Health & Medicine
Tuberculosis could be eradicated. So why isn’t it?
John Green’s new book, Everything Is Tuberculosis, reveals how social injustice sustains the disease, despite available cures and vaccines.
Current Issue
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Calls to restart nuclear weapons tests stir dismay and debate among scientists
Many scientists say “subcritical” experiments and computer simulations make nuclear weapons testing unnecessary.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Animals
How fish biologists discovered birds of paradise have fluorescent feathers
A survey of museum specimens reveals that more than a dozen species of the birds sport biofluorescence in feathers, skin or even inside their throats.
The Health Checkup
Health & Medicine
These scientists have a plan to demystify the vaginal microbiome
Vaginal microbes play a huge role in overall health, but researchers know relatively little about them. Citizen science could help change that.
More Stories from the April 1, 2025 issue
- Space
‘Star Wars’ holds clues to making speedier spacecraft in the real world
Controlled fusion, solar sails or ion engines could someday help spaceships travel between star systems.
- Plants
A bacteria-based Band-Aid helps plants heal their wounds
Recent research into bacterial cellulose patches may speed plants' recovery, improve grafting and help with preservation.
- Health & Medicine
Plastic shards permeate human brains
A study of microplastics and nanoplastics in brains shows an astonishing increase over time.
- Health & Medicine
A pancreatic cancer blood test called PAC-MANN could spot the disease early
The test relies on a magnetic nanoparticle linked to fluorescent molecules to detect pancreatic cancer proteins.
- Materials Science
The best way to cook an egg — in 32 minutes
It’s hard to cook both the white and the yolk of the egg to the right temperature. Scientists have found a new method, called periodic cooking.
- Neuroscience
Scratching an itch is so good, and so bad
The motion kicks off inflammation but may also combat harmful bacteria
- Earth
Spooky floating lights in South Carolina could be earthquake farts
Gases that rise from the earth during earthquakes could explain strange sightings of floating balls of light.
- Planetary Science
The moon’s two grand canyons formed in less than 10 minutes
Two gargantuan canyons on the moon were carved by a hailstorm of rocks — and that’s good news for future lunar astronauts.
- 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.
- Physics
A cosmic neutrino of unknown origins smashes energy records
A deep-sea detector glimpsed a particle with 220 million billion electron volts of energy — around 20 times as energetic as any neutrino seen before.
- Astronomy
A fast radio burst from a dead galaxy puzzles astronomers
A blast of radio waves from the outskirts of an ancient galaxy challenges theories about what creates such bursts.
- Animals
How mantis shrimp deliver punishing blows without hurting themselves
A mantis shrimp's punch creates high-energy waves. Its exoskeleton is designed to absorb that energy, preventing cracking and tissue damage.
- Animals
A fungus named after Sir David Attenborough zombifies cave spiders
The new fungus species Gibellula attenboroughii forces reclusive cave spiders to exposed areas, likely to benefit spore dispersal.
- Archaeology
Here’s how ancient Amazonians became master maize farmers
Casarabe people grew the nutritious crop year-round on savannas thanks to networks of drainage canals and ponds.
- Climate
Historical writings reveal how people weathered the Little Ice Age
Records from 500 years ago document floods, famine and death in 16th century Transylvania due to wild weather swings during the Little Ice Age.
- Life
This drawing is the oldest known sketch of an insect brain
Found in a roughly 350-year-old manuscript by Dutch biologist Johannes Swammerdam, the scientific illustration shows the brain of a honeybee drone.
- Neuroscience
Human memory is flawed. But a new book says that’s OK
The new book Memory Lane convincingly demonstrates how memories are like Lego buildings that are constantly being rebuilt.
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Math puzzle: The Lesser Fool
Solve the math puzzle from our April 2025 issue. In honor of April Fools’ Day, we offer the puzzling case of the Lesser Fool.
