All Stories
- Health & Medicine
How some ticks protect themselves from deadly bacteria on human skin
A gene that ticks acquired from bacteria 40 million years ago may help the arachnids keep potential pathogens at bay while feeding on blood.
- Science & Society
Hear from people taking action against COVID-19
Researchers, a health care worker, a clinical trial volunteer and others share their experiences during the pandemic.
- Space
Top 10 questions I’d ask an alien from the Galactic Federation
An interview with E.T. would be a journalist’s dream, but it’s not very likely.
- Earth
In the past 15 years, climate change has transformed the Arctic
Accumulating evidence and new tools have helped scientists better understand how the Arctic is changing, but the pace has been faster than expected.
- Astronomy
Enormous X-ray bubbles balloon from the center of the Milky Way
Images from the the eROSITA telescope reveal X-ray–emitting blobs surrounding gamma-ray bubbles.
- Health & Medicine
As 2020 comes to an end, here’s what we still don’t know about COVID-19
After making fast progress understanding COVID-19, researchers are still in search of answers.
- Archaeology
Ancient people may have survived desert droughts by melting ice in lava tubes
Bands of charcoal from fires lit long ago, found in an ice core from a New Mexico cave, correspond to five periods of drought over 800 years.
- Health & Medicine
Here’s what you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccines
There are still important unknowns about how Pfizer’s vaccine and others will work once they get injected in people around the world.
- Space
Hayabusa2’s asteroid dirt may hold clues to the early solar system
“We collected the treasure box,” a Japanese space scientist announced after a capsule holding samples from asteroid Ryugu safely landed on Earth.
- Animals
Giant pandas may roll in horse poop to feel warm
By coating themselves in fresh horse manure, wild giant pandas may be seeking a chemical in the poop that inhibits a cold-sensing protein.
- Earth
An enormous supervolcano may be hiding under Alaskan islands
A geologic game of connect the dots reveals hints that Mount Cleveland, the Aleutians’ most active volcano, may sit on a giant undersea crater.
- Space
Here are 10 of Arecibo’s coolest achievements
The now-defunct Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico made myriad discoveries over its 57-year run, including of pulsar planets and ice on Mercury.
