5,381 results
- Climate
A new UN report lays out an ethical framework for climate engineering
The report’s release, which coincides with COP28, weighs the ethics of using technological interventions to mitigate climate change.
- Tech
A trick inspired by Hansel and Gretel could help rovers explore other worlds
Taking a cue from a classic fairy tale, scientists propose a way for rovers to send back data from treacherous terrain.
- Life
A fantastical world of potential giant viruses lurks beneath the soil
Giant viruses were already known for their large sizes. A close look at a scoop of soil shows that they may come in a variety of funky shapes as well.
- Animals
These are our favorite animal stories of 2023
Spiders that make prey walk the plank, self-aware fish and a pouty T. rex are among the critters that enchanted the Science News staff.
- Archaeology
Indigenous input revealed early hints of fiber making in the tropics
To decipher marks on nearly 40,000-year-old stone tools and figure out what they were used for, researchers turned to the Philippines’ Pala’wan people.
- Life
The Endangered Species Act is turning 50. Has it succeeded?
After 50 years, this landmark law has kept many species alive — but few wild populations have recovered enough to come off the “endangered” list.
- Animals
A global report finds amphibians are still in peril. But it’s not all bad news
A survey of about 8,000 amphibian species provides the latest update on extinction risk trends stretching back to 1980.
- Genetics
Ancient DNA unveils Siberian Neandertals’ small-scale social lives
Females often moved into their mate’s communities, which totaled about 20 individuals, researchers say.
- Paleontology
The oldest known pollen-carrying insects lived about 280 million years ago
Pollen stuck to fossils of earwig-like Tillyardembia pushes back the earliest record of potential insect pollinators by about 120 million years.
- Plants
The worldwide water-lifting power of plants is enormous
The energy used per year by the world’s plants to lift sap rivals the amount of energy generated by all hydroelectric dams, a new study suggests.
- Environment
Satellite imagery reveals ‘hidden’ tornado tracks
Twisters that churn over barren landscapes leave scars that are invisible to human eyes but are detectable with infrared light.
- Climate
The summer of 2021 was the Pacific Northwest’s hottest in a millennium
Tree ring data from the Pacific Northwest reveal that the region’s average summer temperature in 2021 was the highest since at least the year 950.
