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Animals

The U.S.’s first open-air genetically modified mosquitoes have taken flight

After a decade of argument, Oxitec pits genetically modified mosquitoes against Florida’s spreaders of dengue and Zika.

By Susan MiliusMay 14, 2021

African elephants walking in a line

Animals

Elephants are dying in droves in Botswana. Scientists don’t know why

By Tawanda KaromboMay 14, 2021

image of the Crab Nebula

A study of Earth’s crust hints that supernovas aren’t gold mines

By Emily ConoverMay 13, 2021

Climate

Rivers might not be as resilient to drought as once thought

By Carolyn GramlingMay 13, 2021

Brain implants turn imagined handwriting into text on a screen

By Anushree DaveMay 12, 2021

Health & Medicine

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, we answer 7 lingering vaccine questions

By Erin Garcia de JesúsMay 11, 2021

Sponsored Content

Conversations with Maya: Roald Hoffmann

From Society for ScienceMay 7, 2021

Animals
The U.S.’s first open-air genetically modified mosquitoes have taken flight

By Susan MiliusMay 14, 2021
Animals
Elephants are dying in droves in Botswana. Scientists don’t know why

By Tawanda KaromboMay 14, 2021
Astronomy
A study of Earth’s crust hints that supernovas aren’t gold mines

By Emily ConoverMay 13, 2021
Space
A rare glimpse of a star before it went supernova defies expectations

By Maria TemmingMay 5, 2021
Science & Society
Vaccine hesitancy is nothing new. Here’s the damage it’s done over centuries

By Tara HaelleMay 11, 2021
Neuroscience
Brain implants turn imagined handwriting into text on a screen

By Anushree DaveMay 12, 2021
Health & Medicine
Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine recommended for adolescents by CDC committee

By Tina Hesman SaeyMay 10, 2021
Particle Physics
Protons’ antimatter is even more lopsided than we thought

By Emily ConoverFebruary 24, 2021

The Coronavirus Pandemic

scan of human brain

COVID-19 can affect the brain. New clues hint at how

Anxiety, depression and strokes can occur after infection, leaving experts to determine how the virus affects the brain.

By Laura SandersApril 27, 2021
Experts predict U.S. COVID-19 cases will dip in summer but surge in winter
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From the Archives

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Science News Bulletin

April 2, 1921 No. 1

Science News Magazine

May 8, 2021 cover

May 8, 2021 Vol. 199 No. 9

Featured Media

scores of small silver fish swimming

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

Fishes’ flashing photonic crystals may provide inspiration for ultra-miniaturized sensors that work in a living body.

Monica Quintana wears a mask and face shield and dons a gown in a hospital hallway

The surge in U.S. coronavirus cases shows a shift in who’s getting sick

microscopic image of several xenobots

Frog skin cells turned themselves into living machines

black and white image of Calder Hall power plant smokestacks

How matter’s hidden complexity unleashed the power of nuclear physics

close up of lasers pointed at a target

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

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More Stories

Life

Some viruses thwart bacterial defenses with a unique genetic alphabet

By Tina Hesman SaeyMay 5, 2021
Only 3 percent of Earth’s land hasn’t been marred by humans

By Jonathan LambertApril 15, 2021
Yawning helps lions synchronize their groups’ movements

By Jake BuehlerApril 6, 2021

Humans

Neandertal DNA from cave mud shows two waves of migration across Eurasia

By Charles Q. ChoiApril 15, 2021
New depictions of ancient hominids aim to overcome artistic biases

By Tina Hesman SaeyApril 5, 2021
Ancient humans may have deliberately voyaged to Japan’s Ryukyu Islands

By Charles Q. ChoiDecember 3, 2020

Climate

Mangrove forests on the Yucatan Peninsula store record amounts of carbon

By Carolyn GramlingMay 7, 2021
Climate change may have changed the direction of the North Pole’s drift

By Sid PerkinsApril 28, 2021
A trek under Thwaites Glacier’s ice shelf reveals specific risks of warm water

By Carolyn GramlingApril 9, 2021

Astronomy

Saturn has a fuzzy core, spread over more than half the planet’s diameter

By Ken CroswellMay 6, 2021
Mysterious ‘yellowballs’ littering the Milky Way are clusters of newborn stars

By Lisa GrossmanApril 23, 2021
Neutron stars may not be as squishy as some scientists thought

By Emily ConoverApril 20, 2021

Physics

A clock’s accuracy may be tied to the entropy it creates

By Emily ConoverApril 28, 2021
X-ray scans explain how the ‘Brazil nut effect’ works

By Maria TemmingApril 22, 2021
Newly made laser-cooled antimatter could test foundations of modern physics

By Maria TemmingApril 5, 2021

Health & Medicine

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine recommended for adolescents by CDC committee

By Tina Hesman SaeyMay 10, 2021
How India’s COVID-19 crisis became the worst in the world

By Priyanka RunwalMay 9, 2021
How a small city in Brazil may reveal how fast vaccines can curb COVID-19

By Meghie RodriguesMay 5, 2021

Earth

Lightning may be an important source of air-cleaning chemicals

By Maria TemmingApril 29, 2021
A spike in Arctic lightning strikes may be linked to climate change

By Maria TemmingApril 6, 2021
Phosphorus for Earth’s earliest life may have been forged by lightning

By Maria TemmingMarch 16, 2021

Science & Society

Vaccine hesitancy is nothing new. Here’s the damage it’s done over centuries

By Tara HaelleMay 11, 2021
How to detect, resist and counter the flood of fake news

By Alexandra WitzeMay 6, 2021
A few simple tricks make fake news stories stick in the brain

By Laura SandersMay 4, 2021