Science & Society

  1. Science & Society

    Revisiting the science stories that made us cry, think and say ‘OMG’ in 2017

    Each year Science News selects the top stories for their importance and impact. But the staff’s favorite stories strike a different chord.

    By Kate Travis
  2. Science & Society

    How science and society crossed paths in 2017

    In 2017, Science News covered the science events that everyone was talking about.

    By Kyle Plantz
  3. Science & Society

    Here are our favorite science books of 2017

    Science News writers and editors make their picks for top science books of the year.

    By Science News Staff
  4. Science & Society

    U.S. religion is increasingly polarized

    Organized religion in the United States increasingly belongs to fervent believers, a new study finds.

    By Bruce Bower
  5. Science & Society

    These are the most-read Science News stories of 2017

    From Cassini and eclipses to ladybugs and dolphins, Science News online readers had a wide variety of favorite stories on our website.

    By Science News Staff
  6. Science & Society

    2017 delivered humility, and proved our potential

    Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill reflects on some of the top scientific stories of 2017.

    By Elizabeth Quill
  7. Science & Society

    Colliding neutron stars, gene editing, human origins and more top stories of 2017

    A gravitational wave discovery is the year's biggest science story — again.

    By Science News Staff
  8. Genetics

    CRISPR gene editing moved into new territory in 2017

    Scientists edited viable human embryos with CRISPR/Cas9 this year.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  9. Neuroscience

    Brains of former football players showed how common traumatic brain injuries might be

    Examinations of NFL players’ postmortem brains turned up chronic traumatic encephalopathy in 99 percent of samples in large dataset.

    By Laura Sanders
  10. Science & Society

    Would you opt to see the future or decipher the past?

    Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill wonders what it would be like if scientists could see into the past and the future.

    By Elizabeth Quill
  11. Life

    Readers debate ethics of resurrecting extinct species

    Readers raised questions about using gene editing tools to bring species back from the dead.

    By Science News Staff
  12. Science & Society

    First controlled nuclear chain reaction achieved 75 years ago

    The anniversary of the first controlled nuclear chain reaction marks an achievement of immigrants who served America in World War II.

    By Tom Siegfried