All Stories

  1. photo of a mouse standing on its hind legs in a glass bowl and peering over the edge
    Health & Medicine

    A hormone shot helped drunk mice sober up quickly

    Drunk mice injected with the hormone FGF21 woke up and regained their balance faster than inebriated mice that did not receive the shot.

    By Freda Kreier
  2. A photo take of the asteroid Ryugu. A light gray circular shape in the center on a deep black background.
    Space

    A crucial building block of life exists on the asteroid Ryugu

    A sample from Ryugu collected by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft contains uracil, a component of RNA, which is found in all living cells.

    By Allison Gasparini
  3. photo of Wilfried Mutombo Kalonji looking at a slide under a microscope as another scientist stands in the background
    Health & Medicine

    Sleeping sickness is nearing elimination. An experimental drug could help

    Clinical trials of acoziborole are under way in sub-Saharan Africa, where sleeping sickness is endemic.

    By Meghan Rosen
  4. An illustration of Candida auris. Appears as purple bubbles on a dark blue background.
    Health & Medicine

    U.S. cases of a deadly fungus nearly doubled in recent years

    Though numbers are still small, clinical cases of Candida auris in the jumped 95 percent from 2020 to 2021, a CDC survey finds.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  5. A collection of lens set up in front of a drawn portrait of Christiaan Huygens.
    Astronomy

    The mystery of Christiaan Huygens’ flawed telescopes may have been solved

    The discovery of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, may have come despite its discoverer, Christiaan Huygens, needing eyeglasses.

    By Emily Conover

  6. Readers ask about bird droppings, Ice Age cave art and more

    By Science News Staff
  7. An illustration of several Essexella sitting on the ocean floor.
    Paleontology

    310-million-year-old fossil blobs might not be jellyfish after all

    An ancient animal called Essexella may have been a type of burrowing sea anemone, a new study proposes.

    By Meghan Rosen

  8. Where does plastic go when we’re done with it?

    Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses the ubiquity of microplastics in food, water, air and the body.

    By Nancy Shute
  9. A flooded street with stormy skies overhead
    Climate

    By flying over atmospheric rivers, scientists aim to improve forecasts

    Drenching atmospheric rivers are slamming the U.S. West Coast, bringing needed water but dangerous flooding. Here’s how scientists study these storms.

    By Carolyn Gramling
  10. A close-up of rice plants
    Agriculture

    Martian soil may have all the nutrients rice needs

    Experiments hint that in the future, we might be able to grow the staple food in the soils of the Red Planet.

    By Nikk Ogasa
  11. A photo of a remotely operated vehicle exploring the Mariana Trench. It appears as a cube hovering over a lighter blue patch surrounded by darkness.
    Oceans

    50 years ago, researchers discovered a leak in Earth’s oceans

    An analysis of oceanic rocks hinted that ocean water drains into Earth’s mantle. How much makes it back into the ocean remains unclear.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  12. An illustration of Earth's center with lines running through it from on overlay map of North America.
    Earth

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

    Seismic waves suggest that Earth has a hidden heart, a distinct region within the solid part of the planet’s core.

    By Carolyn Gramling