All Stories
- Chemistry
Element 117 earns spot on periodic table
Atoms jam-packed with 117 protons have been produced at a particle collider in Germany, confirming the discovery of a new element.
- Neuroscience
Young rats that use their brain keep more cells alive
Learning a task helps just-born cells survive in a learning and memory center of the rat brain.
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- Psychology
Basketball players richly rewarded for selfishness in playoffs
Future paychecks trip up teamwork in NBA championship tournament.
- Animals
Some birds adapt to Chernobyl’s radiation
Some birds seem to fare well in and near the Chernobyl exclusion zone, but overall the nuclear disaster has been bad news for the region’s bird populations.
- Health & Medicine
Musicians have elevated risk of hearing loss
Compared to the general public, professional musicians' risk of hearing loss and ringing in the ears is higher, a new study shows.
- Paleontology
Loblolly sets record for biggest genome
At 20 billion base pairs, the loblolly pine is the largest genome sequenced to date.
- Science & Society
Anti-leukemia vaccine reported hope of future
Fifty years ago, Science News Letter reported on the promise of a vaccine to prevent leukemia. No preventive vaccine has come to pass, but leukemia vaccines as treatments has yielded promising results.
- Animals
Bird mimicry lets hustlers keep cheating
Drongos are false alarm specialists that borrow other species’ warning sounds and freshen up their fraud.
- Microbes
Viruses buoy life at hydrothermal vents
Using hijacked genes, deep-sea viruses help sulfur-eating bacteria generate power in the plumes of hydrothermal vents.
- Neuroscience
Humans can sniff out gender
A new study adds to controversy of whether people have pheromones.
- Animals
Caiman tears make a salty snack
An ecologist observed a bee and a butterfly hovering around a caiman, engaging in lacryphagous behavior, slurping up the crocodilian’s tears.
