All Stories
- Animals
Monkeys hunt small animals when fruit is scarce
Capuchins hunt and eat small vertebrates more often as plant foods wane. The behavior may help us learn more about humans’ early dietary evolution.
- Paleontology
Once upon a time, insects had 24 legs
A many-legged oddball from long ago helps fill a major gap in the fossil record — and hints at how insects ended up with just six legs.
- Planetary Science
Microbes might get freeze-dried on the moon’s south pole
Artemis IV will put people on the moon’s surface for the first time in 50 years. NASA research reveals the microbes that might hitch a ride.
- Health & Medicine
A new cancer vaccine may keep melanoma from coming back
A personalized mRNA vaccine paired with Keytruda may help keep skin cancer from returning after surgery, a large clinical trial suggests.
- Neuroscience
How memories may survive hibernation
Hibernating mice rapidly lost and regrew half of the connections in their memory centers, while key connection hubs survived.
- Health & Medicine
Less sugar early in life might decrease dementia risk
Children exposed to World War II sugar rationing had lower dementia and Alzheimer’s risk decades later, data suggest.
- Animals
Heat therapy for sick frogs lowers sperm levels
Scientists often use thermal treatment to combat fatal fungal infection in frogs, but it may come at a cost.
- Neuroscience
Personalized brain stimulation can ease chronic pain
A week-long brain mapping session can lead to lasting relief, a case series of three pain patients shows.
- Neuroscience
Motor neurons don’t just move muscles. They may direct that motion too
A fruit fly study shows motor neurons do more than relay commands: They send signals back to the brain and organize movement sequences.
- Science & Society
Mysteries of the commonplace
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute reviews new research in static electricity and other science revelations in our September magazine issue.
- Earth
‘Thunderquakes’ do more than shake the ground — they map it
Scientists used fiber-optic cables to turn “thunderquakes” into underground maps that could help reveal hidden hazards beneath cities.
- Plants
Plants under attack leave behind a surprising call for backup
Bacteria may build a memory of herbivore attack in the soil and coax new plants to attract wasps to rein in destructive pests.
