Life

  1. A diagram showing every nerve cell in a larval fruit fly brain, in all the colors of the rainbow, on a white backdrop
    Neuroscience

    Scientists have mapped an insect brain in greater detail than ever before

    Researchers have built a nerve cell “connectivity map” of a larval fruit fly brain. It’s the most complex whole brain wiring diagram yet made.

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  2. An overhead image of tomatoes in four crates.
    Agriculture

    Dry farming could help agriculture in the western U.S. amid climate change

    Some farmers in the western United States are forgoing irrigation, which can save on water and produce more flavorful fruits and vegetables.

    By Katherine Kornei
  3. A photo of a fossil with two dark brown pieces attached to the shell.
    Paleontology

    520-million-year-old animal fossils might not be animals after all

    Newly described fossils of Protomelission gatehousei suggest that the species, once thought to be the oldest example of bryozoans, is actually a type of colony-forming algae.

    By Sid Perkins
  4. A photo of a dead pelican laying on a beach in Lima, Peru while a flock of other birds fly in the background.
    Health & Medicine

    Bird flu can jump to mammals. Should we worry?

    Reports of bears and sea lions infected with H5N1 have sparked fears about the pandemic potential of bird flu. Experts are keeping a close eye on its spread.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  5. A shoreline in southern Louisiana shows green marsh grass where it meets still water
    Environment

    The Deepwater Horizon oil spill ruined long-term shore stability

    For at least eight years, the oil disaster continued to kill soil-retaining marsh plants along the Louisiana coast, accelerating shoreline loss.

    By Joshua Rapp Learn
  6. A photo of several different breeds of dogs standing on concrete.
    Animals

    What the first look at the genetics of Chernobyl’s dogs revealed

    Dogs living in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant industrial area are genetically distinct from other dogs, but scientists don’t yet know if radiation is the reason.

    By Meghan Rosen
  7. A photo of smoke rising above a forest.
    Climate

    Wildfires in boreal forests released a record amount of CO2 in 2021

    Boreal forests store about one-third of the world’s land-based carbon. With wildfires increasing there, fighting climate change could get even harder.

    By Nikk Ogasa
  8. A photo of several plants in brown pots sitting on a large table.
    Life

    Plant/animal hybrid proteins could help crops fend off diseases

    Pikobodies, bioengineered proteins that are part plant and part animal (thanks, llamas), loan plant immune systems a uniquely animal trait: flexibility.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  9. An illustration of a body created with light blue lines to simulate electricity.
    Life

    ‘We Are Electric’ delivers the shocking story of bioelectricity

    Sally Adee’s new book spotlights the underexplored science of the body’s electricity and investigates how bioelectricity could advance medicine.

    By Meghan Rosen
  10. An illustration of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, represented as orange circles, infecting brain cells.
    Neuroscience

    How meningitis-causing bacteria invade the brain

    Microbes behind bacterial meningitis hijack pain-sensing nerve cells in the brain’s outer layers, disabling a key immune response, a mouse study shows.

    By Jackie Rocheleau
  11. An illustration of a Tillyardembia sitting on a plant.
    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.

    By Sid Perkins
  12. A juvenile bigclaw snapping shrimp in a lab dish next to a ruler
    Animals

    The fastest claw in the sea belongs to young snapping shrimp

    When juveniles snap their claws shut to create imploding bubbles, they create the fastest accelerating underwater movements of any reusable body part.

    By Jake Buehler