Science & Society

  1. Tech

    For robots, artificial intelligence gets physical

    Physical intelligence makes robots able to sense of the world around them.

    By Meghan Rosen
  2. Earth

    ‘A Most Improbable Journey’ offers scientific take on human history

    Walter Alvarez’s “A Most Improbable Journey” gives readers a tour of “Big History,” linking human history to unpredictable cosmic, geologic and biological events.

    By Emily Underwood
  3. Life

    How to make a fish face, and other photo contest winners

    The tiny face of a 4-day-old zebrafish embryo snags the top spot in microscopy photography contest.

    By Emily DeMarco
  4. Genetics

    HIV came to NYC at least a decade before virus ID’d

    DNA analysis of early viral strains tracks U.S. debut to early ’70s

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  5. Climate

    Wanted: New ways to chill air conditioners, fridges

    A new amendment to the Montreal Protocol will phase out potent greenhouse gases currently used in air conditioners and refrigerators, prompting a hunt for eco-friendly alternatives.

    By Thomas Sumner
  6. Neuroscience

    Frequent liars show less activity in key brain structure

    Brain activity changed as people lied more, a new study finds.

    By Laura Sanders
  7. Science & Society

    Blame bad incentives for bad science

    Scientists have to publish a constant stream of new results to succeed. But in the process, their success may lead to science’s failure, two new studies warn.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  8. Science & Society

    2016 Nobels: Science News fans read it here first

    Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses Nobel-winning science and what the future may hold.

    By Eva Emerson
  9. Humans

    Tom Wolfe’s denial of language evolution stumbles over his own words

    Tom Wolfe’s book denies that language evolved and attacks Darwin and Chomsky with smugness lacking substance.

    By Tom Siegfried
  10. Genetics

    ‘Three-parent babies’ explained

    Several in vitro techniques can produce babies with three biological parents.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  11. Ecosystems

    ‘Citizen Scientist’ exalts ordinary heroes in conservation science

    Journalist Mary Ellen Hannibal’s “Citizen Scientist” tells tales of ordinary people contributing to science.

    By Laurel Hamers
  12. Oceans

    Atlantic monument is home to unique and varied creatures

    A region of ocean off the coast of Cape Cod has become the first U.S. marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.

    By Thomas Sumner