All Stories

  1. Earth

    The birth of a lightning bolt was caught on video

    High-speed imagery shows the formation of an electrical connection between opposing currents, offering new insight into how these flashes form.

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  2. Readers ask about shrinking toads, defining distance in an expanding universe and more

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  3. Should corporations get access to our brains?

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute reflects on how reader feedback shaped the cover story about privacy and neurotechnology. She also highlights the next theme in our Century of Science project.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    How coronavirus variants may drive reinfection and shape vaccination efforts

    New coronavirus variants could infect people who have already recovered from COVID-19 or been vaccinated, but there are still many unknowns.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    The animals that ticks bite in the U.S. South can impact Lyme disease spread

    Ticks in the north primarily attach to mice, which do a good job of infecting them with Lyme bacteria, setting up the spread to people.

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  6. Astronomy

    Two exoplanet families redefine what planetary systems can look like

    The TRAPPIST-1 and TOI-178 systems, both home to multiple bunched-up planets, have densities and orbits that defy expectations.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Nearly half a million U.S. children missed out on lead tests in early 2020

    A big drop in routine lead tests, which can identify children with elevated blood levels, is another troubling sign of the pandemic’s toll.

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  8. Animals

    A new chameleon species may be the world’s tiniest reptile

    The newly described critters, found in the northern forests of Madagascar, may be threatened by deforestation.

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  9. Neuroscience

    Famous brain sketches come to life again as embroideries

    A needlework project pays tribute to the iconic drawings of Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal.

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  10. Earth

    An upwelling of rock beneath the Atlantic may drive continents apart

    Rock rising from more than 600 kilometers deep at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge may play a more active role in plate tectonics than thought.

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  11. Animals

    How a tiny spider uses silk to lift prey 50 times its own weight

    Dropping the right silk can haul mice, lizards and other giants up off the ground.

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  12. Archaeology

    An ancient Egyptian mummy was wrapped in an unusual mud shell

    Commoners in ancient Egypt may have used mud in place of expensive resin to imitate royal mummification techniques.

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