All Stories
- Health & Medicine
A new polio vaccine joins the fight to vanquish the paralyzing disease
Work on the ground to vaccinate children continues in the push to finally eradicate polio.
- Science & Society
‘The Light Ages’ illuminates the science of the so-called Dark Ages
In telling the story of a monk who contributed to astronomy, a new book shows that science didn’t take a break during the Middle Ages.
- Chemistry
This weird chemical bond acts like a mash-up of hydrogen and covalent bonds
Chemistry students are taught that hydrogen bonds and covalent bonds are distinct, but a new study shows they exist on a continuum.
- Genetics
Some identical twins don’t have identical DNA
Mutations arising early in development may account for genetic differences between identical twins.
- Anthropology
Ice Age hunters’ leftovers may have fueled dog domestication
Ancient people tamed wolves by feeding them surplus game, researchers suggest.
- Health & Medicine
Severe allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are extremely rare, CDC says
Out of the first 1.9 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine given in the United States, there were 21 reported cases of anaphylaxis, a CDC study finds.
- Genetics
Plague may have caused die-offs of ancient Siberians
DNA suggests that the deadly bacterium that causes the plague reached northeast Asia by 4,400 years ago.
- Science & Society
How schools can reduce excessive discipline of Black students
Black middle and high school students miss four times as much school as white children due to suspensions. What can be done to shrink the gap?
- Chemistry
Zinc-air batteries are typically single-use. A new design could change that
Swapping out the electrolyte in zinc-air batteries helps these next-gen power sources last longer.
- Animals
These spiders may sew leaves into fake shelters to lure frogs to their doom
Madagascar’s huntsman spiders use silk to turn two leaves into a cool hollow. Such microhabitats may appeal to the spiders’ prey, a study suggests.
- Climate
What the pandemic can teach us about ways to reduce air pollution
Data collected during COVID-19 shutdowns may help tease out the complicated chemistry that brews poor air quality.
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These are the most-read Science News stories of 2020
From 'murder hornets' to the physics of Notre Dame's construction, Science News online readers had a wide variety of favorite stories on our website.
