All Stories
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Science & Society
A new seasoning smells like meat thanks to sugar — and mealworms
A spoonful of sugars could help cooked mealworms go down more easily, a potential boon for the planet.
By Anil Oza -
Anthropology
7-million-year-old limb fossils may be from the earliest known hominid
An earlier report on one of the bones of a 7-million-year-old creature that may have walked upright has triggered scientific misconduct charges.
By Bruce Bower -
Tech
50 years ago, genes eluded electron microscopes
In the 1970s, scientists dreamed of seeing genes under the microscope. Fifty years later, powerful new tools are helping to make that dream come true.
By Nikk Ogasa -
Neuroscience
Sleep deprivation may make people less generous
Helping each other is inherently human. Yet new research shows that sleep deprivation may dampen people’s desire to donate money.
By Sujata Gupta -
Astronomy
The discovery of the Kuiper Belt revamped our view of the solar system
Thirty years ago, astronomers found the Kuiper Belt, a region of space home to Pluto and other icy worlds that helped show how the solar system evolved.
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Animals
News stories have caught spiders in a web of misinformation
Nearly half of news stories about peoples’ interactions with spiders contain errors, according to a new analysis.
By Betsy Mason -
Earth
Not one, but two asteroids might have slain the dinosaurs
A craterlike structure found off West Africa’s coast might have been formed by an asteroid impact around the same time the dinosaurs went extinct.
By Nikk Ogasa -
Animals
Sea urchin skeletons’ splendid patterns may strengthen their structure
“Voronoi” geometric patterns found in sea urchin skeletons yield strong yet lightweight structures that could inspire the creation of new materials.
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Summer nights may never be the same again
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses this summer's record-breaking high temperatures and Science News' continued climate coverage.
By Nancy Shute -
Animals
Extreme climate shifts long ago may have helped drive reptile evolution
The end-Permian extinction left reptiles plenty of open ecological niches. But rapid climate change may be what kick-started the animals’ dominance.
By Beth Geiger -
Health & Medicine
The new CDC guidelines may make back-to-school harder
The public health agency’s coronavirus advice could change how schools operate and may spur COVID-19 outbreaks in classrooms.
By Meghan Rosen