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image of Andromeda galaxy

Andromeda’s and the Milky Way’s black holes will collide. Here’s how it may play out

Supermassive black holes in the Milky Way and Andromeda will engulf each other less than 17 million years after the galaxies merge, simulations show.

By Sid PerkinsMarch 5, 2021

noctilucent cloud as seen from International Space Station

Earth

To understand how ‘night-shining’ clouds form, scientists made one themselves

By Maria TemmingMarch 5, 2021

distraught woman sitting on a sofa with a glass of wine

Health & Medicine

COVID-19 has exacerbated a troubling U.S. health trend: premature deaths

By Bruce BowerMarch 5, 2021

Health & Medicine

Most pro athletes who got COVID-19 didn’t develop heart inflammation

By Tina Hesman SaeyMarch 4, 2021

Genetics

DNA databases are too white, so genetics doesn’t help everyone. How do we fix that?

By Tina Hesman SaeyMarch 4, 2021

Animals

Female green tree frogs have noise-canceling lungs that help them hear mates

By Jonathan LambertMarch 4, 2021

Catnip repels insects. Scientists may have finally found out how

By Erin Garcia de JesusMarch 4, 2021

Astronomy
Andromeda’s and the Milky Way’s black holes will collide. Here’s how it may play out

By Sid PerkinsMarch 5, 2021
Planetary Science
Watch real video of Perseverance’s Mars landing

By Lisa GrossmanFebruary 22, 2021
Paleontology
Predatory octopuses were drilling into clamshells at least 75 million years ago

By Carolyn GramlingMarch 2, 2021
Animals
Having more friends may help female giraffes live longer

By Susan MiliusFebruary 25, 2021
Physics
Black hole visionaries push the boundaries of knowledge in a new film

By Emily ConoverMarch 2, 2021
Particle Physics
Protons’ antimatter is even more lopsided than we thought

By Emily ConoverFebruary 24, 2021
Genetics
DNA databases are too white, so genetics doesn’t help everyone. How do we fix that?

By Tina Hesman SaeyMarch 4, 2021
Life
A new map shows where Asian giant hornets could thrive in the U.S.

By Curtis SegarraOctober 1, 2020

The Coronavirus Pandemic

masked students on the UC Boulder campus

How 5 universities tried to handle COVID-19 on campus

U.S. colleges opened in the fall with a patchwork of control measures to keep COVID-19 at bay.

By Betsy LadyzhetsFebruary 23, 2021
Making masks fit better can reduce coronavirus exposure by 96 percent
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From the Archives

Neutron Stars vs. Black Holes

February 27, 1971 Vol. 99 No. #9

Science News Magazine

cover of February 27, 2021 issue

February 27, 2021 Vol. 199 No. 4

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Explore every gravitational wave event spotted so far

close up of lasers pointed at a target

Giant lasers help re-create supernovas’ explosive, mysterious physics

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Sea butterflies’ shells determine how the snails swim

Ogre-faced spider

Ogre-faced spiders catch insects out of the air using sound instead of sight

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More Stories

Life

Meatier meals and more playtime might reduce cats’ toll on wildlife

By Jonathan LambertFebruary 11, 2021
A reeking, parasitic plant lost its body and much of its genetic blueprint

By Jake BuehlerFebruary 10, 2021
Giant worms may have burrowed into the ancient seafloor to ambush prey

By Helen ThompsonJanuary 22, 2021

Humans

Ancient humans may have deliberately voyaged to Japan’s Ryukyu Islands

By Charles ChoiDecember 3, 2020
The longest trail of fossilized human footprints hints at a risky Ice Age trek

By Aayushi PratapOctober 26, 2020
We still don’t know what COVID-19 immunity means or how long it lasts

By Erin Garcia de JesusOctober 19, 2020

Climate

Ship exhaust studies overestimate cooling from pollution-altered clouds

By Carolyn GramlingFebruary 1, 2021
How much will Africa capitalize on cheap renewable energy as its power grid grows?

By Carolyn GramlingJanuary 25, 2021
‘The New Climate War’ exposes tactics of climate change ‘inactivists’

By Carolyn GramlingJanuary 15, 2021

Astronomy

Signs of a hidden Planet Nine in the solar system may not hold up

By Lisa GrossmanFebruary 22, 2021
The first black hole ever discovered is more massive than previously thought

By Maria TemmingFebruary 18, 2021
The number of Milky Way nova explosions per year has been pinned down

By Ken CroswellFebruary 12, 2021

Physics

Black hole visionaries push the boundaries of knowledge in a new film

By Emily ConoverMarch 2, 2021
Tiny, sunlight-powered aircraft could soar beyond airplanes’ reach

By Emily ConoverFebruary 12, 2021
The Milky Way’s newfound high-energy glow hints at the secrets of cosmic rays

By Emily ConoverFebruary 2, 2021

Health & Medicine

People who have had COVID-19 might need only one shot of a coronavirus vaccine

By Tina Hesman SaeyMarch 3, 2021
A music therapist seeks to tap into long-lost memories

By Claudia Lopez LloredaMarch 1, 2021
What you need to know about J&J’s newly authorized one-shot COVID-19 vaccine

By Tina Hesman SaeyFebruary 27, 2021

Earth

Color-coded radar maps reveal a patchwork of California wildfire destruction

By Jack J. LeeFebruary 19, 2021
A magnetic field reversal 42,000 years ago may have contributed to mass extinctions

By Carolyn GramlingFebruary 18, 2021
Fin whale songs can reveal hidden features of the ocean floor

By Carolyn GramlingFebruary 11, 2021

Science & Society

‘Gory Details’ dives into the morbid, the taboo — and our minds

By Kate TravisMarch 1, 2021
Black, Hispanic and female police use force less often than white male officers

By Maria TemmingFebruary 11, 2021
Can privacy coexist with technology that reads and changes brain activity?

By Laura SandersFebruary 11, 2021