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humpback whale bubble net

Animals

Humpback whales use their flippers and bubble ‘nets’ to catch fish

A study reveals new details of how humpback whales hunt using their flippers and a whirl of bubbles to capture fish.

By Sofie Bates5 hours ago

sanderling

Life

Extreme snowfall kept most plants and animals in one Arctic ecosystem from reproducing

By Jonathan Lambert10 hours ago

wave

Physics

Physicists have found quasiparticles that mimic hypothetical dark matter axions

By Emily Conover17 hours ago

Space

How the second known interstellar visitor makes ‘Oumuamua seem even odder

By Maria TemmingOctober 14, 2019

Science & Society

Economics Nobel goes to poverty-fighting science

By Bruce BowerOctober 14, 2019

Space

A supermassive black hole shredded a star and was caught in the act

By Carolyn WilkeOctober 11, 2019

Sponsored Content

Conversations with Maya: Lester Mackey

From Society for Science & the PublicOctober 9, 2019

Physics
Physicists have found quasiparticles that mimic hypothetical dark matter axions

By Emily Conover17 hours ago
Space
How the second known interstellar visitor makes ‘Oumuamua seem even odder

By Maria TemmingOctober 14, 2019
Animals
Humpback whales use their flippers and bubble ‘nets’ to catch fish

By Sofie Bates5 hours ago
Life
Extreme snowfall kept most plants and animals in one Arctic ecosystem from reproducing

By Jonathan Lambert10 hours ago
Earth
Too much groundwater pumping is draining many of the world’s rivers

By Jonathan LambertOctober 9, 2019
Quantum Physics
Photons reveal a weird effect called the quantum pigeonhole paradox

By Emily ConoverFebruary 13, 2019
Life
How tardigrades protect their DNA to defy death

By Tina Hesman SaeyOctober 10, 2019
Space
A supermassive black hole shredded a star and was caught in the act

By Carolyn WilkeOctober 11, 2019

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The SN 10: Scientists to Watch

SN 10 illustration

This year’s SN 10 enjoy the journey, not just the discovery

Meet 10 young researchers who combine persistence and passion to make headway on science’s big questions.

By Science News StaffOctober 2, 2019
Maryam Shanechi designs machines to read minds
Seth Shipman recorded a movie in DNA — and that’s just the beginning

From the Archives

More Ways than One to Kill a Bug

October 11, 1969 Vol. 96 No. #15

Science News Magazine

Cover of October 12, 2019 Science News

October 12, 2019 Vol. 196 No. 7

Featured Media

snowy owls, sanderlings, cactus wrens and Western meadowlarks

We’ve lost 3 billion birds since 1970 in North America

Scientists estimated the change in total number of individual birds since 1970. They found profound losses spread among rare and common birds alike.

How these tiny insect larvae leap without legs

Lisa with moon rocks

How NASA has kept Apollo moon rocks safe from contamination for 50 years

supermassive black hole at M87

The first picture of a black hole opens a new era of astrophysics

hominid skull reconstruction

A 3.8-million-year-old skull reveals the face of Lucy’s possible ancestors

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More Stories

Life

How tardigrades protect their DNA to defy death

By Tina Hesman SaeyOctober 10, 2019
Gene editing can make fruit flies into ‘monarch flies’

By Tina Hesman SaeyOctober 2, 2019
Michelle O’Malley seeks greener chemistry through elusive fungi

By Aimee CunninghamOctober 2, 2019

Humans

Nepal is reeling from an unprecedented dengue outbreak

By Gloria DickieOctober 7, 2019
Human embryos have extra hand muscles found in lizards but not most adults

By Tina Hesman SaeyOctober 1, 2019
Personalized diets may be the future of nutrition. But the science isn’t all there yet

By Tina Hesman SaeySeptember 30, 2019

Earth

50 years ago, an Antarctic fossil pointed to Gondwanaland’s existence

By Maria TemmingOctober 10, 2019
Too much groundwater pumping is draining many of the world’s rivers

By Jonathan LambertOctober 9, 2019
Here’s where Earth stores its carbon

By Maria TemmingOctober 1, 2019

Space

With 20 new moons, Saturn now has the most of any solar system planet

By Sofie BatesOctober 8, 2019
Why just being in the habitable zone doesn’t make exoplanets livable

By Lisa GrossmanOctober 4, 2019
A new image reveals the structure of the cosmic web

By Emily ConoverOctober 3, 2019

Physics

Physics Nobel awarded for discoveries about the universe’s evolution and exoplanets

By Emily ConoverOctober 8, 2019
Andrea Young uncovers the strange physics of 2-D materials

By Emily ConoverOctober 2, 2019
Monika Schleier-Smith leads elaborate quantum conversations

By Elizabeth QuillOctober 2, 2019

Tech

This device harnesses the cold night sky to generate electricity in the dark

By Maria TemmingSeptember 12, 2019
A new prosthetic leg that senses touch reduces phantom pain

By Laura SandersSeptember 9, 2019
A mini chemical lab could one day test for toxic nerve agents in the field

By Maria TemmingSeptember 5, 2019

Science & Society

Parag Pathak uses data and algorithms to make public education fairer

By Sujata GuptaOctober 2, 2019
3-D printed ‘ghost guns’ pose new challenges for crime-scene investigators

By Carolyn WilkeSeptember 24, 2019
How circling the globe has evolved in the 500 years since Magellan’s famous trip

By Cassie MartinSeptember 17, 2019

Chemistry

The development of the lithium-ion battery has won the chemistry Nobel Prize

By Maria TemmingOctober 9, 2019
Brett McGuire searches space for the chemistry of life

By Lisa GrossmanOctober 2, 2019
Plant-based fire retardants may offer a less toxic way to tame flames

By Maria TemmingAugust 26, 2019