Neuroscience
How a scientist-artist transformed our view of the brain
The book ‘The Brain in Search of Itself’ chronicles the life of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who discovered that the brain is made up of discrete cells.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
We’re celebrating a century of Science News
Across a century of science journalism, Science News has covered the Scopes trial, the moonwalk, Dolly the Sheep and more.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Animals
How lizards keep detachable tails from falling off
A hierarchical structure of micropillars and nanopores allows the tail to break away when necessary while preventing it from easily detaching.
Notebook
Health & Medicine
More than 5 million children have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19
The number of children who experienced the death of a parent or caregiver due to COVID-19 nearly doubled from May through October in 2021.
Features
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Some past Science News coverage was racist and sexist. We’re deeply sorry
During our early history, Science News shared and endorsed ideas that were unscientific and morally wrong.
More Stories from the March 26, 2022 issue
- Paleontology
Fossils show a crocodile ancestor dined on a young dinosaur
The 100-million-year-old fossil of a crocodile ancestor contains the first indisputable evidence that dinosaurs were on the menu.
- Archaeology
A technique borrowed from ecology hints at hundreds of lost medieval legends
An ecology-based statistical approach may provide a storybook ending for efforts to gauge ancient cultural diversity.
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50 years ago, scientists thought a desert shrub might help save endangered whales
Fifty years ago, scientists sought a sustainable alternative to prized oil from endangered sperm whales.
- Quantum Physics
A new gravity sensor used atoms’ weird quantum behavior to peer underground
Quantum sensors promise to be more accurate and stable in the long run than other gravity probes.
- Chemistry
One forensic scientist is scraping bones for clues to time of death
The bones of more than 100 cadavers are shedding light on a more precise and reliable way to determine when someone died.
- Life
Why kitchen sponges are the perfect home for bacteria
Sponges are remarkably diverse hot spots for bacteria, in part because of the mixed-housing environment that the tools offer their tenants.
- Climate
A UN report shows climate change’s escalating toll on people and nature
The latest United Nations' IPCC climate change report underscores the urgent need for action to avoid the worst consequences of global warming.
- Paleontology
The Age of Dinosaurs may have ended in springtime
Fossilized fish bones suggest that the massive asteroid strike at the end of the Cretaceous Period occurred during the Northern Hemisphere’s spring.
- Genetics
Africa’s oldest human DNA helps unveil an ancient population shift
Long-distance mate seekers started staying closer to home about 20,000 years ago.
- Planetary Science
An ancient impact on Earth led to a cascade of cratering
For the first time, scientists have discovered clusters of craters on Earth that were formed by the impacts of material thrown out of a larger crater.
- Life
Africa’s fynbos plants hold their ground with the world’s thinnest roots
Long, thin roots help this South African shrubland commandeer soil nutrients and keep the neighboring forest from encroaching on its territory.
- Astronomy
A fast radio burst’s unlikely source may be a cluster of old stars
The burst’s origin in a globular cluster suggests that not all these enigmatic blasts come from young stellar populations.
