More than 30 states have medical marijuana programs — yet scientists are only allowed to use cannabis plants from one U.S. source for their research. That's set to change, as the federal government begins to add more growers to the mix. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption
A young, red-handed tamarin monkey. Some of these monkeys are changing their vocal call to better communicate with another species of tamarin. Schellhorn/ullstein bild/Getty Images hide caption
Supporters of the Asian-American community attended a rally in late March against anti-Asian violence Queens in New York. Emaz/VIEW press/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption
Professor with muscular dystrophy working with engineering students setting up adjustable stage at chemical analysis instrument in a laboratory Huntstock/Getty Images/DisabilityImages hide caption
The vaccines for COVID-19 are highly effective, but people can get infected in what appear to be extremely rare cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has decided only to investigate the cases that result in hospitalization or death. Image Point FR/NIH/NIAID/BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images hide caption
A laboratory on the campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province in May 2020. Focus has turned back to the facility as a possible origin of the coronavirus pandemic. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution, by Carlo Rovelli Riverhead hide caption
Scientists expect increasing marine heat waves to cause coral bleaching, which can result in reefs dying off. Kevin Lino/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC/ESD hide caption
A tobacco store advertises and sells Juul tobacco products in midtown Manhattan. Andrew Lichtenstein/Getty Images hide caption
Firefighters battle a brush fire last week in Santa Barbara, Calif. Climate-driven droughts make large, destructive fires more likely around the world. Scientists warn that humans are on track to cause catastrophic global warming this century. Santa Barbara County, Calif., Fire Department via AP hide caption
New guidance would ease restrictions on researching embryos in the lab. BSIP/Science Source hide caption
Scientists believe some heavy elements like iron are forged when a massive star explodes as a supernova. Plutonium's exact origins remain a mystery, but scientists think it was made by more than an ordinary supernova. Here, Cassiopeia A, a supernova remnant, was captured in a NASA image. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption
Josh Pulliam and other researchers from Jake Socha's lab at Virginia Tech drove from Blacksburg, Va., to the northern part of the state and spent days collecting and studying Brood X cicadas. Jake Socha hide caption
The Biden administration is opening the West Coast to offshore wind. Companies have largely focused on the East Coast, such as this wind farm off Block Island, R.I. Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Allen Overton, pastor of Christ Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, sued to get Flint to replace its lead pipes. If there's a flood of federal funding to remove them everywhere, Overton worries that more-affluent suburbs would rush to get it first, leaving Black and underserved communities behind. Cydni Elledge for NPR hide caption