All Stories
- Astronomy
How scientists took the first picture of a black hole
Here’s how scientists connected eight observatories across the world to create one Earth-sized telescope in order to create an image of a black hole.
- Astronomy
All you need to know about the history of black holes
From dreaming up black holes to snapping the first picture of one, the history of black holes has had many twists.
- Astronomy
The first picture of a black hole opens a new era of astrophysics
Astronomers used a network of telescopes around the world to take a picture of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87.
- Health & Medicine
Chickens stand sentinel against mosquito-borne disease in Florida
To learn where mosquitoes are transmitting certain viruses, Florida officials deploy chickens and test them for antibodies to the pathogens.
- Climate
Antarctica’s iceberg graveyard could reveal the ice sheet’s future
Drilling deep into the seafloor beneath Antarctica’s “Iceberg Alley” could reveal new clues about how quickly the continent has melted in the past.
- Neuroscience
Our brains sculpt each other. So why do we study them in isolation?
Studying individual brains may not be the way to figure out the human mind, a social neuroscientist argues.
- Health & Medicine
A common food additive may make the flu vaccine less effective
A food preservative may impair the ability to fight the flu, a study in mice suggests.
- Health & Medicine
When an older person’s brain waves are in sync, memory is boosted
A brain stimulation treatment that nudges older people’s brain waves into sync could lead to noninvasive therapies for dementia and other disorders.
- Earth
How deadly, fast-moving flows of volcanic rock and gas cheat friction
Mixtures of hot volcanic rock and gas called pyroclastic flows travel so far by gliding on air, a new study suggests.
- Math
Mathematicians may have found the fastest way to multiply huge numbers
A new theoretical method for multiplying enormous figures appears to achieve a speed first predicted decades ago.
- Science & Society
The delight of discovering an asteroid that spits
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses recent news about the asteroid Bennu and Kuiper Belt–object Ultima Thule.
- Health & Medicine
Readers seek answers to stories about shingles, Neandertal spears and more
Readers had questions about Neandertal spears, Earth’s inner core and more.
