All Stories
- Health & Medicine
Building a better skin barrier
Skin is a barrier meant to keep small invaders out. Products making their way across it should boost that mission.
- Physics
Here’s how Rudolph’s light-up nose might be possible
Simple chemistry could give the reindeer his famously bright snout. But physics would make it look different colors from the ground.
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Math puzzle: A Loopy Holiday Gift Exchange
Solve the math puzzle from our December 2025 issue, in which a holiday gift exchange occurs.
- Animals
Lions have a second roar that no one noticed until now
A machine learning analysis of wild lion audio reveals they have two roar types, not one. This insight might help detect where lions are declining.
- Health & Medicine
A diet low in glutamate may ease migraines
People with Gulf War Illness found relief from migraines after a month on a low-glutamate diet, hinting at a new way to ease symptoms.
- Science & Society
Science News’ Top Reads of 2025
Books about AI, Mars and infectious disease were among our top reads this year.
- Space
America risks losing its role as a space science pioneer
Funding uncertainties are pushing U.S. space scientists out of the field and putting existing and future space missions on the chopping block.
- Plants
Moss spores survived in space for 9 months
The moss species Physcomitrium patens is the latest organism to survive an extended stay in the vacuum and radiation of space.
- Health & Medicine
mRNA flu vaccines are making their way through clinical trials
The mRNA platform offers the advantage of faster vaccine production, which could allow more time to decide on which flu strains to cover.
- Health & Medicine
In animal tests, this needle-free insulin acted as fast as injections
Managing diabetes with injections is challenging. Joining insulin to a skin-penetrating polymer was as effective as shots at regulating blood sugar.
- Health & Medicine
Eroding access to childhood vaccines jeopardizes health for all
Recent U.S. decisions about vaccines signal bigger changes to come that could threaten the foundation of the national childhood immunization schedule.
- Oceans
Combining western science with Indigenous knowledge could help the Arctic
Polar marine ecologist Marianne Falardeau investigates how Arctic ecosystems are shifting under climate change.
