All Stories
- Paleontology
This ancient creature looks like a spider with a tail
A newly discovered ancient creature looks like a spider and has silk spinners and spidery male sex organs.
By Susan Milius - Anthropology
Ancient kids’ toys have been hiding in the archaeological record
Some unusual finds from thousands of years ago are actually toys and children’s attempts at mimicking adult craftwork.
By Bruce Bower - Psychology
When it’s playtime, many kids prefer reality over fantasy
Given a choice between fantasy play and doing the things that adults do, children prefer reality-based tasks, studies suggest.
By Bruce Bower - Plants
Pollinators are usually safe from a Venus flytrap
A first-ever look at what pollinates the carnivorous Venus flytrap finds little overlap between pollinators and prey.
- Cosmology
The way dwarf galaxies move puts a new spin on galaxy formation
Distant dwarf galaxies orbit a larger galaxy in a coordinated loop, rather than randomly as expected. The finding could challenge theories of dark matter.
- Physics
Laser experiment hints at weird in-between ice
Scientists spot signs of an unusual phase of water called superionic ice.
- Astronomy
Some of TRAPPIST-1’s planets could have life-friendly atmospheres
The seven planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 are probably rocky and some may have life-friendly atmospheres, two new papers suggest.
- Science & Society
Wikipedia has become a science reference source even though scientists don’t cite it
Wikipedia is everyone’s go-to source. Even scientists. A new study shows how science on Wikipedia may end up forwarding science itself.
- Science & Society
‘Death: A Graveside Companion’ offers an outlet for your morbid curiosity
A coffee-table book explores how humans have tried to understand death through the ages.
- Artificial Intelligence
‘Machines That Think’ predicts the future of artificial intelligence
In a new book, an artificial intelligence expert explores AI’s past, present and future.
- Materials Science
New textile weathers temperature shift
Reversible textile keeps skin at a comfortable temperature with thin layers of carbon and copper.
- Neuroscience
A blood test could predict the risk of Alzheimer’s disease
A blood test can predict the presence of an Alzheimer’s-related protein in the brain.