kenneth James/California Department of Water Resources hide caption