Science News | The latest news from all areas of science

Subscribe or renew today

An illustration of the Parker Solar Probe heading towards the sun with orange light streaks shooting around it.

The Parker Solar Probe may have spotted the origin of high-speed solar winds

Kinks in the magnetic fields near the surface of the sun appear to be the cause of fast-moving flows in the solar wind.

By James R. Riordon8 hours ago

A snapshot of a collapsing star spewing jets, colored red and green, outward against the backdrop of space

A simulation of a dying star shows how it could create gravitational waves

By Lisa Grossman12 hours ago

A photo of a male Japanese macaque sitting on a rock with a blurry forest in the background.

Animals

When and why did masturbation evolve in primates? A new study provides clues

By Darren Incorvaia24 hours ago

Life

A gene therapy shot might keep cats from getting pregnant without being spayed

By Erin Garcia de JesúsJune 6, 2023

Marjorie Weber explores plant-protecting ants and other wonders of evolution

By Meghan RosenJune 6, 2023

Homo naledi may have dug cave graves and carved marks into cave walls

By Bruce BowerJune 5, 2023

Life

Air pollution monitoring may accidentally help scientists track biodiversity

By Erin Garcia de JesúsJune 5, 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

Themes

Connections

Milestones

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

An Eventful First Week in Space for the Crew of Skylab

June 2, 1973 Vol. 103 No. #22

Science News Magazine

Science News cover of June 3, 2023 issue

June 3, 2023 Vol. 203 No. 10

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?

Follow Science News

More Stories

Life

Coral reefs host millions of bacteria, revealing Earth’s hidden biodiversity

By Erin Garcia de JesúsJune 1, 2023
5,000 deep-sea animals new to science turned up in ocean records

By Jude ColemanMay 25, 2023
Spiny mice have armadillo-like armor in their tails

By Jake BuehlerMay 24, 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

Why the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season is especially hard to predict

By Carolyn GramlingMay 26, 2023
There’s good and bad news with California’s electric vehicle program

By Carolyn GramlingMay 12, 2023
Thawing permafrost may unleash industrial pollution across the Arctic

By Nikk OgasaApril 26, 2023

Astronomy

Weird black holes may hold secrets of the early universe

By Ashley YeagerJune 2, 2023
The first radiation belt outside the solar system has been spotted

By Lisa GrossmanMay 15, 2023
A reappearing supernova offers a new measure of the universe’s expansion

By James R. RiordonMay 11, 2023

Physics

Measurements of a key radioactive decay nudge a nuclear clock closer to reality

By Emily ConoverJune 1, 2023
Science explains why shouting into the wind seems futile

By Emily ConoverMay 11, 2023
Black holes resolve paradoxes by destroying quantum states

By Lisa GrossmanApril 28, 2023

Health & Medicine

With tools from Silicon Valley, Quinton Smith builds lab-made organs

By Erin Garcia de JesúsMay 30, 2023
How over-the-counter birth control pills could improve reproductive health

By Aimee CunninghamMay 19, 2023
As U.S. courts weigh in on mifepristone, here’s the abortion pill’s safety record

By Meghan RosenMay 18, 2023

Earth

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
Earth’s inner core may be more complex than researchers thought

By Carolyn GramlingMarch 16, 2023

Science & Society

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
The Smithsonian’s ‘Lights Out’ inspires visitors to save the fading night sky

By McKenzie PrillamanApril 11, 2023