News
- Health & Medicine
These charts show that COVID-19 vaccines are doing their job
COVID-19 shots may not always prevent infections, but for now, they are keeping the vast majority of vaccinated people out of the hospital.
- Astronomy
New ideas on what makes a planet habitable could reshape the search for life
New definitions of “habitable worlds” could include planets with global oceans under a steamy hydrogen atmosphere or exclude ones that started out habitable but lost all their water.
- Life
An incredibly resilient coral in the Great Barrier Reef offers hope for the future
At more than 400 years old, a massive coral off the coast of Australia has endured as many as 80 cyclones and 99 bleaching events.
- Animals
Female hummingbirds may sport flashy feathers to avoid being harassed
Some female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds boast bright blue plumage that’s similar to males. The colors may help females blend in to avoid attacks.
- Physics
Physicists caught protons ‘surfing’ on shock waves
A laser experiment could help scientists understand how protons reach high energies traveling through the cosmos.
- Paleontology
This big-headed pterosaur may have preferred walking over flying
The most intact fossil of a tapejarid pterosaur ever found yields new insight into how the ancient reptile lived.
- Anthropology
Ancient DNA shows the peopling of Southeast Asian islands was surprisingly complex
Ancient DNA from a hunter-gatherer skeleton points to earlier-than-expected human arrivals on Southeast Asian islands known as Wallacea.
- Science & Society
Racism lurks in names given to plants and animals. That’s starting to change
Racist legacies linger in everyday lingo for birds, bugs and more. Some scientists see the chance to change that.
- Climate
Climate change made Europe’s flash floods in July more likely
The deadly July floods in Belgium and Germany bear the fingerprints of human-caused climate change, scientists say.
- Animals
A giant tortoise was caught stalking, killing and eating a baby bird
Video captures the first documented instance of a tortoise hunting another animal.
- Astronomy
Here’s how cool a star can be and still achieve lasting success
The dividing line between successful stars and failed ones is a surface temperature of about 1,200° to 1,400° Celsius, a new study reports.
- Psychology
Everyone maps numbers in space. But why don’t we all use the same directions?
The debate over whether number lines are innate or learned obscures a more fundamental question: Why do we map numbers to space in the first place?
