Science News

Subscribe today

A brownish rockhead poacher fish sidles up against an underwater rock

Animals

This fish may play a hole in its head like a drum

The rockhead poacher is a little fish with a big pit in its head. The divot may be like a drum, making sound that rises above a chaotic, nearshore din.

By Jake Buehler17 hours ago

A 1992 photograph of a car crushed by falling bricks from a house, triggered by the magnitude 7.2 Cape Mendocino earthquake. A hidden tectonic plate boundary may have been the source.

Earth

A long-lost tectonic fragment may be shaking Northern California

By Carolyn Gramling18 hours ago

A mixed medium piece of artwork showing different emotional expressions of white-lipped peccaries on colorful background columns

Animals

Animal personalities can play a big role in saving species

By Darren IncorvaiaJanuary 15, 2026

A clinician shows a patient a color vision test book during an eye exam at a desk.

Health & Medicine

Color blindness hides a key warning sign of bladder cancer

By Elie DolginJanuary 15, 2026

A close-up of the head and neck of a natually mummified cheetah as seen on a table in a lab. The rest of its body is out of sight.

Animals

How cheetah mummies could help bring the species back to Arabia

By Jake BuehlerJanuary 15, 2026

A drawing of the slim, feather-covered dinosaur Manipulonyx reshetovi

This dino’s fossil claw suggests it snatched eggs, not insects

By Taylor Mitchell BrownJanuary 14, 2026

A close-up photo shows a cluster of small white wildflowers with yellow centers against a dark, blurred background.

Plants

Plants packed close enough to touch are more resilient to stress

By Richard KemenyJanuary 14, 2026

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

Spotlight on Health

A health care worker wearing blue gloves applies a small adhesive bandage to a child’s upper arm after vaccination.

What science says about the Trump administration’s new vaccine schedule

The federal move to no longer recommend certain vaccines for all U.S. children is not supported by new evidence and could undermine health gains.

By Aimee CunninghamJanuary 8, 2026
New dietary guidelines flip the food pyramid
Research hailing the benefits of the COVID-19 shot keeps coming

Science News Magazine

Cover of January 2026 issue of Science News

January 1, 2026 Vol. 208 No. 1

From the Archives

Fins to Feet to Fanclubs: An (Old) Fish Story

January 10, 1976 Vol. 109 No. #2

Featured Media

Nuclear weapons testing science explained

Here’s the science behind nuclear weapons testing

Nuclear weapons haven’t been tested in the United States since 1992. Find out why, and what could happen if the hiatus ends.

A cute pink frilly-headed axolotl salamander looks like it's smiling.

These scientific discoveries brought us joy in 2025

In a first, orcas and dolphins seen possibly hunting together

A T. rex in a red hoody sits on a couch scrolling on its phone in this cartoon style illustration, while a game console and an empty pizza-style box marked with an X of bones are nearby on the floor.

These fossil finds shed new light on the past in 2025

A German Shepherd leaps up to play with a large ball on a grassy field.

Science taught us a few new tricks about our pets in 2025

Follow Science News

More Stories

Life

Watch a cancer cell evade capture

By Meghan RosenDecember 22, 2025
How these strange cells may explain the origin of complex life

By Michael MarshallDecember 11, 2025
From viruses to elephants, nature thrives on tiled patterns

By Nikk OgasaDecember 10, 2025

Humans

Have a taste of our favorite food stories from 2025

By Carly KayDecember 24, 2025
‘Black Religion in the Madhouse’ examines psychiatry and race post-Civil War

By Aimee CunninghamDecember 12, 2025
Ancient southern Africans took genetic evolution in a new direction

By Bruce BowerDecember 3, 2025

Climate

Earth’s last 3 years were its hottest on record

By Carolyn GramlingJanuary 13, 2026
Hidden tree bark microbes munch on important climate gases

By Douglas FoxJanuary 8, 2026
Here are 3 big ideas to combat climate change, with or without COP

By Meghie Rodrigues and Carolyn GramlingNovember 26, 2025

Astronomy

A double cosmic explosion could be the first known ‘superkilonova’

By Lisa GrossmanJanuary 9, 2026
Galaxies with ‘hoop skirts’ are more common than we thought

By Lisa GrossmanJanuary 7, 2026
Against the odds, a burbling lava planet retains an atmosphere

By Carly KayDecember 30, 2025

Physics

Queen bumblebees are poor foragers thanks to sparse tongue hair

By Emily ConoverJanuary 12, 2026
'Crush' explores how gravity shapes life as we know it

By Ananya PalivelaDecember 29, 2025
How to levitate objects sans magic

By Maria TemmingDecember 15, 2025

Health & Medicine

Botox could be used to fight snakebite

By Jake BuehlerJanuary 13, 2026
These medical breakthroughs and advances gave patients new hope in 2025

By Meghan RosenDecember 26, 2025
Two more antibiotics have been approved in the U.S. to treat gonorrhea

By Aimee CunninghamDecember 23, 2025

Earth

Some of 2025’s scientific discoveries broke records

By Erin Garcia de JesúsDecember 31, 2025
An underwater volcano off Oregon didn’t erupt in 2025 after all. Why not?

By Carolyn GramlingDecember 22, 2025
Early Earth’s belly held onto its water

By Carolyn GramlingDecember 11, 2025

Science & Society

This new year, maybe resolve to quit

By Sujata GuptaJanuary 2, 2026
Gratitude can increase joy, even if it feels a little cringe

By Sujata GuptaNovember 26, 2025
Meet 5 scientists reshaping the way we understand the world

By Science News StaffNovember 21, 2025