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Three stinky plant flowers that have independently evolved the ability to make the scent of death and dung are shown. On the left, a fly crawls over the small green bell shaped flowers with brown edges of an evergreen shrub Eurya japonica. In the center a large barrel shaped maw of Asarum simile has three large petal-like arm with a red and white ring resembling rows of teeth surrounding a central hole. On the right is Symplocarpus renifolius with a green shoot and a huge red leaf that flops over at the tip and curves to create a cavern from which peeks a spiky, egg-shaped structure.

Plants

Putrid plants can reek of hot rotting flesh with one evolutionary trick

Some stinky plants independently evolved an enzyme to take the same molecule behind our bad breath and turn it into the smell of rotting flesh.

By Tina Hesman Saey15 hours ago

An image of the National Institutes of Health

Science & Society

$1.8 billion in NIH grant cuts hit minority health research the hardest

By Sujata Gupta17 hours ago

A pile of colorful disposable vape pens with various flavors labeled, such as strawberry ice, blue razz lemonade, mango, apple peach and blueberry raspberry.

Health & Medicine

Teens who want to quit vaping have another medication option

By Aimee Cunningham20 hours ago

A young woman soaks in ice water in a metal tub.

Health & Medicine

Do cold-water plunges really speed post-workout muscle recovery?

By Laura SandersMay 7, 2025

Close-up views of a pointed, yellowish-brown ancient bone fragment shown from three different angles against a black background, displaying its weathered texture and dark speckled markings.

Neandertals invented bone-tipped spears all on their own

By Taylor Mitchell BrownMay 7, 2025

hundreds of mound-shaped stromatolites in shallow water

Oceans

Before altering the air, microbes oxygenated large swaths of the sea

By Nikk OgasaMay 7, 2025

The small British island of Saint Michael's Mount pictured from a nearby beach, with trees and buildings dotting the small island in golden light

British tin might have fueled the rise of some Bronze Age civilizations

By Bruce BowerMay 6, 2025

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

Spotlight on Health

A child in sunglasses has dental tools inserted in mouth by practitioner wearing blue gloves.

Two cities stopped adding fluoride to water. Science reveals what happened

As calls to end fluoride in water get louder, changes to the dental health of children in Calgary, Canada, and Juneau, Alaska, may provide a cautionary tale.

By Alex ViverosApril 28, 2025
A man let snakes bite him 202 times. His blood helped create a new antivenom
Ozempic and Wegovy ingredient may reverse signs of liver disease

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Anna-Katrina Shedletsky, Founder and CEO of Instrumental

Conversations with Maya: Anna-Katrina Shedletsky

This article has been paid for and developed by Society for Science.

Science News Magazine

Cover of Science News' May 2025 issue featuring a Spinosaurus on the cover

May 1, 2025 Vol. 207 No. 5

Featured Media

A Yangtze finless porpoise looking towards the camera through the glass in a dolphinarium at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Ancient poems document the decline of the Yangtze finless porpoise

The porpoise is critically endangered. Ancient Chinese poems reveal the animal’s range has dropped about 65 percent over the past 1,400 years.

A black and white photograph from a low angle of a chess board with pieces set up for play. White chess pieces are on the left side of the board, while black pieces are on the right. In the center, a white pawn faces a black pawn.

Chess players rely on familiar moves even when the game changes

a hand reaches down into an illuminated screen displaying a 3-D graphic of a car

A new 3-D display lets you reach in and touch virtual objects

Six caterpillar cases covered in spikey body parts of insects and spiders.

This caterpillar wears the body parts of insect prey

An artistic rendering of communal hunting, showing people with spears and horses.

Ancient horse hunts challenge ideas of ‘modern’ human behavior

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More Stories

Life

Gila monsters may struggle to survive climate change

By Jake BuehlerApril 4, 2025
Dark coats may have helped the earliest mammals hide from hungry dinosaurs

By Jake BuehlerMarch 13, 2025
A new book chronicles the science of life in the air

By Andrea TamayoFebruary 25, 2025

Humans

Biological sex is not as simple as male or female

By Tina Hesman SaeyFebruary 20, 2025
How child soldiers heal after the trauma of war

By Elizabeth QuillJanuary 10, 2025
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Climate

Losing a key U.S. climate report would hurt future disaster prep

By Carolyn GramlingMay 2, 2025
Wetland bacteria could make more methane in a warming world

By Carolyn GramlingApril 23, 2025
Earth’s landmasses lost trillions of tons of water this century

By Carolyn GramlingApril 21, 2025

Astronomy

A gas cloud 5,500 times as massive as the sun lurks nearby

By Mara Johnson-GrohMay 2, 2025
A gas clump in the Milky Way’s neighborhood might be a ‘dark galaxy’

By Mara Johnson-GrohApril 18, 2025
A claimed hint of alien life whips up spirited debate

By Lisa GrossmanApril 17, 2025

Physics

Physicists explain how cheese rosettes form

By Emily ConoverMay 6, 2025
Here’s how we might generate electricity from rain

By Jude ColemanApril 29, 2025
Imitation dark matter axions have arrived. They could reveal the real thing

By Emily ConoverApril 16, 2025

Health & Medicine

Lining medical stents with hairlike fuzz could fend off infections

By McKenzie PrillamanMay 6, 2025
Bird flu in cows shows no signs of adapting to humans — yet

By Tina Hesman SaeyApril 28, 2025
Autism rates rose again. Experts explain why

By Tina Hesman Saey and Laura SandersApril 21, 2025

Earth

The United States’ oldest known rock has existed for at least 3.6 billion years

By Evan HowellApril 25, 2025
The ozone layer shields life on Earth. We’ll soon lose a key way to monitor its health

By Nikk OgasaApril 4, 2025
More details about the Myanmar earthquake are emerging

By Carolyn GramlingApril 1, 2025

Science & Society

Federal cuts put help for mental health and drug addiction in peril

By Laura SandersApril 14, 2025
‘Pseudoscience’ digs into the allure and dangers of believing fake science

By Sibani RamApril 14, 2025
5 years after COVID-19 became a pandemic, are we ready for what’s next?

By McKenzie PrillamanMarch 10, 2025