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Three cocoa pods. The first has a ripe orange yellow pod. The top third has been cut and sits like a cap on top of white pulp that surrounds the unfermented beans inside. The second green pod in the middle has been split lengthwise displaying white pulp-shrouded beans before yeast and bacteria ferment the beans to produce fine chocolate flavors. The third appears to be the empty half of the second pod filled with shiny, dark squares of chocolate.

Microbes

What makes chocolate taste so good? It’s the microbes

Beans matter, but microbes may be the real secret to fine chocolate flavor. Scientists are building starter cultures that may improve quality.

By Tina Hesman Saey2 hours ago

An excavator works inside of a large mining pit.

Earth

Useful metals get unearthed in U.S. mines, then they’re tossed

By Nikk OgasaAugust 26, 2025

An old gray cat lies on its side next to a window.

Health & Medicine

Elderly cats with dementia may hold clues for Alzheimer’s

By Claudia López LloredaAugust 26, 2025

An image of surgeons performing surgery

Health & Medicine

Scientists perform the first pig-to-human lung transplant

By Skyler WareAugust 25, 2025

A fox with reddish-brown and gray fur stands alert on a moss-covered rocky terrain, staring directly at the camera.

Animals

The mysterious, extinct ‘Fuegian dog’ was actually a semi-tame fox

By Jake BuehlerAugust 25, 2025

Planetary Science

NASA’s Webb telescope spotted a new moon orbiting Uranus

By McKenzie PrillamanAugust 22, 2025

Facial recognition surveillance interface showing multiple detected faces with green bounding boxes, tracking IDs, timestamps and frequency counts, displaying real-time identification of people in a crowd.

Artificial Intelligence

Can fake faces make AI training more ethical?

By Celina ZhaoAugust 22, 2025

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

Spotlight on Health

A person wearing a green jacket and blue pants walks into a CVS. Shown in the store window to the person's left is a sign advertising "No-cost flu and COVID-19 vaccines with most insurance. Walk-ins welcome"

Shifting vaccine guidelines inject uncertainty into getting fall COVID shots

Respiratory viruses often surge in the fall. We asked an infectious diseases expert how best to protect ourselves given a shifting vaccine landscape.

By Erin Garcia de JesúsAugust 22, 2025
Measure blood sugar with a grain of salt
mRNA vaccines hold promise for many diseases. Now the tech is under fire

Sponsored Partner Content

Eric Sporkin, an alumnus of the 2007 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), a program of Society for Science, and a software engineer at Jane Street, a quantitative trading firm.

Conversations with Maya: Eric Sporkin

This article has been paid for and developed by Society for Science.

Science News Magazine

September 2025 cover of Science News

September 1, 2025 Vol. 207 No. 9

Featured Media

NASA’s Webb telescope spotted a new moon orbiting Uranus

Like Uranus's other 28 moons, the newfound object spotted by JWST will be named after a William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope character.

image of spectral bats huddled in a ball

These giant carnivorous bats hug, cuddle — and even share dinner

A dying star revealed its heart

A smiling astronaut handles equipment with hair floating above her head

Astronauts need oxygen. Magnets could help

Male fruit fly offers female a pink droplet of sugar water.

A single protein makes lovesick flies spill their guts

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Life

Squashing the spotted lanternfly problem may require enlisting other species

By Erin Garcia de JesúsAugust 8, 2025
This killer fungus strikes at sunset. Here’s how

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Humans

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Climate

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Astronomy

The oldest known black hole formed more than 13.3 billion years ago

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Seven superclouds sit just beyond the solar system

By McKenzie PrillamanAugust 4, 2025
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Physics

Sunlight is all that’s needed to keep these tiny aircraft aloft

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Health & Medicine

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By Tina Hesman SaeyAugust 19, 2025
The sugar substitute sucralose makes immunotherapy less effective

By Payal DharAugust 12, 2025
How flossing a mouse’s teeth could lead to a new kind of vaccine

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Earth

Why devastating tsunamis didn’t follow the Russia earthquake

By Nikk OgasaJuly 30, 2025
How hot can Earth get? Our planet’s climate history holds clues

By Elise CuttsJuly 17, 2025
An ancient Earth impact could help in the search for Martian life

By Douglas FoxJuly 9, 2025

Science & Society

Scientists are people too, a new book reminds readers

By Karen KwonAugust 19, 2025
Screen addiction affects teens’ mental health. How to spot it, and help

By Sujata GuptaJuly 22, 2025
A Supreme Court ruling on nuclear waste spotlights U.S. storage woes

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