FIRST ON THE MOON There are two astronauts in this 1969 photo. Buzz Aldrin stands on the moon near the Apollo 11 lunar lander while Neil Armstrong, reflected in Aldrin’s visor, takes the picture.
NASA
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Magazine
In the July 6 SN: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, stone tool dates face scrutiny, ocean plastic goes deep, records of Inca taxation, erosion spurred plate tectonics and more.
TRADE-OFF BROKER A protein called TCER-1 (green, seen in a microscope image in the gut and reproductive cells of a worm) helps strike a balance between immunity, fertility and longevity in nematodes.
F. Amrit and A. Ghazi/Univ. of Pittsburgh
SUPERNOVA SURPRISE The universe’s expansion rate can be measured using stellar explosions called type 1a supernovas (one remnant of such an explosion shown). A new study deepens the quandary about why some supernova measurements disagree with estimates made using light from early in the universe’s history.
CXC/NASA, Univ. of Texas
PLANTING TIME There’s room on Earth for a lot more forests, a new study finds. Planting a lot of trees soon could capture carbon and buy time to cope with climate change.
Lightscape/Unsplash
Science News
50 Years Ago
50 years ago, lambs survived but didn’t thrive inside artificial wombs
Artificial wombs to support preemie babies are closer to reality.
Growth Curve
1 week ago
News in Brief
A deadly fungus gives ‘zombie’ ants a case of lockjaw
Clues left on infected ant jaws may reveal how the ‘zombie-ant-fungus’ contracts ant muscles to make their death grip.
Sponsor Message
News in Brief
WHO declares a public health emergency over Congo’s Ebola outbreak
The yearlong Ebola outbreak in the Congo has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization.
Feature
How NASA has kept Apollo moon rocks safe from contamination for 50 years
NASA wouldn’t let our reporter touch the Apollo moon rocks. Here’s why that’s a good thing.
Science Stats
Planting trees could buy more time to fight climate change than thought
Earth has nearly a billion hectares suitable for new forests to start trapping carbon, a study finds.
Feature
Apollo astronauts left trash, mementos and experiments on the moon
Here’s what planetary scientists are learning from the remains of Apollo outposts, and how archeologists hope to preserve it.
News
This gene may help worms live longer, but not healthier
Antiaging therapies may have trade-offs, research on worms suggests.
Essay
Ancient humans used the moon as a calendar in the sky
Whether the moon was a timekeeper for early humans, as first argued during the Apollo missions, is still up for debate.
News
Scientists still can’t agree on the universe’s expansion rate
A mismatch in measurements of how fast the universe is expanding might not be real, a study hints.
Feature
Moonlight shapes how some animals move, grow and even sing
The moon’s light influences lion prey behavior, dung beetle navigation, fish growth, mass migrations and birdsong.
Science Visualized
Night-shining ‘noctilucent’ clouds have crept south this summer
Clouds high in the atmosphere that catch the sun’s rays even after sundown may be seen farther from the poles due to an increase in moisture in the air.
News
Gaps in gas disks around stars may not always mark newborn planets
New research has prompted a rethink of the theory that gaps in planet-forming disks around young stars mark spaces where planets are being created.
Feature
Accolades, skepticism and science marked Science News’ coverage of Apollo
Science News’ coverage of the Apollo program stayed focused on the science but also framed the moon missions in the broader social and political context of the era.
News
‘Sunny day’ high tide floods are on the rise along U.S. coasts
Sea level rise led to record-breaking tidal flooding in cities along the U.S. East Coast, a NOAA report found.
News
Spraying bats with ‘good’ bacteria may combat deadly white nose syndrome
Nearly half of bats infected with white nose syndrome survived through winter after being spritzed with antifungal bacteria, a small study finds.
Reviews & Previews
Celebrate the moon landing anniversary with books that go beyond the small step
New books about Apollo 11 and the mission to the moon offer something for everyone, from astronomy lovers to fans of graphic novels and self-improvement buffs.
Science Visualized
Tiny glasses help reveal how praying mantises can see in 3-D
Newfound nerve cells in praying mantises help detect different views that each of the insects’ eyes sees, a mismatch that creates depth perception.
News
This solar-powered device produces energy and cleans water at the same time
Someday, the two-for-one machine could help curb electricity and freshwater shortages.
News
3 questions seismologists are asking after the California earthquakes
After back-to-back quakes, scientists are scrambling to figure out which faults ruptured and what it means for future California quake activity.
News
Artificial intelligence has now pretty much conquered poker
A new artificial intelligence called Pluribus is a real card shark at six-player no-limit Texas Hold’em.
News in Brief
Southern right whale moms and calves may whisper to evade orcas
Mother-calf whale pairs call to each other quietly to stay in touch while avoiding attracting the attention of predators, a study suggests.
News in Brief
An ancient bird found encased in amber had a bizarrely long toe
A 99-million-year-old fossil holds a bird with an oddly long toe, which might have helped the critter hook hard-to-reach dinners.
News
Hayabusa2 may have just snagged bits of asteroid Ryugu’s insides
In its second sampling attempt, Hayabusa2 became the first spacecraft to try to pick up some of an asteroid’s guts.
News
Both fish and humans have REM-like sleep
Sleeping zebrafish have brain and body activity similar to snoozing mammals, suggesting that sleep evolved at least 450 million years ago.