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Health & Medicine

Epidemics have happened before and they’ll happen again. What will we remember?

A century’s worth of science has helped us fend off infectious pathogens. But we have a lot to learn from the people who lived and died during epidemics.

By Aimee Cunningham19 hours ago

image of two boxes of Luvox

Health & Medicine

The antidepressant fluvoxamine can keep COVID-19 patients out of the hospital

By Esther Landhuis12 hours ago

a metallic walkway in the MicroBooNE detector under construction

Particle Physics

Doubt cast on theorized ‘sterile’ particles leaves a neutrino mystery unsolved

By Emily Conover14 hours ago

Humans

Ancient human visitors complicate the Falkland Islands wolf’s origin story

By Jaime Chambers17 hours ago

Genetics

DNA from mysterious Asian mummies reveals their surprising ancestry

By Bruce Bower20 hours ago

Climate

Earth will warm 2.7 degrees Celsius based on current pledges to cut emissions

By Carolyn GramlingOctober 26, 2021

Earth

Here’s how ice needles sculpt patterns into cold, rocky landscapes

By Beth GeigerOctober 26, 2021

Genetics
DNA from mysterious Asian mummies reveals their surprising ancestry

By Bruce Bower20 hours ago
Health & Medicine
The antidepressant fluvoxamine can keep COVID-19 patients out of the hospital

By Esther Landhuis12 hours ago
Humans
Ancient human visitors complicate the Falkland Islands wolf’s origin story

By Jaime Chambers17 hours ago
Quantum Physics
Physicists used LIGO’s mirrors to approach a quantum limit

By Emily ConoverJune 17, 2021
Particle Physics
Doubt cast on theorized ‘sterile’ particles leaves a neutrino mystery unsolved

By Emily Conover14 hours ago
Climate
Earth will warm 2.7 degrees Celsius based on current pledges to cut emissions

By Carolyn GramlingOctober 26, 2021
Health & Medicine
Epidemics have happened before and they’ll happen again. What will we remember?

By Aimee Cunningham19 hours ago
Astronomy
Astronomers may have spotted the first known exoplanet in another galaxy

By Lisa GrossmanOctober 25, 2021

Century of Science from ScienceNews

Explore major advances across the sciences that have transformed our understanding of the world and our universe, and our lives.

Explore Century of Science

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The Coronavirus Pandemic

woman receiving a booster shot from a pharmacist

Here’s what we know about booster shots for Moderna’s and J&J’s COVID-19 vaccines

Immunity against the coronavirus is waning, but additional doses of the same or different COVID-19 vaccines could help protect vulnerable people.

By Erin Garcia de JesúsOctober 19, 2021
COVID-19 testing in schools works. So why aren’t more doing it?
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From the Archives

first page of the first issue of Science News Bulletin

Science News Bulletin

April 2, 1921 No. 1

Science News Magazine

cover of the October 9, 2021 issue

October 9, 2021 Vol. 200 No. 7

Featured Media

telescope image of a star cluster, which is surrounded by a blue haze

How do scientists calculate the age of a star?

There are a few different methods to determine the age of a star, but none are perfect.

a fox squirrel in a tree

Squirrels use parkour tricks when leaping from branch to branch

an elephant takes a drink from a lake

Newly recognized tricks help elephants suck up huge amounts of water

illustration of a black hole merging with a neutron star

Gravitational waves reveal the first known mergers of a black hole and neutron star

scores of small silver fish swimming

Tiny crystals give a plain fish twinkling, colorful dots under light

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More Stories

Life

How these sea-loving mangroves ended up far from the coast

By Trishla OstwalOctober 22, 2021
A beautiful oak leaf portrait won the 2021 Nikon Small World photography contest

By Erin Garcia de JesúsSeptember 13, 2021
Infants may laugh like some apes in their first months of life

By Carolyn WilkeSeptember 9, 2021

Humans

Fossils and ancient DNA paint a vibrant picture of human origins

By Erin WaymanSeptember 15, 2021
Only a tiny fraction of our DNA is uniquely human

By Tina Hesman SaeyJuly 16, 2021
‘The Joy of Sweat’ will help you make peace with perspiration

By Bethany BrookshireJuly 13, 2021

Climate

2020 babies may suffer up to seven times as many extreme heat waves as 1960s kids

By Carolyn GramlingOctober 1, 2021
‘Ice Rivers’ invites you to get to know our world’s melting glaciers

By Carolyn GramlingSeptember 24, 2021
Rice feeds half the world. Climate change’s droughts and floods put it at risk

By Nikk OgasaSeptember 24, 2021

Astronomy

Astronomers may have spotted the first known exoplanet in another galaxy

By Lisa GrossmanOctober 25, 2021
A Jupiter-like planet orbiting a white dwarf hints at our solar system’s future

By Ken CroswellOctober 13, 2021
The fastest-spinning white dwarf ever seen rotates once every 25 seconds

By Ken CroswellOctober 12, 2021

Physics

Here’s the physics of why ducklings swim in a row behind their mother

By Emily ConoverOctober 20, 2021
An atomic clock measured how general relativity warps time across a millimeter

By Emily ConoverOctober 18, 2021
Work on complex systems, including Earth’s climate, wins the physics Nobel Prize

By Emily ConoverOctober 5, 2021

Health & Medicine

What does the first successful test of a pig-to-human kidney transplant mean?

By Jonathan LambertOctober 22, 2021
A custom brain implant lifted a woman’s severe depression

By Laura SandersOctober 4, 2021
Discovering how we sense temperature and touch wins the 2021 medicine Nobel Prize

By Tina Hesman SaeyOctober 4, 2021

Earth

Earth is reflecting less light. It’s not clear if that’s a trend

By Sid PerkinsOctober 14, 2021
A volcano-induced rainy period made Earth’s climate dinosaur-friendly

By Megan SeverSeptember 30, 2021
How AI can help forecast how much Arctic sea ice will shrink

By Gloria DickieSeptember 14, 2021

Science & Society

Methods of getting results from real-world experiments win 2021 economics Nobel

By Bruce BowerOctober 11, 2021
How our SN 10 scientists have responded to tumultuous times

By Science News StaffOctober 7, 2021
The spoken word album ‘Experimental Words’ weaves rhyme with reason

By Aina AbellSeptember 29, 2021