Science & Society
Here are our favorite science books of 2017
Science News writers and editors make their picks for top science books of the year.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Colliding neutron stars, gene editing, human origins and more top stories of 2017
A gravitational wave discovery is the year's biggest science story — again.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Earth
Watch NASA’s mesmerizing new visualization of the 2017 hurricane season
Swirls of sand, sea salt and smoke make atmospheric currents visible in a new NASA visualization.
Features
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Colliding neutron stars, gene editing, human origins and more top stories of 2017
A gravitational wave discovery is the year's biggest science story — again.
More Stories from the December 23, 2017 issue
- Planetary Science
Here’s what you might have missed in space this year
Missions to Jupiter and Saturn made big headlines, and 2017 also saw exciting updates from missions of years past.
- Animals
2017 delivered amazing biology finds from organisms large and small
From giant African elephants to tiny tardigrades, scientists discovered some surprising biology this year.
- Particle Physics
Excess antielectrons aren’t from nearby dead stars, study says
Pulsars might not be behind excess antimatter, gamma-ray observations suggest.
- Archaeology
Skeletons could provide clues to who wrote or protected the Dead Sea Scrolls
Skeletons suggest a group of celibate men inhabited Dead Sea Scrolls site.
- Materials Science
This material does weird things under pressure
A new metamaterial has a seemingly impossible property: It swells when squeezed.
- Plants
The dietary habits of the emerald ash borer beetle are complicated
Tests answer some questions about the emerald ash borer’s hidden taste for olive and fringe trees.
- Animals
Seeds coated in a common pesticide might affect birds’ migration
Eating small amounts of a neonicotinoid pesticide can disorient white-crowned sparrows.
- Quantum Physics
‘Arrow of time’ reversed in quantum experiment
In quantum systems, heat can flow “backward,” from cold to hot.
- Archaeology
Hidden hoard hints at how ancient elites protected the family treasures
A secret stash at an ancient site in Israel called Megiddo illuminates the Iron Age practice of hoarding wealth.
- Astronomy
Here’s what really happened to Hanny’s Voorwerp
Glowing clouds of gas known as Hanny’s Voorwerp offer a way to study galaxies and black holes in the distant past.
- Oceans
In the deep ocean, these bacteria play a key role in trapping carbon
Mysterious nitrite-oxidizing bacteria capture more carbon than previously thought and may be the primary engine at the base of the deep ocean’s food web.
- Animals
Most blue whales are ‘righties,’ except for this one move
Though many blue whales tend to be “right-handed” when hunting for krill, one specific barrel roll move requires a lefty twist.
- Health & Medicine
Testosterone may be one reason why men don’t get asthma as much as women
Adult women have higher rates of asthma than men, and testosterone’s effect on the immune system may partly explain that difference.
- Physics
Collision illuminates the mysterious makeup of neutron stars
Scientists size up neutron stars using gravitational waves and light.
- Astronomy
This year’s neutron star collision unlocks cosmic mysteries
A rare and long-awaited astronomical event united thousands of astronomers in a frenzy of observations.
- Genetics
CRISPR gene editing moved into new territory in 2017
Scientists edited viable human embryos with CRISPR/Cas9 this year.
- Climate
The Larsen C ice shelf break has sparked groundbreaking research
The hubbub over the iceberg that broke off Larsen C may have died down, but scientists are just getting warmed up to study the aftermath.
- Humans
The story of humans’ origins got a revision in 2017
Human evolution may have involved the gradual assembly of scattered skeletal traits, fossils of Homo naledi and other species show.
- Astronomy
Seven Earth-sized planets entered the spotlight this year
The discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a single cool star fuels a debate over what counts as good news in the search for life outside the solar system.
- Quantum Physics
A quantum communications satellite proved its potential in 2017
Quantum communication through space is now possible, putting the quantum internet within closer reach.
- Health & Medicine
Worries grow that climate change will quietly steal nutrients from major food crops
Studies show that rice, wheat and other staples could lose proteins and minerals, putting more people at risk of hunger worldwide.
- Health & Medicine
Approval of gene therapies for two blood cancers led to an ‘explosion of interest’ in 2017
The first gene therapies approved in the United States are treating patients with certain types of leukemia and lymphoma.
- Neuroscience
Brains of former football players showed how common traumatic brain injuries might be
Examinations of NFL players’ postmortem brains turned up chronic traumatic encephalopathy in 99 percent of samples in large dataset.
- Health & Medicine
Zika cases are down, but researchers prepare for the virus’s return
The number of Zika cases in the Western Hemisphere have dropped this year, but the need for basic scientific and public health research of the virus remains strong.
- Genetics
Bats in China carry all the ingredients to make a new SARS virus
Viruses infecting bats could recombine to re-create SARS.
- Physics
These 2017 discoveries could be big news, if they turn out to be true
Some findings reported in 2017 are potentially big news, if they hold up to additional scientific scrutiny.
- Genetics
50 years ago, synthetic DNA made its debut
Synthetic DNA has come a long way since it arrived on the scene half a century ago.
