All Stories
- Health & Medicine
The New World screwworm has returned to the U.S. Now what?
At least a dozen animals have been found with the flesh-eating maggots. It could take more than a year to eradicate the parasite again, experts warn.
- Animals
Sea cucumbers harbor ‘zombie’ tissues that won’t die
Detached tissues from the sea cucumber's tube feet and feeding tentacles survived for more than three years, a find that could shape the study of aging.
- Earth
A tropical permafrost layer in Peru may be one of the world’s largest
Vast permafrost beneath the upper slopes of Peru’s tallest volcano could become a regional water source as glaciers in the Andes retreat.
- Space
Is NASA falling out of love with Mars?
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses NASA's rocky relationship with Mars exploration.
- Earth
A 2011 earthquake bounced a seismic wave off Earth’s core, nudging Japan east
The wave's round trip to Earth's core set off a fault slip along Japan's plate boundaries, revealing a seismic hazard scientists hadn't recognized.
- Paleontology
A textbook assumption about early land vertebrates may be wrong
Three species that lived about 308 million years ago challenge the idea that the first land vertebrates underwent amphibian-like metamorphosis.
- Science & Society
The truth about brain rot, according to science
Emerging research suggests overusing digital devices can be harmful, especially to mental health. But does being overly online truly rot our brains?
- Health & Medicine
A deadly fungus that can infect cats and people is spreading
It’s just a matter of time before Sporothrix brasiliensis reaches the U.S. a CDC expert says.
- Climate
A ‘Super El Niño’ may be on the way. What does that mean?
Past super El Niños have brought bad flooding, deadly fires and disease outbreaks. Climate experts already expect “shockingly high” temps this winter.
- Archaeology
The oldest known plague outbreak struck hunter-gatherers 5,500 years ago
Plague DNA in ancient graves near Siberia's Lake Baikal suggests the disease threatened people long before farming and crowded settlements.
- Science & Society
How real is the Cyclops in The Odyssey?
The iconic one-eyed monster coming to movie screens in July in The Odyssey might have more in common with tiny water critters than with humans.
- Plants
Chinese money plant leaves hide a mathematical pattern
Tiny water-secreting pores appear to organize the major veins of the plant leaves into an arrangement known as a Voronoi diagram.
