OTTAWA—Anthony Rota didn’t relish being the first Speaker in more than a century to publicly rebuke a veteran civil servant for doing what he believed was his legally required duty. But as Speaker of the House of Commons, it fell to Rota to do the bidding of the combined opposition parties last June after they…

NEW YORK—Scientists have detected a rare species of whale southeast of New York City, and the federal government is using a voluntarily protected zone to try to keep them safe. There are fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales left, according to scientists. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the protected zone, which is…

WASHINGTON—Scientists have unearthed evidence of a milestone in human culture—the earliest-known use of tobacco—in the remnants of a hearth built by early inhabitants of North America’s interior about 12,300 years ago in Utah’s Great Salt Lake Desert. Researchers discovered four charred seeds of a wild tobacco plant within the hearth contents, along with stone tools…

An international group of vaccine experts, including officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and World Health Organization (WHO), said that there is no evidence to suggest that the general population needs COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. The authors warned that if booster shots are introduced too soon, they may cause more side effects in…

SAINT-PAUL-LES-DURANCE, France—Teams working on two continents have marked similar milestones: They’ve each produced very impressive magnets. On Thursday, scientists at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in southern France took delivery of the first part of a massive magnet so strong its American manufacturer claims it can lift an aircraft carrier. Almost 60 feet tall…

If Chinese leader Xi Jinping believes his leadership is about to end, he could do something really dangerous, says U.S.–China relations analyst Gordon Chang. If rumors of top China official Dong Jingwei’s defection to the United States are true, he could reveal secrets that would overturn China’s standing with the United States, and the world…

SYDNEY—Australian scientists say they have developed the “holy grail” of blood sugar testing for diabetics, a non-invasive strip that checks glucose levels via saliva. For diabetics, managing their blood sugar levels typically means pricking their fingers multiple times a day with a lancet and then placing a drop of blood on a testing strip. Understandably,…

Does wearing a cloth or paper face mask protect you from a virus? Is the PCR test a reliable method for identifying an infection? Do lockdowns help slow the spread? Are there any safe medicines that have successfully treated or prevented COVID-19? Ask these questions to a random selection of people and you’ll probably get…

TAKOMA PARK, Md.—A plump robin wearing a tiny metal backpack with an antenna hops around a suburban yard in Takoma Park, then plucks a cicada from the ground for a snack. Ecologist Emily Williams watches through binoculars from behind a bush. On this clear spring day, she’s snooping on his dating life. “Now I’m watching…

A group of 24 scientists issued an open letter Wednesday demanding a full investigation into the origins of COVID-19 that includes a thorough examination into the possibility the virus could have escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China. The scientists said the World Health Organization’s report on the origins of the pandemic, which concluded the…