All Stories
- Oceans
3.5 billion years ago, oceans were cool, not hot
Extensive new evidence from South Africa suggests that 3.5 billion years ago, Earth was locked in a cold spell, with isolated blasts of hydrothermal heat that may have helped incubate life.
By Beth Geiger - Archaeology
11,000-year-old pendant with etched design found in England
Stone artifact with design etched on it comes from a transitional time in England 11,000 years ago.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Explaining Henry VIII’s erratic behavior
Researchers say Henry VIII suffered several traumatic brain injuries that may explain his explosive outbursts and memory problems.
- Environment
California gas leak spewed massive amounts of methane
New estimates suggest that a 2015 natural gas well blowout injected tons of greenhouse gases into the Los Angeles atmosphere.
- Planetary Science
Charon’s surface cracked when ancient subsurface sea froze
A subsurface ocean on Charon, Pluto’s largest moon, might have once frozen and cracked the moon’s surface, creating some of the ridges and valleys seen today.
- Particle Physics
Reactor data hint at existence of fourth neutrino
A nuclear reactor experiment in China is providing new hints that a fourth type of neutrino, one more than the standard model of physics allows, may exist.
By Ron Cowen -
- Archaeology
Tailored Egyptian dress is the oldest ever found
A pleated dress found in an ancient Egyptian cemetery called Tarkhan was cut, fitted and tailored between 5,400 and 5,100 years ago.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Tiger protection in Thailand produces results
Despite good efforts, the goal of doubling the global tiger population by 2022 looks impossible.
- Astronomy
Fast radio burst tracked to its galaxy of origin
After years of searching, astronomers finally track an elusive cosmic radio signal to its home: a galaxy about 6 billion light-years away.
- Earth
Readers respond to blue tarantulas, multiparticles and white outs
Readers respond to the January 9, 2016 issue of Science News with thoughts on blue tarantulas, multiparticles, and avalanches.
- Cosmology
Celebrating a new way to listen to the universe
Editor in Chief Eva Emerson reflects on the detection of gravitational waves as a historic moment for physics.
By Eva Emerson