Skip to content

Subscribe today

Every print subscription comes with full digital access

All Topics
- Health
- Humans
- Life
- Earth
- Physics
- Space

Magazine
Menu
About
SN Explores
Our Store

Donate

Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 SIGN IN

Search

Home INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921

All Topics
- Earth
- Humans
- Life
  - Animals
  - Plants
  - Ecosystems
  - Paleontology
  - Neuroscience
  - Genetics
  - Microbes
- Physics
- Space
- Tech
  - Computing
  - Artificial Intelligence
- Chemistry
- Math
- Science & Society
Health
Humans
- Humans
- Recent posts in Humans
  - Health & Medicine
    FDA significantly limits access to COVID-19 vaccines
    
    By McKenzie Prillaman7 hours ago
  - Health & Medicine
    Biden’s prostate cancer is incurable, but it is treatable
    
    By Meghan Rosen9 hours ago
  - Animals
    A ‘talking’ ape’s death signals the end of an era
    
    By Erin WaymanMay 19, 2025
Life
- Life
  - Animals
  - Plants
  - Ecosystems
  - Paleontology
  - Neuroscience
  - Genetics
  - Microbes
- Recent posts in Life
  - Animals
    Juvenile capuchins are kidnapping infants of another monkey species
    
    By Freda KreierMay 19, 2025
  - Animals
    A ‘talking’ ape’s death signals the end of an era
    
    By Erin WaymanMay 19, 2025
  - Science & Society
    Some science seems silly, but it’s still worthwhile
    
    By Karen KwonMay 16, 2025
Earth
- Earth
- Recent posts in Earth
  - Oceans
    Seafloor amber may hold hints of a tsunami 115 million years ago
    
    By Katherine KorneiMay 15, 2025
  - Animals
    This tool-wielding assassin turns its prey’s defenses into a trap
    
    By Siddhant PusdekarMay 12, 2025
  - Environment
    Skyborne specks of life may influence rainfall patterns
    
    By Nikk OgasaMay 12, 2025
Physics
- Physics
- Recent posts in Physics
  - Quantum Physics
    The unsung women of quantum physics get their due
    
    By Emily Conover15 hours ago
  - Quantum Physics
    As quantum mechanics turns 100, a new revolution is under way
    
    By Emily Conover17 hours ago
  - Tech
    New audio tech could let you listen privately without headphones
    
    By Ananya PalivelaMay 16, 2025
Space
- Space
- Recent posts in Space
  - Space
    Perseverance takes the first picture of a visible Martian aurora
    
    By Nikk OgasaMay 14, 2025
  - Space
    A Soviet spacecraft has returned to Earth
    
    By Lisa GrossmanMay 5, 2025
  - Astronomy
    A gas cloud 5,500 times as massive as the sun lurks nearby
    
    By Mara Johnson-GrohMay 2, 2025

Feature

Seeking Stellar Flares in a Deceptive Sky

Share this:

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
Print

By Science News

Magazine Issue: Vol. 135 No. #8, February 25, 1989

Having trouble viewing this? Open in a new window

Questions or comments on this article? E-mail us at feedback@sciencenews.org | Reprints FAQ

A version of this article appears in the February 25, 1989 issue of Science News.

We are at a critical time and supporting climate journalism is more important than ever. Science News and our parent organization, the Society for Science, need your help to strengthen environmental literacy and ensure that our response to climate change is informed by science.

Please subscribe to Science News and add $16 to expand science literacy and understanding.

Related Stories

Health & Medicine
FDA significantly limits access to COVID-19 vaccines

By McKenzie Prillaman7 hours ago
Health & Medicine
Biden’s prostate cancer is incurable, but it is treatable

By Meghan Rosen9 hours ago
Quantum Physics
The unsung women of quantum physics get their due

By Emily Conover15 hours ago

Science News

Science News was founded in 1921 as an independent, nonprofit source of accurate information on the latest news of science, medicine and technology. Today, our mission remains the same: to empower people to evaluate the news and the world around them. It is published by the Society for Science, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education (EIN 53-0196483).

Science News Explores
Science News Learning

Subscriber Services

Subscribe
Renew
Give a Gift Subscription
Customer Service

Follow Science News on Facebook
Follow Science News on X
Follow Science News via RSS
Follow Science News on Instagram
Follow Science News on YouTube
Follow Science News on TikTok

More Information

FAQ
Newsletters
Rights & Permissions
Advertise
Contact

Society for Science

About the Society
Society Store
Donate
Careers

© Society for Science & the Public 2000–2025. All rights reserved.

1719 N St. NW, Washington, DC 20036 202.785.2255

Terms of Service Privacy Policy

Log in

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.

Not a subscriber?
Become one now.

Client key* E-mail Address*