All Stories
- Science & Society
Russia’s invasion could cause long-term harm to Ukraine’s prized soil
War will physically and chemically damage Ukraine’s prized, highly fertile chernozem soils. The impacts on agriculture could last for years.
- Physics
How fast a row of dominoes topples depends on friction
Computer simulations reveal that two types of friction are important in determining how quickly dominoes collapse.
- Astronomy
Seven newfound dwarf galaxies sit on just one side of a larger galaxy
Seven newly found dwarf galaxy candidates are stick to just one side of the large galaxy M81. Astronomers don’t know why.
- Health & Medicine
Western wildfires’ health risks extend across the country
As western wildfires become more common, hazardous smoke is sending people — especially children — to emergency rooms on the East Coast.
- Health & Medicine
Pfizer’s and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines are OK’d for the youngest kids
Babies, toddlers and preschoolers could begin getting immunized against COVID-19 as early as June 21 in the United States.
- Animals
These tiny marsupials survived wildfires only to face extinction from feral cats
The Kangaroo Island dunnart was one species seen to reemerge after 2019–2020 Australian bushfires but is now closer than ever to extinction.
- Ecosystems
Some polar bears in Greenland survive on surprisingly little sea ice
“Glacial mélange” could provide a last refuge for some bears as the Earth warms, but climate action is needed to preserve the species, researchers say.
- Astronomy
Neutrinos hint the sun has more carbon and nitrogen than previously thought
Scientists still don’t know the sun’s exact chemical composition, which is crucial for understanding the entire universe. Neutrinos will help.
- Animals
Here’s why pumpkin toadlets are such clumsy jumpers
Tiny Brachycephalus frogs from southern Brazil can leap into the air but have trouble landing.
- Archaeology
Ancient bacterial DNA hints Europe’s Black Death started in Central Asia
Archaeological and genetic data pin the origins of Europe’s 1346–1353 bubonic plague to a bacterial strain found in graves in Asia from the 1330s.
- Animals
Butterflies may lose their ‘tails’ like lizards
Fragile, tail-like projections on some butterflies' wings may be a lifesaver.
- Life
Lucy Cooke’s new book ‘Bitch’ busts myths about female animals
Female animals get their due in Lucy Cooke’s exploration of the roles of the sexes in biology and evolution.
