Feature
- Astronomy
Temperamental Monsters
A new theory suggests that many huge stars undergo outbursts during which they shed most of their mass late in life rather than doing it gradually over their 3-to-4-million-year lifetimes.
- Health & Medicine
Calling Death’s Bluff
New methods of assessing a person's risk of sudden death due to a heart arrhythmia may enable doctors to better identify which patients need to receive an implanted defibrillator.
- Animals
Battle of the Hermaphrodites
A biologist argues that combining the sexes can actually make gender wars worse.
- Health & Medicine
Pick Your Antipoison
New research may soon make treating venomous bites and stings less expensive, less risky, and more effective.
- Astronomy
Too Much Deuterium?
A new study appears to solve a 35-year-old puzzle about the distribution of deuterium in the Milky Way, but poses new questions about how stars and galaxies are formed.
- Ecosystems
Bad-News Beauties
Discarded aquarium fish are the likely source of an alien species that's breeding in the Atlantic and could threaten economically important U.S. fisheries.
- Anthropology
Mental Leap
As scientists discover traits shared by human and ape ancestors millions of years ago, they try to fill in the gaps of human evolution.
- Chemistry
Target Practice
As they study the biochemical processes that make Mycobacterium tuberculosis tick, researchers are finding new targets to exploit to combat the microbe.
- Paleontology
Bone Hunt
Science News reporter Sid Perkins recounts the trials and tribulations of digging for dinosaurs in central Montana.
- Humans
Mutant Maps
Struck by an analogy between genetic mutations and flaws in antique printed documents, a biologist has devised a method to analyze such flaws to pinpoint publication dates of rare, undated documents.
- Health & Medicine
The Screen Team
New and experimental methods of screening for colorectal cancer that patients find less unpleasant than current tests could take a bite out of the malignancy's toll.
- Astronomy
The Sun’s Halo in 3-D
A new computer map of the sun's outer atmosphere and spacecraft ready for launch are expected to shed new light on the origin of solar eruptions and provide more accurate warning of their impact on Earth.
