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Health & Medicine

What you need to know about J&J’s newly authorized one-shot COVID-19 vaccine

Even as a third COVID-19 vaccine becomes available in the United States, questions remain over how well it works and if people will take it.

By Tina Hesman Saey4 hours ago

worker checking a vaccine shipment

Health & Medicine

Global inequity in COVID-19 vaccination is more than a moral problem

By Jonathan LambertFebruary 26, 2021

Coronal mass ejection from July 2012

Space

Solar storms can wreak havoc. We need better space weather forecasts

By Ramin SkibbaFebruary 26, 2021

Health & Medicine

Can a COVID-19 vaccine’s second dose be delayed? It’s complicated

By Tina Hesman SaeyFebruary 26, 2021

Animals

A single male lyrebird can mimic the sound of an entire flock

By Jake BuehlerFebruary 25, 2021

Tech

A new laser-based random number generator is the fastest of its kind

By Maria TemmingFebruary 25, 2021

Animals

Having more friends may help female giraffes live longer

By Susan MiliusFebruary 25, 2021

Space
Solar storms can wreak havoc. We need better space weather forecasts

By Ramin SkibbaFebruary 26, 2021
Health & Medicine
Can a COVID-19 vaccine’s second dose be delayed? It’s complicated

By Tina Hesman SaeyFebruary 26, 2021
Anthropology
A body burned inside a hut 20,000 years ago signaled shifting views of death

By Bruce BowerFebruary 16, 2021
Animals
A single male lyrebird can mimic the sound of an entire flock

By Jake BuehlerFebruary 25, 2021
Life
A new map shows where Asian giant hornets could thrive in the U.S.

By Curtis SegarraOctober 1, 2020
Planetary Science
Watch real video of Perseverance’s Mars landing

By Lisa GrossmanFebruary 22, 2021
Health & Medicine
The antidepressant fluvoxamine could keep mild COVID-19 from worsening

By Esther LandhuisFebruary 1, 2021
Health & Medicine
COVID-19 vaccines may be ready for teens this summer

By Aimee CunninghamFebruary 25, 2021

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

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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

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
Diamond holds up at pressures more than five times those in Earth’s core

By Emily ConoverJanuary 27, 2021

Health & Medicine

COVID-19 vaccines may be ready for teens this summer

By Aimee CunninghamFebruary 25, 2021
Redefining ‘flesh-colored’ bandages makes medicine more inclusive

By Sujata GuptaFebruary 24, 2021
The U.K. approved the world’s first COVID-19 human challenge trial

By Jonathan LambertFebruary 18, 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

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
‘Under a White Sky’ explores whether we must tinker with nature to save it

By Jonathan LambertFebruary 8, 2021