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An illustration shows early galaxies filled with bright stars and surrounded by wispy clouds of gas.

The earliest evidence of the first stars may lie in a distant gas clump

James Webb data reveal pristine gas irradiated by energetic light some 450 million years after the Big Bang — a sign it may house primordial stars.

By Mara Johnson-Groh20 hours ago

Ancient DNA might explain a bit about modern allergies, respresented here by a box of tissues in front of a blue background

Ancient DNA tests the notion that allergies are due to our dirtier past

By Elie Dolgin22 hours ago

Espresso pours from a machine into a cup.

Physics

The secret to perfect espresso? It’s physics

By Taylor Mitchell BrownApril 24, 2026

An illustration shows a giant pinkish octopus in the deep sea with webbing between its tentacles and floppy fins on its body.

Animals

Giant, kraken-like octopuses may have ruled the Cretaceous deep

By Jake BuehlerApril 23, 2026

Wispy red and blue clouds form a tie-dye pattern in this false color image of a stellar nursery.

Clouds of water ice thread stellar nurseries in the Milky Way

By Nikk OgasaApril 23, 2026

Flowering sage plants grow in a field, with farmland and a road in the background.

Plants

Some plants can feed on dust that lands on their leaves

By Sanket MungaseApril 23, 2026

A man stands outdoors with his eyes closed, as if focusing on a mental image.

Imagination is not just replaying what we see and hear

By Nora BradfordApril 23, 2026

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

Spotlight on Health

A convenience store window with posted signs explaining the legal age to buy tobacco products is 21.

Know the legal age to buy tobacco products in the U.S.? Many parents don’t

A study finds that less than half of surveyed parents know the legal age, 21, to buy cigarettes, vapes, nicotine pouches and other tobacco products.

By Aimee CunninghamApril 17, 2026
Some GLP-1 drugs are more effective for those with specific gene variants
New mutations help the H5N1 bird flu virus infect cows but not people

Science News Magazine

May 2026 cover of Science News

May 1, 2026 Vol. 208 No. 5

From Science News Investors Lab

Featured Media

How to invent a realistic language for fictional speakers

Linguists can mix, match or even break the rules of real-world languages to create interesting imaginary ones.

A new measurement reveals gravity is still hard to pin down

A selfie closeup of the Artemis II Orion capsule on a dark space background

Artemis II: NASA’s Orion heads home after a historic loop around the moon

An illustration of Ediacaran animals based on their fossils.

Fossils reveal many complex animals existed before the Cambrian explosion

Artemis II sends humans around the moon for first time since Apollo

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More Stories

Life

Smithsonian secrets most likely to blow your mind

By Meghan Rosen and Stephen VossApril 14, 2026
Talking dogs and chatty cats could one day ‘speak’ in our language

By Laura SandersApril 13, 2026
An African monkey ate a rope squirrel and came down with mpox

By Erin Garcia de JesúsFebruary 24, 2026

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

Emperor penguins are marching toward extinction. Antarctica fur seals too

By Carolyn GramlingApril 9, 2026
City skylines influence cloud formation above them

By Larissa G. CapellaMarch 17, 2026
Extreme heat is cutting the time people can safely be active outdoors

By Nikk OgasaMarch 16, 2026

Astronomy

A rare star in a tiny galaxy preserves a record of the early universe

By Jay BennettMarch 27, 2026
A strange ‘chirp’ in a brilliant stellar blast points to a magnetar

By Jay BennettMarch 11, 2026
This inside-out planetary system has astronomers scratching their heads

By Adam MannFebruary 12, 2026

Physics

Water has a newfound ‘critical point’ that may help explain its quirks

By Emily ConoverMarch 26, 2026
These insects fly with their legs. Physics explains how

By Emily ConoverMarch 24, 2026
A static electricity mystery comes to the surface

By Emily ConoverMarch 18, 2026

Health & Medicine

An experimental new drug for stiff person syndrome restores mobility

By Meghan RosenApril 22, 2026
Suicide deaths in U.S. teens and young adults fell after 988 launch

By Aimee CunninghamApril 22, 2026
Beyond Inheritance offers a new view of mutations

By Bethany BrookshireApril 21, 2026

Earth

Earth’s continental plates were moving 3.48 billion years ago

By Douglas FoxMarch 19, 2026
To make a ‘Snowball Earth,’ sci-fi moves fast. Geology is far slower

By Carolyn GramlingMarch 18, 2026
Metal pollution from a rocket reentry detected for the first time

By Adam MannFebruary 25, 2026

Science & Society

Snippets of hair may expose chronic stress in war refugees

By Sujata GuptaApril 6, 2026
Pronatalists want more babies. Their solutions aren’t rooted in science

By Sujata GuptaMarch 31, 2026
Social media can be addictive, a jury finds. Research hints at a link

By Sujata GuptaMarch 26, 2026