All Stories
- Astronomy
In 1968, scientists thought they were close to detecting gravity waves
Despite an unverified discovery in 1968, spacetime ripples remained elusive for nearly 50 years.
- Animals
Leaf-cutter ants pick up the pace when they sense rain
Leaf-cutter ants struggle to carry wet leaves, so they run to avoid rain.
- Health & Medicine
The number of teens who report having sex is down
About 40 percent of high school students are having sex, the lowest amount in the last three decades.
- Earth
Underwater fiber-optic cables could moonlight as earthquake sensors
The seafloor cables that ferry internet traffic across oceans may soon find another use: detecting underwater earthquakes.
- Astronomy
Swirling gases reveal baby planets in a young star’s disk
A new technique pinpointed three planets forming around a young star about 330 light-years from Earth.
- Paleontology
These newfound frogs have been trapped in amber for 99 million years
Trapped in amber, 99-million-year-old frog fossils reveal the amphibians lived in a wet, tropical climate.
- Planetary Science
The Mars rover Opportunity is sleeping, not dead, NASA says
Opportunity is hunkered down in a deep sleep on Mars to ride out what’s looking to be a long dark dust storm.
- Humans
What I actually learned about my family after trying 5 DNA ancestry tests
Ancestry results vary widely depending on which company you use.
- Genetics
DNA testing can bring families together, but gives mixed answers on ethnicity
DNA testing has become a new way for millions of Americans to expand their family trees and learn something about themselves, but results vary widely.
- Animals
Here’s what narwhals sound like underwater
Scientists eavesdropped while narwhals clicked and buzzed. The work could help pinpoint how the whales may react to more human noise in the Arctic.
- Climate
Antarctica has lost about 3 trillion metric tons of ice since 1992
Antarctica’s rate of ice loss has sped up since 1992 — mostly in the last five years, raising global sea level by almost 8 millimeters on average.
- Physics
This heavy element has a football-shaped atomic nucleus
Three nobelium isotopes have oblong nuclei, and some sport a ‘bubble’ center.
