Humans
How child soldiers heal after the trauma of war
For more than two decades, Theresa Betancourt has studied Sierra Leone’s former child soldiers. Her new book Shadows into Light tells their stories.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
AI could transform health care, but will it live up to the hype?
AI has the potential to make health care more effective, equitable and humane. Whether the tech delivers on these promises remains to be seen.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Particle Physics
A major new neutrino experiment is nearing completion
The JUNO experiment, which will study the ways of the electrically neutral subatomic particles, will be the largest of its kind.
Technically Fiction
Tech
Flying cars could soon become a reality
Engineers have all the technology they need to make flying cars, but there are still some barriers to getting these sci-fi mainstays off the ground.
More Stories from the January 1, 2025 issue
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Twisting Words Crossword
Solve our latest interactive crossword. We'll publish science-themed crosswords and math puzzles on alternating months.
- Health & Medicine
Got a cold? A placebo might help
Amid doubts over a common decongestant, evidence suggests the placebo effect can still help people suffering from a cold.
- Neuroscience
Pregnancy overhauls the brain. Here’s what that looks like
Neuroscientist Liz Chrastil’s brain scans before, during and after pregnancy are providing the first view of a mom-to-be’s structural brain changes.
- Agriculture
Megafire smoke may dampen California’s nut harvests
The summer after wildfire smoke blocked sunlight for long stretches, harvests at some almond tree orchards in California’s Central Valley dropped.
- Planetary Science
Scientists find a long-sought electric field in Earth’s atmosphere
The Earth’s ambipolar electric field is weak but strong enough to control the shape and evolution of the upper atmosphere.
- Health & Medicine
New electrical stitches use muscle movement to speed up healing
In rats, the sutures hastened recovery and reduced the risk of infection.
- Animals
DNA from old hair helps confirm the macabre diet of two 19th century lions
Genetic analysis of cavity crud from two famed man-eating lions suggests the method could re-create diets of predators that lived thousands of years ago.
- Life
Remote seamounts in the southeast Pacific may be home to 20 new species
A recent expedition to the intersection of two undersea mountain chains has revealed a new seamount and a rich world of deep-sea biodiversity.
- Microbes
A fluffy, orange fungus could transform food waste into tasty dishes
The fungus thrives on everything from soy pulp to bland custards, turning them into digestible foods with a surprisingly pleasant flavor.
- Health & Medicine
A viral gene drive could offer a new approach to fighting herpes
A new gene drive can copy and paste itself into the genomes of herpes simplex viruses in mice. The end goal is a version that disables the virus in humans.
- Space
The historic ‘Wow!’ signal may finally have a source. Sorry, it’s not aliens
One of the best possible signs of extraterrestrial communication may have an astrophysical explanation — albeit a weird one.
- Animals
Coyotes have the face muscles for that ‘sad-puppy’ look
The ability to make heart-melting stares may not be the fruit of dog domestication if their still-wild cousins have the power to do it too.
- Space
A Dune-inspired spacesuit turns astronaut pee into drinking water
The spacesuit design collects urine, filters it, adds electrolytes and stores the cleaned water for the astronaut to drink.
- Cosmology
In an epic cosmology clash, rival scientists begin to find common ground
Different measurements of the cosmic expansion rate disagree. The James Webb telescope could determine whether that disagreement is real.
- Animals
Science has finally cracked male riflebirds’ flirty secrets
New video upsets the old notion that these birds of paradise use wing clapping to make percussive sounds while courting.
- Science & Society
The U.S. empire was built on bird dung
A mid-1850s act let the United States seize islands rich in bird guano. Those strategic outposts fueled the U.S. rise to power, a researcher says.
- Environment
A podcast challenges us to reassess our relationship with wildfires
United by Fire lays out key insights from the two largest blazes in Colorado history, the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires of 2020.
