News

  1. Animals

    Killer whales may use kelp brushes to slough off rough skin

    The whales use quick body movements to tear pieces of bull kelp for use as tools, perhaps the first known toolmaking by a marine mammal.

    By
  2. Astronomy

    Two spacecraft created their first images of an artificial solar eclipse

    The Proba-3 spacecraft succeed at creating solar eclipses, kicking off a two-year mission to study the sun’s mysterious outer atmosphere, the corona.

    By
  3. Space

    Distant nebulae star in one of the first images from the Rubin Observatory

    These are the first public images collected by the Chile-based observatory, which will begin a decade-long survey of the southern sky later this year.

    By
  4. Health & Medicine

    Cancer DNA is detectable in blood years before diagnosis

    Tiny, newly formed tumors shed small fragments of DNA that are swept into the bloodstream. Future cancer screening tests could detect them early.

    By
  5. Science & Society

    A Supreme Court ruling on nuclear waste spotlights U.S. storage woes

    Court ruling allows interim nuclear waste storage in Texas, but the U.S. still has no long-term plan for its 90,000 metric tons of spent fuel.

    By
  6. Anthropology

    ‘Dragon Man’ skull may be the first from an enigmatic human cousin

    Ancient proteins and DNA may peg a 146,000-year-old Chinese skull as the most complete fossil to date from Denisovans, a puzzling line of Asian hominids.

    By
  7. Animals

    This moth species may use the Milky Way as its guiding star

    Bogong moths migrate up to 1,000 kilometers from Australian plains to mountain caves to escape the summer heat. The stars may help them get there.

    By
  8. Animals

    Fewer scavengers could mean more zoonotic disease

    Scavenger populations are decreasing, a new study shows. That could put human health at risk.

    By
  9. Astronomy

    Black hole–shredded megastars power a new class of cosmic explosions

    These explosions, called extreme nuclear transients, shine for longer than typical supernovas and get 30 to 1,000 times as bright.

    By
  10. Science & Society

    A common parenting practice may be hindering teen development

    A poll shows U.S. parents are wary of unsupervised teens, but lack of independence undermines normal development, experts say.

    By
  11. Climate

    This paint ‘sweats’ to keep your house cool

    This experimental paint reflects sunlight, emits heat and mimics sweating to cool buildings without air conditioning, even in the tropics.

    By
  12. Health & Medicine

    A genetic test may predict which weight loss drugs work best for patients

    Variants of obesity-related genes influence how much weight patients lose on specific weight loss drugs like liraglutide, two studies report.

    By