Feature

  1. a stream with mountains in the background
    Ecosystems

    Simple hand-built structures can help streams survive wildfires and drought

    Building simple structures with sticks and stones — and inviting in dam-building beavers — can keep water where it’s needed to fight drought and wildfires.

    By Brianna Randall
  2. illustration of woman with headache with pills and a syringe in the background
    Health & Medicine

    New drugs that block a brain chemical are game changers for some migraine sufferers

    Drugs that block a brain chemical called CGRP are helping some patients who suffer from migraine pain.

    By Karen J. Bannan
  3. illustration of a woman walking across of a bridge of DNA
    Genetics

    DNA databases are too white, so genetics doesn’t help everyone. How do we fix that?

    A lack of diversity in genetic databases is making precision medicine ineffective for many people. One historian proposes a solution: construct reference genomes for individual populations.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  4. illustration of a science fiction nanobot brain mesh interface
    Neuroscience

    Three visions of the future, inspired by neuroscience’s past and present

    Three fantastical tales of where neuroscience might take us are based on the progress made by brain researchers in the last 100 years.

    By Laura Sanders
  5. Coronal mass ejection from July 2012
    Space

    Solar storms can wreak havoc. We need better space weather forecasts

    Solar storms can devastate power grids and other systems on Earth. We need better forecasting

    By Ramin Skibba
  6. masked students on the UC Boulder campus
    Health & Medicine

    How 5 universities tried to handle COVID-19 on campus

    U.S. colleges opened in the fall with a patchwork of control measures to keep COVID-19 at bay.

    By Betsy Ladyzhets
  7. illustration of scientists observing thought bubbles from a brain
    Science & Society

    Can privacy coexist with technology that reads and changes brain activity?

    An onslaught of new technology aims to listen to — and maybe even change — your brain activity. Readers, scientists and ethicists grapple with the ethical implications of new ways to get inside the skull.

    By Laura Sanders
  8. neutron star illustration
    Cosmology

    Einstein’s theory of general relativity unveiled a dynamic and bizarre cosmos

    Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity foretold space-bending beasts, cosmic shock waves and mysterious forces.

    By Elizabeth Quill
  9. piles of plastic at a landfill
    Chemistry

    Chemists are reimagining recycling to keep plastics out of landfills

    Recycling plastics is really hard, and usually creates low-quality materials that aren’t good for much. Chemists are trying to change that.

    By Maria Temming
  10. Marie Tharp looks over a map on a table
    Science & Society

    Marie Tharp’s groundbreaking maps brought the seafloor to the world

    In part because of her gender, Tharp was the right person in the right place at the right time to make the first detailed maps of the ocean’s bottom.

    By Betsy Mason
  11. erupting volcano
    Earth

    How the Earth-shaking theory of plate tectonics was born

    Plate tectonics explains many of Earth’s geologic wonders and natural hazards — and may hold clues to the evolution of life.

    By Carolyn Gramling
  12. Students in a classroom
    Science & Society

    How schools can reduce excessive discipline of Black students

    Black middle and high school students miss four times as much school as white children due to suspensions. What can be done to shrink the gap?

    By Sujata Gupta