All Stories

  1. Life

    Human evolution tied to a small fraction of the genome

    Natural selection has concentrated on a small portion of the human genome, and mostly not on genes themselves.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  2. Physics

    Speed of light not so constant after all

    Even in vacuum conditions, light can move slower than its maximum speed depending on the structure of its pulses.

    By Andrew Grant
  3. Climate

    2014 was Earth’s warmest year on record

    Record-hot 2014 marks the 38th consecutive year of temperatures above the 20th century’s average.

    By Beth Mole
  4. Animals

    Lemurs aren’t pets

    The first survey of lemur ownership in Madagascar finds that thousands of the rare primates are held in households.

    By Sarah Zielinski
  5. Planetary Science

    Mars orbiter locates lost Beagle 2 lander

    The Beagle 2 lander, missing since 2003, has been found on the surface of the Red Planet in images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

    By Christopher Crockett
  6. Tech

    Using Facebook ‘likes,’ computer pegs people’s personalities

    Using limited data from Facebook, computers can outdo humans in assessing a user’s openness, neuroticism and other personality traits.

    By Rachel Ehrenberg
  7. Earth

    Faulty thermometers exaggerated western U.S. mountain warming

    Defective thermometers used in snowpack and ecology research overstated warming in western U.S. mountains.

    By Thomas Sumner
  8. Science & Society

    Attitude, not aptitude, may contribute to the gender gap

    Does talent or hard work matter most? A new survey suggests an emphasis on genius predicts how many women end up in a field of study.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  9. Life

    Fossilized fish skull shakes up the evolutionary history of jaws

    Analysis of a 415-million-year-old fossilized fish skull suggest that the earliest jawed vertebrates probably looked a lot like modern bony fish.

    By Helen Thompson
  10. Animals

    Mountain migration is a roller coaster for bar-headed geese

    Bar-headed geese rise and fall to match terrain below them when migrating over the Himalayas.

    By Kate Baggaley
  11. Astronomy

    Rocky planets around cool stars may have Earthlike climates

    Small, rocky planets that sit close to cool stars might be able to keep spinning, creating conditions hospitable to life.

    By Christopher Crockett
  12. Quantum Physics

    Physicists debate whether quantum math is as real as atoms

    Physicists debate whether quantum states are as real as atoms or are just tools for forecasting phenomena.

    By Tom Siegfried