Science News

Uneven supernova explosions may explain the unusual mix of elements in Milky Way stars once thought to be evidence of hypernovas.

Naegleria amoebas’ exploration skills and crawling behaviors could help explain how the brain-eating variety travel into human brains.

A female humpback whale may have spent days with her stillborn calf.

Scientists graded every river and stream in the contiguous United States, flagging specific repairs each one needs to support aquatic life.

Scientists testing potential treatments for sleep apnea made an unexpected discovery.

The 10th century treatment called Bald’s eyesalve attacks microbes in multiple ways.

Gaps in early warning systems and community preparedness contributed to the high death toll from Nepal’s debris flow.

Season 2 follows people losing their ability to speak — and the AI and brain implants helping them find their voices again.

Ancient meteorites reveal a powerful magnetic field that may have helped feed the growing sun.

Avian flu, overfishing, and a super El Niño have decimated Peru’s largest colony of Humboldt penguins.

The rare fossil hints that differences in plumage may explain why some Cretaceous-era birds survived an asteroid impact but others died.

A record player-like microscope and computer simulations solve a longtime mystery, showing that metal ions bridge DNA strands that would normally repel.

Genetic testing of two tiny tiger cats from Bolivia revealed a new species, adding a new branch to the feline family tree.

Daily sea surface temperatures in the region where El Niño develops are more extreme than at any point in recorded history.

Scientists engineered roses that made both a blue pigment and a colorless helper molecule that brought out its shade.

The steps were poorly preserved, but still hint at an ambling pace of 1.6 meters per second, roughly equivalent to a quick walking speed for a human.

The newest “Dragon Hatchling” AI model is testing whether skipping words in intermediate reasoning could cut computational cost.

Incendiamoeba cascadensis can replicate at 145° F, breaking the heat tolerance record for eukaryotes, a domain of life that includes plants and animals.

The joy that author Alexis Nikole Nelson injects into this cookbook makes foraging approachable.

The gas giant Beta Pictoris b, about 63 light-years away, has the mass of 10 Jupiters and a magnetic field thousands of times as strong as Earth’s.

A thickening cortex, as shown in MRIs, preceded amyloid-beta accumulation, a known hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, by up to seven years.

Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses existential threats to humankind: extreme heat, never-ending drought and a plan to provide Earth with sunlight on demand.

For 27 years, the Southwest has been gripped by a historic drought.

A sickle across the throat and a padlock on the toe were likely meant to keep this 17th-century Polish teen from resurrecting.

New research suggests that Paleodictyon — honeycomb-shaped formations perhaps sketched by da Vinci — are not made by soft-bodied creatures.

Solve the math puzzle from our October 2026 issue, in which a bird watcher seeks an indoor hobby.

A space satellite that would offer light on demand has astronomers asking: Who controls the night sky?

As human-caused climate warming destabilizes high mountain regions, the threat of rock-ice avalanches and other glacial hazards grows.

Major hormonal milestones in women’s lives are usually associated with changes in brain volume — but a new study shows menopause is an exception.

When AI agents hack real systems, the bigger issue may be the human choices that gave them access, autonomy and too few safeguards.

Scientists have grown human brain tissue to fill most of a mouse’s cortex, creating a new model for studying brain disease and neural circuits.

A cryptic announcement raises questions about the type of weapons and how they could be used.

Removing a type of immune cell from lymph nodes in mice reduced brain inflammation and cell damage in a model of Alzheimer’s-like disease.

Four newly described species of Australian plant bug have been named in honor of renowned recording artist Taylor Swift.

Ecologist Merritt Turetsky’s devotion to bogs, fens and other fascinating water-logged spaces saturates her new book.

Scientists are exploring new ways to regain control of overactive nervous systems including humming, tapping on the skin and cold-water immersion.

An expedition of a deep-sea trench near Australia uncovered the eerie sea spider specimens, whose glow may have been chronicled in 19th century documents.

The XENONnT detector glimpsed the ethereal subatomic particles that are born from the main type of fusion reaction that powers the sun.

OpenAI is at the center of another controversy over machines tackling big math problems.

As heatwaves become more frequent and severe, scientists are studying whether heat acclimation can help protect vulnerable populations.

Scientists are working closely with art historians to uncover scientific documentation in historic paintings.

The anniversaries come and go, but the physical and mental health of workers and survivors is still being affected by September 11, 2001.

Historic data and predictions suggest cases will rise in East Africa and southern regions, while the threat may ease in West and Central Africa.

Paleontologist Riley Black’s latest book explores how this misunderstood carnivore might have lived.

In the movie Whalefall, a sperm whale accidentally swallows a scuba diver.

For decades, researchers wondered if the Navier-Stokes equations, which describe fluid flow, break down.

Shingrix, the same vaccine that protects people from the blistering shingles rash, might also lower risk of heart disease.

Teeth and bone fragments unearthed in a cave in China, along with animal bones and stone tools, help paint a picture of Denisovan life.

By studying chickadee cognition in the wild, researchers learned smarter birds stay smart in old age, produce more young and have better gut bacteria.

An analysis of sound-making structures on preserved wings reveals the mating calls of ancient Jurassic insects, re-creating part of an ancient soundscape.