All Stories
- Space
Light leaking from a distant galaxy hints at a cosmic makeover’s origins
Ultraviolet light slips through a hole in a distant galaxy’s gas. Older galaxies might have used the trick to ionize most of the universe’s hydrogen.
- Life
Self-destructing mitochondria may leave some brain cells vulnerable to ALS
Mitochondria that appear to dismantle themselves in certain brain cells may be a first step toward ALS, a mouse study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
A new dengue vaccine shows promise — at least for now
The latest vaccine against dengue shows promise in protecting children from the disease, but will need longer term study to ensure kids are safe from future infections.
- Health & Medicine
A human liver-on-a-chip may catch drug reactions that animal testing can’t
An artificial organ may better predict serious drug side effects than animal testing does.
- Humans
Fossils suggest tree-dwelling apes walked upright long before hominids did
A partial skeleton from an 11.6-million-year-old European ape still doesn’t answer how hominids adopted a two-legged gait.
- Neuroscience
People who lack olfactory bulbs shouldn’t be able to smell. But some women can
Some women who appear to lack the brain structures that relay scent messages still have an average sense of smell, and scientists have no idea how.
- Health & Medicine
Running just once a week may help you outpace an early death
Any amount of running can lower a person’s risk of early death, an analysis of multiple studies finds.
- Tech
The first artificial material that follows sunlight may upgrade solar panels
Rows of tiny stemlike rods called SunBOTs orient themselves toward light, optimizing the solar energy that they can harvest.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, cancer vaccines were a dream
Researchers are now prodding the immune system to fight cancer, reviving the longtime dream of creating cancer vaccines.
- Space
Voyager 2 reveals the dynamic, complex nature of the solar system’s edge
With two spacecraft outside the sun’s magnetic bubble, researchers get a new look at the boundary between the sun and its galactic environment.
- Science & Society
Can neighborhood outreach reduce inner-city gun violence in the U.S.?
While mass shootings grab U.S. headlines, the steady scourge of inner-city gun violence gets less attention — and fewer solutions.
- Ecosystems
Can forensics help keep endangered rosewood off the black market?
Timber traffickers are plundering the world’s forests, but conservationists have a new set of tools to fight deforestation.
