How realistic is Project Hail Mary?
Ryan Gosling is on a mission to save the sun — and Earth — from star-killing microbes. Science News dissects the science behind…
Mosquitoes get the ‘I’m full’ signal from their butts, not their brains
Mosquitoes stop feeding because signals from rectal cells tell them they’re full, offering a target for preventing human bites.Mo…
Math puzzle: Fresh gridflowers
Solve the math puzzle from our April 2026 issue, where we plant floras to celebrate an upcoming nuptial.Solve the math puzzle from …
Earth’s continental plates were moving 3.48 billion years ago
Magnetic crystals provide the earliest evidence yet of the plate tectonics that likely made Earth habitable, pushing its start back…
How warming is shifting microbial worlds
Climate change is affecting microbes, and that has implications for all life on Earth.Climate change is affecting microbes, and tha…
A static electricity mystery comes to the surface
Seemingly random charging of identical materials depends on the carbonaceous molecules stuck to their surfacesSeemingly random char…
To make a ‘Snowball Earth,’ sci-fi moves fast. Geology is far slower
The Day After Tomorrow, Snowpiercer, Snowball Earth: Such end-of-days visions of a frozen Earth are fantastical … but ca…
Sharks are ingesting drugs in the Bahamas
Nearly one third of sharks studied near the Bahamas’ Eleuthera Island were found to have caffeine, painkillers and other drugs in…
Platypus fur has a surprising feature seen only in bird feathers
Platypuses are the first mammals known to have hollow melanosomes, pigment-bearing structures found in the hair of many animals.Pla…
City skylines influence cloud formation above them
Satellite data show that U.S. cities have more nighttime cloud cover than nearby countryside, and building height and density help …