Gender-affirming care improves mental health for transgender youth
Daniel’s birth certificate is marked “female,” but Daniel is nonbinary — not exclusively male nor female. “I’m masculine leaning,” says the 18-year-old. The disconnect...
SCIENTIFIC NEWS
Female hummingbirds may sport flashy feathers to avoid being harassed
Some female hummingbirds don flashy feathers to avoid being bothered by other hummingbirds, a new study suggests. Male white-necked jacobin hummingbirds (Florisuga mellivora) have...
Physicists caught protons ‘surfing’ on shock waves
Protons can surf some truly gnarly waves. A new experiment suggests that the subatomic particles can be accelerated by a process akin to surfers...
This big-headed pterosaur may have preferred walking over flying
In 2013, a police raid at Santos Harbor in Brazil recovered about 30,000 smuggled fossils, including the most intact specimen of a type of...
Ancient DNA shows the peopling of Southeast Asian islands was surprisingly complex
A young woman who lived on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi as early as around 7,300 years ago had a surprisingly ancient East Asian...
Racism lurks in names given to plants and animals. That’s starting to change
With lemon and black plumage, the Scott’s oriole flashes in the desert like a flame. But the bird’s name holds a violent history that...
Frog and toad pupils mainly come in seven different shapes
Frog and toad pupils come in quite the array, from slits to circles. But overall, there are seven main shapes of these animals’ peepholes,...
‘Flashes of Creation’ recounts the Big Bang theory’s origin story
Flashes of CreationPaul HalpernBasic Books, $30 The Big Bang wasn’t always a sure bet. For several decades in the 20th century, researchers wrestled with...
The definition of planet is still a sore point – especially among Pluto fans
For 76 years, Pluto was the beloved ninth planet. No one cared that it was the runt of the solar system, with a moon,...
Climate change made Europe’s flash floods in July more likely
Climate change has increased the likelihood of heavy downpours in Western Europe such as the July rains that led to devastating flash floods, researchers...
DR Congo: Hunger deepens for millions amid conflict, Ebola and climate shocks 
African Athletes Should be Free to be Themselves 
Green Cities Can Make Room for New Homes and the Farms That Feed Them 
This Halloween, amateur astronomers may be in for a dwarf planet treat