Science News | The latest news from all areas of science

A bust shows what the face of Homo floresiensis, also known as hobbits, might have looked like.

Drought may have doomed the ‘hobbits’ of Flores

Stalagmite data suggest Homo floresiensis faced prolonged drought that stressed both them and their prey, contributing to their disappearance.

By Michael Marshall53 minutes ago

A nurse helps a mother in a hospital bed hold her newborn baby.

Health & Medicine

A CDC panel has struck down universal newborn hepatitis B vaccination

By Aimee CunninghamDecember 5, 2025

A close-up image of a fossilized human skull covered in smooth white bumps of calcification

Big Neandertal noses weren’t made for cold

By Tom MetcalfeDecember 5, 2025

Baby seahorses emerge from an opening in the yellow brood pouch of a male seahorse, which is mostly a mottled brown and white and using its tail to anchor itself to a piece of seaweed.

Animals

How male seahorses tap into their mothering side

By Elizabeth PennisiDecember 5, 2025

A pullout from an illustration of inside the body shows how a toxin implicated in colon cancer binds to DNA. The squiggly representation of the toxin holds both sides of DNA's double helix.

Health & Medicine

How a bacterial toxin linked to colon cancer messes with DNA

By Elise CuttsDecember 4, 2025

A close-up photo of hands hovering over a laptop's keyboard has an overly demonstrating the use of AI, which can alter voters' perceptions of political candidates.

Chatbots spewing facts, and falsehoods, can sway voters

By Sujata GuptaDecember 4, 2025

An illustration of a Nanotyrannus and two T. rexes competing for the carcass of another dinosaur.

Nanotyrannus is still not a teenage T. rex

By Carolyn GramlingDecember 4, 2025

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

Spotlight on Health

A picture of a man sitting on the edge of a hospital bed in front of a row of mannequins that have their rears exposed

‘Butt breathing’ could help people who can’t get oxygen the regular way

Takanori Takebe’s strange investigation into whether humans can use the gut for breathing has surprisingly sentimental origins: helping his dad.

By Maria TemmingNovember 24, 2025
Building a better skin barrier
A diet low in glutamate may ease migraines

Science News Magazine

cover of December 2025 issue of Science News

December 1, 2025 Vol. 207 No. 12

From the Archives

Stimulating the Brain to Prevent Pain

November 22, 1975 Vol. 108 No. #21

Featured Media

Protestors march outside of COP30 in Brazil

Here are 3 big ideas to combat climate change, with or without COP

As action from the U.N.’s huge COP30 international meeting falls short, smaller groups are banding together to find ways to fight climate change.

A dust storm front rolls toward the right across a reddish, rocky landscape. An electrical arc is shown in the dust front.

Listen to the crackle of Martian ‘mini-lightning’

A grainy nighttime shot from an infrared camera shows a rat perched on a ledge grabbing a slightly smaller bat as it flies by

Rats are snatching bats out of the air and eating them

A lioness is pictured with her mouth wide open mid-roar.

Lions have a second roar that no one noticed until now

A portrait of Marianne Falardeau

Combining western science with Indigenous knowledge could help the Arctic

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Life

A new dinosaur doomsday exhibit showcases survival after destruction

By Erin Garcia de JesúsNovember 21, 2025
A rice weevil frozen in flight won the 2025 Nikon Small World photo contest

By Carly KayOctober 17, 2025
We all have a (very tiny) glow of light, no movie magic needed

By Bethany BrookshireOctober 15, 2025

Humans

Ancient southern Africans took genetic evolution in a new direction

By Bruce BowerDecember 3, 2025
A therapeutic HPV vaccine shrank cervical tumors in mice

By Meghan RosenDecember 1, 2025
Napoleon’s retreating army may have been plagued by these microbes

By Meghan RosenOctober 24, 2025

Climate

Life-saving research on extreme heat comes under fire

By Nikk OgasaNovember 17, 2025
Hurricane Melissa spins into a monster storm as it bears down on Jamaica

By Carolyn GramlingOctober 28, 2025
Australia’s tropical forests now emit CO₂, clouding the COP30 talks

By Carolyn GramlingOctober 27, 2025

Astronomy

Early views of a supernova’s first moments reveal a lopsided blast

By Mara Johnson-GrohNovember 12, 2025
See the largest, most detailed radio image of the Milky Way yet

By McKenzie PrillamanNovember 4, 2025
Some planets might home brew their own water

By Javier BarbuzanoOctober 29, 2025

Physics

Twisted stacks of 2-D carbon act like a weird type of superconductor

By Emily ConoverDecember 2, 2025
Here’s how Rudolph’s light-up nose might be possible

By Maria TemmingNovember 21, 2025
Water jets may break up into droplets thanks to jiggling molecules

By Emily ConoverNovember 6, 2025

Health & Medicine

Self-hypnosis with cooling mental imagery could ease hot flashes

By Meghan RosenDecember 2, 2025
Personalized ‘prehabilitation’ helps the body brace for major surgery

By Anna GibbsDecember 1, 2025
Canada just lost its measles elimination status. Is the U.S. next?

By Erin Garcia de JesúsNovember 28, 2025

Earth

A volcanic eruption might have helped bring the Black Plague to Europe

By Carolyn GramlingDecember 4, 2025
Human-caused earthquakes are real. Here’s why even stable regions can snap

By Rohini SubrahmanyamDecember 3, 2025
Two of Greece’s most dangerous volcanoes share an underground link

By Carolyn GramlingSeptember 24, 2025

Science & Society

Gratitude can increase joy, even if it feels a little cringe

By Sujata GuptaNovember 26, 2025
Meet 5 scientists reshaping the way we understand the world

By Science News StaffNovember 21, 2025
Science has made America great. Is that era over?

By Science News StaffNovember 21, 2025