All Stories
- Oceans
Deep-sea mining could start soon — before we understand its risks
The U.S. push to mine international waters for metals defies global efforts to control and protect these fragile ecosystems.
- Health & Medicine
These 5 nutrients might be lacking in your diet
U.S. diets should include more of vitamins D and E, fiber, calcium and magnesium — all are essential nutrients that could offer health benefits.
- Life
Why these zombie caterpillars can’t stop eating
Sneaky chemistry by a real-life “Last of Us” Cordyceps fungus mind controls its zombie insect victims by convincing them they’re starving.
- Physics
Scientists 3-D printed a tiny elephant inside a cell
The first structures ever 3-D printed inside living cells point to applications for biology research.
- Earth
NASA images may help track sewage in coastal waters
Sewage-contaminated water absorbs certain wavelengths of light, leaving a signature that can be detected by space-based instruments, a new study finds.
- Anthropology
A drowned landscape held clues to the lives of ancient human relatives
The remains of extinct Homo erectus dredged from the seabed off Java, along with thousands of animal fossils, are revealing a long-lost ecosystem.
- Health & Medicine
Chronic low back pain may be less likely if you walk – a lot
Adults who walked more than 100 minutes per day were less likely to have chronic low back pain than those who walked fewer than 78 minutes per day.
- Space
A third visitor from another star is hurtling through the solar system
Scientists have found a new interstellar object whizzing toward the sun.
- Astronomy
Nearly half of the universe’s ordinary matter was uncharted, until now
Two studies fill in gaps about the cosmos’s ordinary matter. One maps it all, even the “missing matter.” The other details one of its hiding spots.
- Climate
Climate change could separate vanilla plants and their pollinators
The vanilla species grown for its flavoring is finicky. Genes from its wild relatives could help make it hardier — but not if those cousins go extinct.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine policy in the U.S. is entering uncharted territory
A key advisory group vows to base decisions on evidence, boost confidence in vaccines and protect health. Experts fear the opposite is happening.
- Life
A 3-D printed, plastic beaker could help algae grow on Mars
Algae grown under Mars-like conditions could make bioplastic building materials for structures to harbor life in space.
