Water is weird. A new type of ice could help us understand why
Ice cubes float in water because they’re less dense than the liquid. But a newfound type of ice has a density nearly equal to what’s…
A newfound ‘croakless’ frog may communicate via touch
A newfound species of frog doesn’t ribbit. In fact, it doesn’t make any sound at all. Many frogs have unusual characteristics, from turning translucent to…
Are your cats having fun or fighting? Here are some ways to tell
Are your cats play fighting or fighting fur real? It turns out that certain behaviors in domestic cats could be telltale signs that an interaction…
Vikings brought animals to England as early as the year 873
Vikings brought horses and dogs to the British Isles from Scandinavia, a new study suggests. A chemical analysis of bone fragments from a cemetery in…
Chemical residue reveals ancient Egyptians’ mummy-making mixtures
Scientists have unwrapped long-sought details of embalming practices that ancient Egyptians used to preserve dead bodies. Clues came from analyses of chemical residue inside vessels…
76 percent of well-known insects fall outside protected areas
The existing boundaries of national parks and other habitat preserves aren’t enough to protect more than three-quarters of the world’s well-studied insects. The finding, reported…
Here are 7 new science museums and exhibitions to visit in 2023
If you’re a museum aficionado itching for a new place to explore, 2023 has you covered. New science museums and exhibitions are opening, and some…
The deadly VEXAS syndrome is more common than doctors thought
A mysterious new disease may be to blame for severe, unexplained inflammation in older men. Now, researchers have their first good look at who the…
Muon scanning hints at mysteries within an ancient Chinese wall
For nearly 650 years, the fortress walls in the Chinese city of Xi’an have served as a formidable barrier around the central city. At 12…
A new metric of extinction risk considers how cultures care for species
In shallow coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, a seagrass-scrounging cousin of the manatee is in trouble. Environmental strains like pollution and habitat…
Prairie voles can find partners just fine without the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin
Prairie voles have long been heralded as models of monogamy. Now, a study suggests that the “love hormone” once thought essential for their bonding —…
Mysterious marks on Ice Age cave art may have been a form of record keeping
As far back as roughly 25,000 years ago, Ice Age hunter-gatherers may have jotted down markings to communicate information about the behavior of their prey,…
It’s possible to reach net-zero carbon emissions. Here’s how
Patricia Hidalgo-Gonzalez saw the future of energy on a broiling-hot day last September. An email alert hit her inbox from the San Diego Gas & Electric…
Birds that dive may be at greater risk of extinction
Birds that dive underwater — such as penguins, loons and grebes — may be more likely to go extinct than their nondiving kin, a new…
Fossils suggest early primates lived in a once-swampy Arctic
The Arctic today is a hostile place for most primates. But a series of fossils found since the 1970s suggest that wasn’t always the case.…
These shape-shifting devices melt and reform thanks to magnetic fields
Shape-shifting liquid metal robots might not be limited to science fiction anymore. Miniature machines can switch from solid to liquid and back again to squeeze…
Procrastination may harm your health. Here’s what you can do
The worst procrastinators probably won’t be able to read this story. It’ll remind them of what they’re trying to avoid, psychologist Piers Steel says. Maybe…
Lots of Tatooine-like planets around binary stars may be habitable
SEATTLE — Luke Skywalker’s home planet in Star Wars is the stuff of science fiction. But Tatooine-like planets in orbit around pairs of stars might…
A bird with a T. rex head may help reveal how dinosaurs became birds
A 120-million-year-old fossil bird found in China could offer some new clues about how landbound dinosaurs evolved into today’s flying birds. The dove-sized Cratonavis zhui…
Some young sea spiders can regrow their rear ends
No backside, no problem for some young sea spiders. The creatures can regenerate nearly complete parts of their bottom halves — including muscles, reproductive organs…
Earth’s inner core may be reversing its rotation
Our planet may have had a recent change of heart. Earth’s inner core may have temporarily stopped rotating relative to the mantle and surface, researchers…
A rare rabbit plays an important ecological role by spreading seeds
A crucial link in the life cycle of one parasitic plant may be found in a surprising place — the bellies of the descendants of…
Recycling rare earth elements is hard. Science is trying to make it easier
Our modern lives depend on rare earth elements, and someday soon we may not have enough to meet growing demand. Because of their special properties,…
Rare earth elements could be pulled from coal waste
In Appalachia’s coal country, researchers envision turning toxic waste into treasure. The pollution left behind by abandoned mines is an untapped source of rare earth…
New data show how quickly light pollution is obscuring the night sky
The night sky has been brightening faster than researchers realized, thanks to the use of artificial lights at night. A study of more than 50,000…
Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl
Today’s red jungle fowl — the wild forebears of the domesticated chicken — are becoming more chickenlike. New research suggests that a large proportion of…
Too much of this bacteria in the nose may worsen allergy symptoms
A type of bacteria that’s overabundant in the nasal passages of people with hay fever may worsen symptoms. Targeting that bacteria may provide a way…
Want a ‘Shrinky Dinks’ approach to nano-sized devices? Try hydrogels
High-tech shrink art may be the key to making tiny electronics, 3-D nanostructures or even holograms for hiding secret messages. A new approach to making…
Scientists have found the first known microbes that can eat only viruses
New Year, new viral diet — literally. Tiny, pond-dwelling Halteria ciliates are virovores, able to survive on a virus-only diet, researchers report December 27 in…
These adorable Australian spike-balls beat the heat with snot bubbles
Animals cover themselves in all kinds of unsavory fluids to keep cool. Humans sweat, kangaroos spit and some birds will urinate on themselves to survive…
These chemists cracked the code to long-lasting Roman concrete
MIT chemist Admir Masic really hoped his experiment wouldn’t explode. Masic and his colleagues were trying to re-create an ancient Roman technique for making concrete,…
Cyclones in the Arctic are becoming more intense and frequent
CHICAGO – In January 2022, a cyclone blitzed a large expanse of ice-covered ocean between Greenland and Russia. Frenzied gusts galvanized 8-meter-tall waves that pounded…
A powerful laser can redirect lightning strikes
Like a high-tech hammer of Thor, a powerful laser can grab hold of a lightning bolt and reroute its path through the sky. In a…
How rare earth elements’ hidden properties make modern technology possible
In Frank Herbert’s space opera Dune, a precious natural substance called spice melange grants people the ability to navigate vast expanses of the cosmos to…
Here’s what you need to know about COVID’s XBB.1.5 ‘Kraken’ variant
The omicron variant’s family tree has grown substantially over the last year. The brood now encompasses a subvariant soup with alphanumeric names such as BA.2,…
Enceladus is blanketed in a thick layer of snow
Saturn’s moon Enceladus is shrouded in a thick layer of snow. In some places, the downy stuff is 700 meters deep, new research suggests. “It’s…
Sea life offers a lens for self-exploration in ‘How Far the Light Reaches’
How Far the Light ReachesSabrina ImblerLittle, Brown & Co., $27 In How Far the Light Reaches, Sabrina Imbler shows us that the ocean, in all…
HDL ‘good’ cholesterol isn’t always good for heart health
“Good” and “bad” cholesterol: These well-known characters have long starred in the saga of heart health. But in a major plot twist, “good” cholesterol, it…
The James Webb telescope found ‘Green Pea’ galaxies in the early universe
Galaxies that helped transform the early universe may have been small, round and green. Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted “Green Pea”…
Rare earth mining may be key to our renewable energy future. But at what cost?
In spring 1949, three prospectors armed with Geiger counters set out to hunt for treasure in the arid mountains of southern Nevada and southeastern California.…
Why it’s easier to catch a cold, the flu or COVID in the winter
When bitter winds blew and temperatures dropped, my grandmother would urge me to come inside. “You’ll catch your death of cold out there,” she’d say.…
Methylated gases could be an unambiguous indicator of alien life
SEATTLE — Attention alien hunters: If you want to find life on distant planets, try looking for signs of toxic chemical cleanup. Gases that organisms…
4 key things to know about lung infections caused by fungi
Some fungi that can cause serious lung infections have spread to many parts of the United States. A Science News story on the expanded range…
Rare ‘dark lightning’ might briefly touch passengers when flying
CHICAGO — More than electricity can illuminate a thundercloud. Brilliant bursts of gamma radiation, known as dark lightning or terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, also explode in…
Pandemic languishing is a thing. But is it a privilege?
Languishing. The term captured the zeitgeist in April 2021 when organizational psychologist Adam Grant penned an article in the New York Times titled, “There’s a…
50 years ago, scientists sequenced a gene for the first time
Molecular biology’s flower child — Science News, January 6, 1973 During the past several years, some artificial genes have been synthesized…. But no one had unraveled…
Complex supply chains may have appeared more than 3,000 years ago
Long-distance supply chains, vulnerable to disruptions from wars and disease outbreaks, may have formed millennia before anyone today gasped at gas prices or gawked at…
Here’s how to make a fiber-optic cable out of air using a laser
Tubular laser beams can create what amount to fiber-optic cables made of thin air, researchers report in a study to appear in Physical Review X.…
Lasers reveal sites used as the Americas’ oldest known star calendars
Olmec and Maya people living along Mexico’s Gulf Coast as early as 3,100 years ago built star-aligned ceremonial centers to track important days of a…
Tiny bubbles that make icicles hazy are filled with water, not air
Tiny drops of dirty water, often mistaken for air bubbles, tell the tale of rippling icicle growth. Icicles made of pure water are smooth. But…