All Stories
- Physics
No player can return this killer shot. Physics explains how it works
Squash’s killer “nick shot” has a formula. It’s all about height and timing, a new study shows.
- Health & Medicine
Mailed self-sample kits boosted cervical cancer screening
People who are uninsured or part of a minority racial or ethnic group are underscreened for cervical cancer. Mailing them a self-sample kit may help.
- Paleontology
Zombifying fungi have been infecting insects for 99 million years
Two bits of amber discovered in a lab basement hold ancient evidence of a fungi famous for controlling the minds of its victims.
- Animals
Killer whales may use kelp brushes to slough off rough skin
The whales use quick body movements to tear pieces of bull kelp for use as tools, perhaps the first known toolmaking by a marine mammal.
- Chemistry
Modified bacteria convert plastic waste into pain reliever
With genetic tweaks, E. coli turned 92 percent of broken-down plastic into acetaminophen, charting a path to upcycle plastic waste sustainably.
- Astronomy
Two spacecraft created their first images of an artificial solar eclipse
The Proba-3 spacecraft succeed at creating solar eclipses, kicking off a two-year mission to study the sun’s mysterious outer atmosphere, the corona.
- Space
Distant nebulae star in one of the first images from the Rubin Observatory
These are the first public images collected by the Chile-based observatory, which will begin a decade-long survey of the southern sky later this year.
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Which animal should scare you more?
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses which should scare you more: sharks or ticks and fungus — and why sharks might actually be the least of your worries.
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- Health & Medicine
Cancer DNA is detectable in blood years before diagnosis
Tiny, newly formed tumors shed small fragments of DNA that are swept into the bloodstream. Future cancer screening tests could detect them early.
- Health & Medicine
Want to eat healthier? Add to your diet, rather than limit it
Nutrition experts say add more greens and beans to your diet; cooking classes can teach people to make these nutrient-dense foods taste delicious.
- Animals
50 years after ‘Jaws,’ sharks face their own terror
Humans have driven sharks and their cousins to the brink of extinction. The health of the entire ocean is at stake.
