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A photograph of the palm Pinanga subterranea with its green palms sprouting out from brown leaf-strewn ground.

Plants

This first-of-its-kind palm plant flowers and fruits entirely underground

Though rare, plants across 33 families are known for subterranean flowering or fruiting. This is the first example in a palm.

By Darren Incorvaia3 hours ago

A photo full of rough periwinkle snails embryos. The snails within the embryos appear a beige color which stands out against the black background.

Life

These snails give live birth, and it’s the babies that may do the labor

By Susan Milius9 hours ago

Illustration of an ancient megalodon shark next to the significantly smaller modern great white shark

Life

Megalodon, the largest shark ever, may have been a long, slender giant

By Jake Buehler21 hours ago

A hand holds a stop watch

Physics

50 years ago, timekeepers deployed the newly invented leap second

By Cassie MartinJanuary 19, 2024

An image of a supermassive black hole in galaxy M87, taken by the Event Horizon Telescope. The image shows an orange-gold ring around the black hole with the brightest spot appearing toward the bottom right of the ring in this image.

Space

Astronomers have snapped a new photo of the black hole in galaxy M87

By Adam MannJanuary 18, 2024

illustration of a mysterious object orbiting a pulsar

Astronomers are puzzled over an enigmatic companion to a pulsar

By Adam MannJanuary 18, 2024

A microscope image of two cells side-by-side with a mutant cell on the left and a normal, secreting cell on the right. The cells appear purple in the image and the zigzag paths of proteins that shuttle cargo to the syringe-like secretion systems bacteria use to inject things into their hosts light up. White blobs at the edges of the cells mark the drop-off spots.

Life

How disease-causing microbes load their tiny syringes to prep an attack

By Elise CuttsJanuary 18, 2024

SN 10: Scientists to Watch

A composite of headshots of the 2023 scientists to watch

Here are 10 early-career scientists you should know about in 2023

Researchers on this year's SN 10: Scientists to Watch list are shaping our future and our understanding of ourselves.

By Science News StaffNovember 30, 2023
Evolutionary virologist Daniel Blanco-Melo seeks out ancient pathogens
Berkley Walker wants to revamp photosynthesis for a changing climate

From the Archives

A Continent for Science

January 19, 1974 Vol. 105 No. #3

Science News Magazine

Science News January 13, 2024 cover

January 13, 2024 Vol. 205 No. 1

Featured Media

A closeup of a man splashing water on his face

Here’s how 2023 became the hottest year on record

The effects of climate change were on clear display in 2023 as records not only broke, but did so by surprising amounts.

a black and white animation in which ghosts representing neutrinos pass through the earth

How ghostly neutrinos could explain the universe’s matter mystery

Jon Nelson sits next to his son.

How brain implants are treating depression

an underwater nursery made of metal bars in a tree-like shape holds pieces of corals on strings

Fake fog, ‘re-skinning’ and ‘sea-weeding’ could help coral reefs survive

A red-headed hummingbird hovers in the air in front of blurred foliage

How hummingbirds fly through spaces too narrow for their wings

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More Stories

Life

Here’s how poison dart frogs safely hoard toxins in their skin

By Erin Garcia de JesúsJanuary 8, 2024
Bacteria fossils hold the oldest signs of machinery needed for photosynthesis

By Tina Hesman SaeyJanuary 3, 2024
The Endangered Species Act is turning 50. Has it succeeded?

By Brianna RandallDecember 22, 2023

Humans

Human embryo replicas have gotten more complex. Here’s what you need to know

By Tina Hesman SaeyJuly 24, 2023
Lauren Schroeder looks beyond natural selection to rethink human evolution

By Anna GibbsJuly 11, 2023
Oldest traces of a dysentery-causing parasite were found in ancient toilets

By Freda KreierMay 25, 2023

Climate

Numbats are built to hold heat, making climate change extra risky for the marsupials

By Jake BuehlerJanuary 11, 2024
3 Antarctic glaciers show rapidly accelerated ice loss from ocean warming

By Douglas FoxDecember 18, 2023
COP28 nations agreed to ‘transition’ from fossil fuels. That’s too slow, experts say

By Carolyn GramlingDecember 15, 2023

Astronomy

A bar of stars at the center of the Milky Way looks surprisingly young

By James R. RiordonDecember 13, 2023
How tiny red stars can test ideas about the origin of life

By James R. RiordonDecember 11, 2023
50 years ago, astronomers challenged claims that Barnard’s star has a planet

By Emily ConoverDecember 7, 2023

Physics

Here’s the science behind the burbling sound of water being poured

By Emily ConoverJanuary 8, 2024
Here’s how much fruit you can take from a display before it collapses

By Darren IncorvaiaJanuary 4, 2024
Invisible comet tails of mucus slow sinking flakes of ‘marine snow’

By Emily ConoverDecember 18, 2023

Health & Medicine

Is aging without illness possible?

By Cassandra WillyardJanuary 16, 2024
The teen brain is especially susceptible to the harms of THC

By Aimee CunninghamJanuary 5, 2024
Fetuses make a protein that causes morning sickness in pregnancy

By Tina Hesman SaeyJanuary 3, 2024

Earth

STEVE and other aurora-like glows perplex scientists with their complex physics

By Maria TemmingDecember 20, 2023
Speed bumps under Thwaites Glacier could help slow its flow to the sea

By Nikk OgasaDecember 19, 2023
Here are some big-if-true scientific claims that made headlines in 2023

By Maria TemmingDecember 15, 2023

Science & Society

Most people say self-control is the same as willpower. Researchers disagree

By Sujata GuptaJanuary 3, 2024
These are the most popular Science News stories of 2023

By Science News StaffDecember 21, 2023
History buffs will dig these 5 science stories from 2023

By Saima S. IqbalDecember 19, 2023