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Comet 67P's aurora

Planetary Science

Rosetta data reveal an invisible ultraviolet aurora around comet 67P

Solar wind electrons smash water molecules in the comet’s coma to make the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s version of the northern lights.

By Maria Temming20 hours ago

Ancient ostracod species mating

Animals

A tiny crustacean fossil contains roughly 100-million-year-old giant sperm

By Curtis SegarraSeptember 21, 2020

SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (left) and influenza (H1N1 shown in green)

Health & Medicine

What will happen when COVID-19 and the flu collide this fall?

By Tina Hesman SaeySeptember 18, 2020

Animals

Cheap, innovative venom treatments could save tens of thousands of snakebite victims

By Christie WilcoxSeptember 19, 2020

What we know and don’t know about wildfire smoke’s health risks

By Aimee CunninghamSeptember 18, 2020

Oceans

Underwater earthquakes’ sound waves reveal changes in ocean warming

By Carolyn GramlingSeptember 17, 2020

Sponsored Content

Conversations with Maya: Ray Kurzweil

From Society for Science & the PublicAugust 31, 2020

Animals
A tiny crustacean fossil contains roughly 100-million-year-old giant sperm

By Curtis SegarraSeptember 21, 2020
Physics
Scientists cooled a nanoparticle to the quantum limit

By Emily ConoverJanuary 30, 2020
Health & Medicine
What will happen when COVID-19 and the flu collide this fall?

By Tina Hesman SaeySeptember 18, 2020
Animals
Cheap, innovative venom treatments could save tens of thousands of snakebite victims

By Christie WilcoxSeptember 19, 2020
Planetary Science
Rosetta data reveal an invisible ultraviolet aurora around comet 67P

By Maria Temming20 hours ago
Oceans
Underwater earthquakes’ sound waves reveal changes in ocean warming

By Carolyn GramlingSeptember 17, 2020
Humans
Drones find signs of a Native American ‘Great Settlement’ beneath a Kansas pasture

By Bruce BowerSeptember 10, 2020
Health & Medicine
Lung cell images show how intense a coronavirus infection can be

By Jonathan LambertSeptember 15, 2020

The Coronavirus Outbreak

Sick woman at home

New treatments aim to treat COVID-19 early, before it gets serious

Some new drugs that may stop the coronavirus from getting into cells, or from reproducing itself, may treat the illness as soon as it’s diagnosed.

By Tina Hesman SaeyAugust 24, 2020
4 reasons you shouldn’t trash your neck gaiter based on the new mask study
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From the Archives

Human Gene Maps: A First Step toward Genetic Engineering

August 22, 1970 Vol. 98 No. #8

Science News Magazine

cover of September 9, 2020 issue

September 12, 2020 Vol. 198 No. 5

Featured Media

robotic beetle on a leaf

Methanol fuel gives this tiny beetle bot the freedom to roam

A new robot insect uses energy-dense methanol as fuel, not batteries. It could be a blueprint for future search-and-rescue bots with long run times.

photos of three mummified animals

X-rays reveal what ancient animal mummies keep under wraps

Element character illustration

Here’s how the periodic table gets new elements

diver in underwater Mexican cave

Underwater caves once hosted the Americas’ oldest known ochre mines

Teacher reads to children

Five big questions about when and how to open schools amid COVID-19

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More Stories

Life

This parasitic plant eavesdrops on its host to know when to flower

By Jonathan LambertSeptember 4, 2020
How two new fungus species got named after the COVID-19 pandemic

By Susan MiliusAugust 17, 2020
Climate change, not hunters, may have killed off woolly rhinos

By Bruce BowerAugust 13, 2020

Humans

Drones find signs of a Native American ‘Great Settlement’ beneath a Kansas pasture

By Bruce BowerSeptember 10, 2020
Puberty can repair the brain’s stress responses after hardship early in life

By Esther LandhuisAugust 28, 2020
Ancient sculptures hint at universal facial expressions across cultures

By Bruce BowerAugust 19, 2020

Climate

New maps show how warm water may reach Thwaites Glacier’s icy underbelly

By Carolyn GramlingSeptember 9, 2020
Bering Sea winter ice shrank to its lowest level in 5,500 years in 2018

By Carolyn GramlingSeptember 3, 2020
Hurricanes have names. Some climate experts say heat waves should, too

By Jack J. LeeAugust 14, 2020

Astronomy

Check out the first-ever map of the solar corona’s magnetic field

By Lisa GrossmanAugust 21, 2020
In a first, astronomers spotted a space rock turning into a comet

By Lisa GrossmanAugust 18, 2020
Hubble watched a lunar eclipse to see Earth from an alien’s perspective

By Maria TemmingAugust 17, 2020

Physics

Toy boats float upside down underneath a layer of levitated liquid

By Maria TemmingSeptember 2, 2020
Record-breaking gravitational waves reveal that midsize black holes do exist

By Emily ConoverSeptember 2, 2020
Four types of flames join forces to make this eerie ‘blue whirl’

By Emily ConoverAugust 12, 2020

Health & Medicine

Blood donations show that the United States is still nowhere near herd immunity

By Jonathan LambertSeptember 17, 2020
Lung cell images show how intense a coronavirus infection can be

By Jonathan LambertSeptember 15, 2020
Treatments that target the coronavirus in the nose might help prevent COVID-19

By Laura SandersSeptember 14, 2020

Earth

Earth’s rarest diamonds form from primordial carbon in the mantle

By Carolyn GramlingSeptember 14, 2020
What’s behind August 2020’s extreme weather? Climate change and bad luck

By Carolyn GramlingAugust 27, 2020
Improved three-week weather forecasts could save lives from disaster

By Alexandra WitzeAugust 27, 2020

Science & Society

‘The Origins of You’ explores how kids develop into their adult selves

By Bruce BowerSeptember 16, 2020
How COVID-19 worsened gender inequality in the U.S. workforce

By Sujata GuptaSeptember 9, 2020
Creative school plans could counter inequities exposed by COVID-19

By Sujata GuptaSeptember 8, 2020