All Stories by Science News Staff
- Neuroscience
Chronic marijuana use may alter the brain
Long-term marijuana use may lead to reduced gray matter and increased white matter connectivity in the brain.
- Planetary Science
Comet delivered a showy meteor shower — on Mars
Comet Siding Spring dumped several tons of material into the Martian atmosphere that could have damaged NASA spacecraft.
- Animals
Hermit thrushes, humans share some musical basics
The melodious birds share a humanlike bias for notes mathematically related by simple integers.
- Earth
More multi-tornado days in the forecast for U.S.
The number of days per year with tornadoes has gone down over the last few decades in the U.S., but the number of days that see 30 or more twisters is going up.
- Astronomy
Amateur astronomer spots supernova in nearby galaxy
Koichi Itagaki noticed the exploding star as a brilliant point of light in the spiral galaxy M61.
- Astronomy
Rendezvous with a comet
On November 12, Rosetta mission scientists successfully completed the first-ever attempt to put a lander on a comet. See all Science News coverage of Rosetta and Philae's voyage to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
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- Science & Society
Asteroids closer to home may get us to Mars
NASA should abandon its attempt to bring a space rock into lunar orbit and instead scrutinize ones already whizzing by Earth, one scientist argues.
- Health & Medicine
Cocoa antioxidants boost the aging brain
High doses of cocoa flavanols can improve some types of brain function in older individuals, a new study shows.
- Astronomy
Supersized sunspot is largest in decades
A colossal sunspot large enough to be seen with the naked eye now blemishes the nearside of the sun, covering an area wide enough to comfortably fit 10 Earths side by side.
- Astronomy
Comets caught zooming around nearby star
The young star Beta Pictoris hosts at least two families of comets, which might mirror our solar system’s past.
- Astronomy
Second stop planned for mission to Pluto
Scientists identify three possible targets for the New Horizons probe after it visits the former planet.
