All Stories
- Life
Tweaking the pattern equations
A more than 60-year-old theory about how patterns in nature form gets an update.
- Science & Society
Science News’ favorite books of 2015
The Science News staff offers its must-read picks of 2015.
- Earth
Solid inner, inner core may be relic of Earth’s earliest days
Earth’s innermost inner core may have formed billions of years earlier than previously thought, shortly after the planet’s accretion.
- Physics
Pulsar pair ripples spacetime
A pair of pulsars gives scientists the best evidence so far for gravitational waves, which have yet to be detected directly.
- Animals
Fog ferries mercury from the ocean to land animals
Scientists have traced mercury in the waters of the Pacific Ocean to animals, including mountain lions, in California.
- Climate
Why some rainbows are all red
Red rainbows are caused by the position of the sun in the sky, appearing more often during sunrise and sunset, new research finds.
- Life
Upending daily rhythm triggers fat cell growth
Constant production of stress hormone spurs fat growth.
- Planetary Science
Cassini spacecraft preps for one last flyby of Enceladus
December 19 marks the last time the Cassini spacecraft flies in for a close look at the Saturnian moon Enceladus.
- Genetics
Roosters run afoul of genetic rules
Moms aren’t always the only ones that pass mitochondrial DNA to offspring, a study of chickens finds.
- Climate
Fireworks brighten the sky but dampen the view
Fireworks and other pyrotechnics severely reduce visibility during celebrations such as New Year’s Eve and Guy Fawkes Day, researchers report.
- Climate
Ice rafts traveling farther and faster across the Arctic Ocean
Climate change may be causing Arctic sea ice to travel farther and faster than it did 15 years ago, taking pollutants and other material along for the ride.
- Physics
General relativity caught in action around black hole
X-rays enable scientists to spot a black hole twisting the surrounding fabric of spacetime, just as Einstein’s theory predicts.
