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Physics

Electrons are extremely round, a new measurement confirms

The near-perfect roundness deepens the mystery behind how the universe came to be filled with matter as opposed to antimatter.

By Emily Conover12 hours ago

A photo of a brown rat standing on its hind legs on a black background.

Life

Rats sense the wind with antennae-like whiskers above their eyes

By Jake Buehler12 hours ago

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Science & Society

California’s long-standing affirmative action ban hints at what’s to come

By Sujata Gupta19 hours ago

Climate

Antarctic sea ice has been hitting record lows for most of this year

By Carolyn GramlingJuly 5, 2023

Animals

These researchers are reimagining animal behavior through a feminist lens

By Darren IncorvaiaJuly 5, 2023

Life

A 407-million-year-old plant’s leaves skipped the usual Fibonacci spirals

By Skyler WareJuly 4, 2023

Life

In Australia, mosquitoes and possums may spread a flesh-eating disease

By Erin Garcia de JesúsJuly 3, 2023

Century of Science from ScienceNews

Explore major advances across the sciences that have transformed our understanding of the world and our universe, and our lives.

Explore Century of Science

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Spotlights

Special Report: Amazing Animals

image of an octopus

Octopuses and squid are masters of RNA editing while leaving DNA intact

Modifications to RNA could explain the intelligence and flexibility of shell-less cephalopods.

By Tina Hesman SaeyMay 19, 2023
The Sonoran Desert toad can alter your mind — it’s not the only animal
New discoveries are bringing the world of pterosaurs to life

From the Archives

A Spectacular Visitor from Deep Space

July 14, 1973 Vol. 104 No. #2

Science News Magazine

cover of the July 1, 2023 issue of Science News

July 1, 2023 Vol. 203 No. 12

Featured Media

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

How ghostly neutrinos could explain the universe’s matter mystery

If neutrinos behave differently from their antimatter counterparts, it could help explain why our cosmos is full of stuff.

A black and white image of a fruit surrounded by white lines that show the leaps of roundworms.

Static electricity helps parasitic nematodes glom onto victims

A close up photo of several ghost catfish swimming on a black background while a light is shining on some of their scales which appear iridescent.

These transparent fish turn rainbow with white light. Now, we know why

A diagram showing every nerve cell in a larval fruit fly brain, in all the colors of the rainbow, on a white backdrop

Scientists have mapped an insect brain in greater detail than ever before

telescope image of a star cluster, which is surrounded by a blue haze

How do scientists calculate the age of a star?

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More Stories

Life

Young squash bugs seek out adults’ poop for an essential microbe

By Erin Garcia de JesúsJune 28, 2023
Flowers pollinated by honeybees make lower-quality seeds

By Jude ColemanJune 27, 2023
1.6-billion-year-old steroid fossils hint at a lost world of microbial life

By Soumya SagarJune 23, 2023

Humans

Oldest traces of a dysentery-causing parasite were found in ancient toilets

By Freda KreierMay 25, 2023
Race car drivers tend to blink at the same places in each lap

By Darren IncorvaiaMay 19, 2023
‘Period’ wants to change how you think about menstruation

By Aimee CunninghamApril 14, 2023

Climate

The snow forest of North America may be about to shrink

By Nikk OgasaJune 29, 2023
Why is the North Atlantic breaking heat records?

By Sid PerkinsJune 15, 2023
Wildfire smoke is blanketing the U.S. East Coast. It won’t be the last time

By Carolyn GramlingJune 9, 2023

Astronomy

A newfound gravitational wave ‘hum’ may be from the universe’s biggest black holes

By Emily ConoverJune 28, 2023
200 years ago, the Milky Way’s central black hole briefly awoke

By Lisa GrossmanJune 28, 2023
50 years ago, a search for proof that the Maya tracked comets came up short

By Erin Garcia de JesúsJune 25, 2023

Physics

Neutrinos offer a new view of the Milky Way

By James R. RiordonJune 29, 2023
Julian Muñoz has a ‘ruler’ that could size up the early universe

By Emily ConoverJune 27, 2023
Physicists split bits of sound using quantum mechanics

By James R. RiordonJune 16, 2023

Health & Medicine

Four things to know about malaria cases in the United States

By Erin Garcia de JesúsJune 30, 2023
‘In the Blood’ traces how a lifesaving product almost didn’t make it

By Meghan RosenJune 14, 2023
Taurine slows aging in mice. Will it ever work for people?

By Laura SandersJune 8, 2023

Earth

Irrigation may be shifting Earth’s rotational axis

By Sid PerkinsJune 23, 2023
A massive cavern beneath a West Antarctic glacier is teeming with life

By Douglas FoxApril 21, 2023
The Great Salt Lake is shrinking. What can we do to stop it?

By Brianna RandallApril 17, 2023

Science & Society

Humans exploit about one-third of wild vertebrate species

By Sid PerkinsJune 29, 2023
Anténor Firmin challenged anthropology’s racist roots 150 years ago

By Sujata GuptaMay 17, 2023
Deliberate ignorance is useful in certain circumstances, researchers say

By Sujata GuptaMay 16, 2023