Feature
- Health & Medicine
Mom’s weight during pregnancy shapes baby’s health
Obesity at conception or during pregnancy is a big problem that's getting bigger: New evidence says a child's mental health could be at stake.
By Laura Beil - Neuroscience
His stress is not like her stress
When the pressure doesn’t let up, men and women react differently. The root of the difference may be messaging within the brain.
By Susan Gaidos - Physics
The science of avalanches
High-tech instruments are helping researchers study how temperature can change the character — and danger — of an avalanche
- Paleontology
12 amazing fossil finds of 2015
From an ancient sponge ancestor to the Carolina Butcher, scientists learned a lot about life on Earth this year.
By Meghan Rosen - Psychology
As suicide rates rise, researchers separate thoughts from actions
Advances in suicide research and treatment may depend on separating thoughts from acts.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
Astronomical milestones of 2015
The New Horizons mission to Pluto was the No. 1 science story of the year. Here some other notable space missions.
- Science & Society
Science puzzles no longer so puzzling
This year, researchers solved the riddle of mysterious radio bursts, the Erdös discrepancy problem and an elusive acid.
- Science & Society
These truisms proved false in 2015
Don’t always believe what you hear. These truisms turned out to be false in 2015.
- Science & Society
Top stories of 2015: Pluto, gene editing, a new hominid and more
Pluto up close, the power gene editor CRISPR, new early human kin and more make Science News' list of the top 25 science stories of 2015.
- Planetary Science
Year in review: Pluto unveiled as a world like no other
Long out of reach, Pluto came into focus in 2015 with the New Horizons mission.
- Genetics
Year in review: Breakthrough gene editor sparks ethics debate
The gene editing system CRISPR has opened the door to new scientific advancements — and ethical concerns.
- Humans
Year in review: Early human kin could shake up family tree
From a South African cave to an East African rift valley, fossil and archaeological finds reported in 2015 added new twists to the evolution of the human genus.
By Bruce Bower