Technology

Fall is approaching and respiratory virus season is on its way. While many people in the United States would normally be rolling up their sleeves for annual vaccines, shifting federal guidelines have injected uncertainty into who…

Ripple bugs’ nimble movements on the surface of water inspired a robot with automatically unfurling fans on its feet.

Light pollution makes birds work overtime.A behavioral analysis of nearly 600 bird species suggests that light pollution from human development can lengthen the time birds spend singing by nearly an hour per day, researchers…

At 3 a.m. on a crisp May night in Chile, all seemed well with the world’s largest digital camera. Until it didn’t. Inside the newly built Vera C. Rubin Observatory, site project scientist Sandrine Thomas was running tests when…

New Delhi: Fossil-like formations believed to be from the dinosaur era have been discovered during pond excavation work near Megha village in the Fatehgarh sub-division of Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district, prompting excitement among locals…

Even for the world’s largest carnivorous bat, a hug is the best hello. Spectral bats are far more cooperative than researchers long assumed, routinely greeting one another with wing wraps and even handing over captured prey to…

Researchers warn that halting federal contracts for mRNA vaccine research could weaken pandemic preparedness and slow medical advances.

Before exploding, a star shed most of its layers, giving a glimpse at a massive star’s deep interior. The event may represent a new kind of supernova.

Nicole Spartano does not have diabetes. But the Boston University epidemiologist has occasionally worn a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, a device once reserved for those with the condition. Her desire to understand how factors…

Fifty years ago, “fractal” was born. In a 1975 book, the Polish-French-American mathematician Benoit B. Mandelbrot coined the term to describe a family of rough, fragmented shapes that fall outside the boundaries of…

Human breast tissue may be capable of hosting — and passing on — bird flu. Human mammary glands contain sugars that avian influenza can latch onto to infect cells, researchers report August 8 at medRxiv.org. The finding,…

The Shape of WonderAlan Lightman and Martin ReesPantheon, $28 One of my closest friends is a neuroscientist, investigating how brain cells develop and how they search for and choose other brain cells to connect with. Her…

Adding a magnet could simplify the process of producing oxygen in space, making a crewed mission to Mars more feasible.

The Haenyeo women who dive deep into the East China Sea to harvest sea urchins and shellfish spend the most time underwater of any humans ever studied — one to five hours a day, researchers report August 18 in Current Biology.…

This seabird poops on the fly. Streaked shearwaters, oceanic birds that spend much of their time out on the open Pacific Ocean, defecate almost exclusively in the air, researchers report August 18 in Current Biology.…

Monsoon showers aren’t just about lush greenery and cool breezes; they’re also nature’s gift to replenish our water supply. With one simple rainwater harvesting trick, you can capture and reuse thousands of litres of water, reducing bills…

Updated on: Aug 18, 2025 02:09 am IST A major study published in The Lancet in September 2024 estimated more than a million deaths from antibiotic-resistant infections globally each year since 1990 Scientists at the…

Starting at least 2.6 million years ago, East African toolmakers became tech-savvy road warriors. Those hominids, perhaps early members of the Homo genus or a dead-end lineage dubbed Paranthropus, traveled up to 13 kilometers…

Will Nediger, a crossword constructor and Ph.D. in linguistics, edited this puzzle. Looking for answers? Go to sciencenews.org/puzzle-answers. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Email us at puzzles@sciencenews.org.…

The Webb telescope found that a far-off little red dot is the oldest known black hole, shrouded by gas that could help explain the ruby color.

Vomiting up a droplet of sugar might not seem like the most romantic gesture from a potential suitor. But for one fly species, males that spill their guts are quite a catch. Drosophila subobscura flies’ peculiar “romantic”…

In The Martians, journalist David Baron recounts scientific and public debate over purported intelligent life on the Red Planet.

The hypothesis could extend the search for extraterrestrial life to include frigid planets with thin atmospheres and underground water.

A glacial outburst has sent floodwaters rushing through the town of Juneau, Alaska, forcing residents to evacuate parts of the state capital. The unusual event, called a glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF, happened as water…

The knotted, intricately braided string was like no other anthropologist Sabine Hyland had ever seen. Called a khipu, such devices were typically made and used by Inca elite to record astronomical events, take the census and maybe…

Sun-powered fliers could use photophoretic forces to hover in the mesosphere, gathering data from a region off limits to planes and balloons.

Toastier fall weather might cause migrating monarch butterflies to wing it and change their flight plans, starting the countdown toward death.  Eastern monarchs captured during their autumn migration and exposed to warm…

Women who have just stopped menopausal hormone therapy might have a small increased risk of bone fractures compared with those who never took these medications. A review of women’s health records revealed an association…

Patients with certain types of cancers who consume sucralose, found in the artificial sweetener Splenda, respond worse to immunotherapy compared with those who don’t, researchers report July 30 in Cancer Discovery. But…

Shimmering like spun gold, sea silk fabric is so lustrous that some believe it inspired the Greek legends of Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece. For centuries, artisans in the Mediterranean have passed down the art of spinning…