Uncategorized
- Science & Society
Fired federal workers share the crucial jobs no longer being done
Thousands of probationary federal employees received termination notices. Many were doing crucial work at science-related agencies.
- Science & Society
Why some chaos-seekers just want to watch the world burn
A political scientist explains how a confluence of personality traits and perceived status loss can encourage some people to generate chaos as a solution to their woes.
- Life
The butts of these blowfly larvae mimic termite faces
The young of a mysterious blowfly species look — and smell — like the termites they hide among.
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Buried Treasure Crossword
Solve our latest interactive crossword. We'll publish science-themed crosswords and math puzzles on alternating months.
- Humans
Biological sex is not as simple as male or female
A recent Trump executive order defines sex based on gamete size. But the order oversimplifies genetics, hormones and reproductive biology.
- Climate
Even desert cities could pull drinking water from the air
Water harvesting from foggy air provided up to 5 liters of water a day in a yearlong Chilean desert experiment.
- Physics
Squishy materials reveal new physics of static electricity
The charge transferred when identical objects touch depends on their history, scientists find.
- Space
Earth had new, temporary radiation rings last year
Two bands of radiation called the Van Allen belts encircle Earth. After a May 2024 solar superstorm, two more showed up between those belts.
- Physics
A weird ice that may form on alien planets has finally been observed
High-pressure experiments generated the first direct observation of plastic ice, which has qualities of both crystalline ice and liquid water.
- Health & Medicine
‘It felt like dread.’ Hear what severe depression can do to people
In the second episode of The Deep End, listeners hear what it’s like to live with severe depression and the backstory of an experimental treatment.
- Paleontology
Giant camel-like creatures lived thousands of years longer than once thought
Fossilized teeth from two ancient megafauna suggest they roamed Brazil 3,500 years ago. The find “opens the door to rewrite South American history.”
- Science & Society
‘Uncertain, anxious, fearful.’ That’s the mood at 2025’s first big U.S. science meeting
Scientists are losing funding and even their jobs under the new Trump administration. Researchers at the AAAS meeting shared fears and coping strategies.
