All Stories
- Chemistry
Josep Cornella breaks boundaries to make new and better catalysts
Josep Cornella reinvents chemical reactions essential for agriculture and the pharmaceutical industry.
- Science & Society
Big questions inspire the scientists on this year’s SN 10 list
These scientists to watch study climate change, alien worlds, human evolution, the coronavirus and more.
- Planetary Science
Robin Wordsworth re-creates the atmosphere of ancient Mars
Robin Wordsworth studies the climates of Mars and other alien worlds to find out whether they could support life.
- Health & Medicine
This robotic pill clears mucus from the gut to deliver meds
A whirling robotic pill wicks mucus from the gut, allowing intravenous drugs such as insulin to be given orally, experiments in pigs suggest.
- Psychology
The pandemic may be stunting young adults’ personality development
People typically become less neurotic and more agreeable with age. The COVID-19 pandemic may have reversed those trends in adults younger than 30.
- Paleontology
Ancient fish fossils highlight the strangeness of our vertebrate ancestors
New fossils are revealing the earliest jawed vertebrates — a group that encompasses 99 percent of all living vertebrates on Earth, including humans.
- Health & Medicine
False teeth could double as hearing aids
Dental implants can conduct sound through jawbone, making them candidates for discreet, high-quality hearing aids, researchers say.
- Ecosystems
‘Fen, Bog & Swamp’ reminds readers why peatlands matter
In her latest book, author Annie Proulx chronicles people’s long history with peatlands and examines the ecological value of these overlooked places.
- Ecosystems
A Caribbean island gets everyone involved in protecting beloved species
Scientists on Saba are introducing island residents to conservation of Caribbean orchids, red-billed tropicbirds and urchins.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s DART spacecraft just smashed into an asteroid — on purpose
If the first-ever attempt to knock a space rock off course works, it could provide a blueprint to protect Earth from a killer asteroid.
- Anthropology
In Maya society, cacao use was for everyone, not just royals
Previously considered a preserve of Maya elites, cacao was consumed across all social strata, a new study finds.
- Environment
Mangrove forests expand and contract with a lunar cycle
The carbon-sequestering trees grow in a roughly 18-year cycle according to tides influenced by the moon’s orbit, a study in Australia finds.
