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Dozens of foil blister packs of white oval and round tablets, several bundled with yellow rubber bands.

A new method could spot fentanyl variants no one has cataloged yet

Researchers used machine learning to help predict chemical signatures for over 1 billion possible fentanyls, including variants never seen before.

By Rachel Berkowitz46 minutes ago

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Physics

Here’s what would happen if you tried to break a photon in half

By Maria Temming3 hours ago

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Health & Medicine

No, mastic gum won’t reshape your jaw

By Tyler Santora5 hours ago

Two Australian zebra finches perch on a branch in bright sunlight

Animals

Songs prep the brains of finches yet to hatch for a hot world

By Jake Buehler20 hours ago

a child with a red, blotchy rash on the right side of their face, a symptom of measles, sucks on a pacifier

Health & Medicine

Measles has no treatments. Changing that may not be easy

By Erin Garcia de Jesús23 hours ago

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Physics

Clocks made from an atomic nucleus just ticked on for the first time

By Emily ConoverJune 11, 2026

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Earth

Earth’s stratosphere is a mysterious superhighway for microbes

By Douglas FoxJune 10, 2026

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

Spotlight on Hantavirus

An illustration of a hantavirus with black and pink flower-like structures edged in orange poking out from a rough pink and black virus, with mottled pink background suggesting the inside of a blood vessel.

Why is hantavirus so deadly? It’s not what you may think

Andes hantavirus causes deadly lung failure, but its method of attack differs from other respiratory illnesses. The details might inform future treatments.

By Tina Hesman SaeyMay 26, 2026
Hantavirus questions grow in the wake of a cruise ship outbreak
What to know about a rare hantavirus outbreak at sea

Sponsored Partner Content

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Engineering the chamber behind ASU’s XPRIZE Healthspan bid

This article has been paid for and developed by HPO.TECH.

Science News Magazine

June 2026 issue of Science News

June 1, 2026 Vol. 208 No. 6

Featured Media

A nightjar bird flies through the air with outstretched wings against a blurry background of treetops

These birds clack their wing bones together to woo mates at night

During courtship, male scissor-tailed nightjars crack their wings together to make a sharp snapping sound. It's the result of colliding arm bones.

An animations of moving a circle around a plane of dots to include as many dot pairs as possible

AI cracked an Erdős math problem. Now experts want guardrails

A bumblebee sips from the center of a blue circle while standing on one leg on a white ball

Bumblebees can solve problems on their own

Here’s how to make an origami torus with the fewest folds possible

A gray pigeon with irridescent green neck feathers takes off from the hands of a person.

Homing pigeons may use a surprising navigation mechanism

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Life

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Humans

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Climate

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Astronomy

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Physics

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Health & Medicine

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Earth

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Science & Society

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