Life

Sign up for our newsletter

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Life

    Human eye spots single photons

    Human eyes are sensitive enough to detect individual particles of light.

    By
  2. Earth

    Science finds many tricks for traveling to the past

    Our editor in chief discusses what science can tell us about the past.

    By
  3. Animals

    Readers ponder animal flight

    Readers respond to the June 11, 2016, issue of Science News with questions on cormorants, butterflies, virus-sensing genes and more.

    By
  4. Life

    Distinctions blur between wolf species

    Red and eastern wolves might be gray wolf/coyote blends instead of distinct species

    By
  5. Animals

    Newly discovered big-headed ants use spines for support

    Two newly discovered ant species provide new insights into spiny evolution.

    By
  6. Life

    The nose knows how to fight staph

    A bacterium isolated from the nose produces a new antibiotic active against resistant pathogens.

    By
  7. Animals

    Neonicotinoids are partial contraceptives for male honeybees

    Male honeybees produce less living sperm if raised on pollen tainted with neonicotinoids, tests show.

    By
  8. Animals

    Neonicotinoids are partial contraceptives for male honeybees

    Male honeybees produce less living sperm if raised on pollen tainted with neonicotinoids, tests show.

    By
  9. Oceans

    Sea ice algae drive the Arctic food web

    Even organisms that don’t depend on sea ice depend on sea ice algae, a new study finds. But Arctic sea ice is disappearing.

    By
  10. Genetics

    Dolly the Sheep’s cloned sisters aging gracefully

    Cloning doesn’t cause premature aging in sheep.

    By
  11. Animals

    To prevent cannibalism, bring chocolate

    If a date goes bad for a nursery web spider, a romantic gift can serve as a shield.

    By
  12. Earth

    Ancient air bubbles could revise history of Earth’s oxygen

    Pockets of ancient air trapped in rock salt for around 815 million years suggest that oxygen was abundant well before the first animals appear in the fossil record.

    By