All Stories
- Life
Pollen-deprived bumblebees may speed up plant blooming by biting leaves
In a pollen shortage, some bees nick holes in tomato leaves that accelerate flowering, and pollen production, by weeks.
- Health & Medicine
There are two versions of the coronavirus. One’s not more dangerous than the other
Factors such as a person’s age and white blood cell counts matter more for disease severity when it comes to COVID-19, a study finds.
- Earth
Up to 220 million people globally may be at risk of arsenic-contaminated water
A new world map highlights possible hot spots of arsenic contamination in groundwater.
- Space
Stunning images of swirling gas and dust may show a planet forming
Infrared images show a spiral of gas and dust around a star 520 light-years away. A smaller, tantalizing twist hints at where a planet is coalescing.
- Health & Medicine
As we wait for a vaccine, here’s a snapshot of potential COVID-19 treatments
Though a vaccine remains the ultimate goal, researchers are on the hunt for new ways to treat COVID-19.
- Astronomy
The oldest disk galaxy yet found formed more than 12 billion years ago
A spinning disk galaxy similar to the Milky Way formed just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, much earlier than astronomers thought was possible.
- Tech
A new artificial eye mimics and may outperform human eyes
A new artificial eyeball boasts a field of view and reaction time similar to that of real eyes.
- Genetics
The oldest genetic link between Asians and Native Americans was found in Siberia
DNA from a fragment of a 14,000-year-old tooth suggests that Native Americans have widespread Asian ancestry.
- Humans
Births in the United States have dropped to a 34-year low
Recessions can influence the birth rate, but births haven’t rebounded yet since the country’s last economic downturn in the late 2000s.
- Health & Medicine
New data suggest people aren’t getting reinfected with the coronavirus
People who recover from COVID-19 but later test positive again for the coronavirus don’t carry infectious virus, a study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Indoor, high-intensity fitness classes may help spread the coronavirus
As more U.S. states reopen and people return to public life, dance fitness classes in South Korea tell a cautionary tale.
- Climate
Daily global CO2 emissions dropped dramatically as COVID-19 kept people home
Daily carbon dioxide emissions in early April were 17 percent lower than average daily emissions for 2019, thanks to government policies to restrict the spread of the coronavirus.
