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Health & Medicine

Why African-Americans may be especially vulnerable to COVID-19

African-Americans are more likely to die from COVID-19 than white Americans, data show. Experts blame long-standing health disparities.

By Sujata Gupta6 mins ago

EHT black hole image

Physics

A year after the first black hole image, the EHT has been stymied by the coronavirus

By Lisa Grossman9 hours ago

Health & Medicine

Meet Sophia Upshaw, a volunteer in a coronavirus vaccine trial

By Laura Sanders6 hours ago

Coronavirus Outbreak

Warm weather probably won’t slow COVID-19 transmission much

By Jonathan LambertApril 9, 2020

Science & Society

How materials science has changed humankind — for better and worse

By Emily Conover7 hours ago

Health & Medicine

Can fabric masks stem the coronavirus’ spread?

By Erin Garcia de Jesus23 hours ago

Physics

Collisions reveal new evidence of ‘anyon’ quasiparticles’ existence

By Emily ConoverApril 9, 2020

Health & Medicine
Can fabric masks stem the coronavirus’ spread?

By Erin Garcia de Jesus23 hours ago
Health & Medicine
When will the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing end?

By Jonathan LambertMarch 24, 2020
Paleontology
Two primate lineages crossed the Atlantic millions of years ago

By Bruce BowerApril 9, 2020
Genetics
No, the coronavirus wasn’t made in a lab. A genetic analysis shows it’s from nature

By Tina Hesman SaeyMarch 26, 2020
Health & Medicine
Warm weather probably won’t slow COVID-19 transmission much

By Jonathan LambertApril 9, 2020
Physics
A year after the first black hole image, the EHT has been stymied by the coronavirus

By Lisa Grossman9 hours ago
Archaeology
This is the oldest known string. It was made by a Neandertal

By Bruce BowerApril 9, 2020
Space
New search methods are ramping up the hunt for alien intelligence

By Maria TemmingApril 8, 2020

2019 Novel Coronavirus Pandemic

SEM image of SARS-CoV-2

As the coronavirus outbreak evolves, we answer some key questions

As the new coronavirus spreads, we are updating this FAQ with the latest on the race to understand the virus and stop the growing global health crisis.

By Science News StaffMarch 4, 2020
Face mask shortages have sparked creative solutions. Will they work?
A cat appears to have caught the coronavirus, but it’s complicated

From the Archives

Era of Plastic Hearts

April 11, 1970 Vol. 97 No. #15

Science News Magazine

cover of April 11, 2020 issue

April 11, 2020 Vol. 197 No. 7

Featured Media

How thin, delicate butterfly wings keep from overheating

Structures in butterfly wings help living tissues such as veins release more heat than the rest of the wing.

green glow in the night sky - an aurora named the "dunes"

Here are 5 of the weirdest auroras, including the newly spotted ‘dunes’

How bacteria create flower art

Plasma on solar surface

These are the most detailed images of the sun ever taken

PigeonBot

‘PigeonBot’ is the first robot that can bend its wings like a real bird

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More Stories

Life

The Great Barrier Reef is suffering its most widespread bleaching ever recorded

By John PickrellApril 7, 2020
Algae use flagella to trot, gallop and move with gaits all their own

By Susan MiliusApril 6, 2020
A new book captures how genetics fills in the story of life’s evolution

By Sid PerkinsMarch 20, 2020

Humans

Evolving an arch across the foot’s width helped hominids walk upright

By Erin Garcia de JesusFebruary 26, 2020
The earliest known hominid interbreeding occurred 700,000 years ago

By Bruce BowerFebruary 20, 2020
Some West Africans may have genes from an ancient ‘ghost’ hominid

By Bruce BowerFebruary 12, 2020

Climate

The largest Arctic ozone hole ever measured is hovering over the North Pole

By Carolyn GramlingApril 7, 2020
These women endured a winter in the high Arctic for citizen science

By Maria TemmingMarch 30, 2020
How Hurricane Maria’s heavy rains devastated Puerto Rico’s forests

By Maria TemmingMarch 17, 2020

Astronomy

The star Betelgeuse might just be dusty, not about to explode

By Lisa GrossmanMarch 12, 2020
Heavy metal may rain from the skies of planet WASP 76b

By Maria TemmingMarch 11, 2020
Molecular oxygen has been spotted beyond the Milky Way for the first time

By Ken CroswellFebruary 18, 2020

Physics

A mysterious superconductor’s wave could reveal the physics behind the materials

By Emily ConoverApril 1, 2020
Einstein’s letters illuminate a mind grappling with quantum mechanics

By Tom SiegfriedMarch 30, 2020
New telescopes could help spot ‘photon ring’ of the first black hole ever imaged

By Emily ConoverMarch 18, 2020

Health & Medicine

Can plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients treat the sick?

By Aimee CunninghamApril 3, 2020
Just breathing or talking may be enough to spread COVID-19 after all

By Tina Hesman SaeyApril 2, 2020
How coronavirus control measures could affect its global death toll

By Erin Garcia de JesusApril 1, 2020

Earth

Roughly 90 million years ago, a rainforest grew near the South Pole

By Carolyn GramlingApril 1, 2020
Tiny meteorites suggest ancient Earth had a carbon dioxide–rich atmosphere

By Carolyn GramlingJanuary 29, 2020
Fed by human-caused erosion, many river deltas are growing

By Carolyn GramlingJanuary 22, 2020

Science & Society

The U.S. has resisted the metric system for more than 50 years

By Cassie MartinApril 3, 2020
How the U.S. census has measured race over 230 years

By Betsy LadyzhetsMarch 12, 2020
New electrodes can better capture brain waves of people with natural hair

By Laura SandersMarch 11, 2020