50 years ago, the United States wanted to deflate the helium stockpile
Helium: Should it be conserved? — Science News, April 17, 1971 To avoid some of the loss and provide a stockpile against future needs,...
SCIENTIFIC NEWS
Neandertal DNA from cave mud shows two waves of migration across Eurasia
Neandertal DNA recovered from cave mud reveals that these ancient humans spread across Eurasia in two different waves. Analysis of genetic material from three...
Earth sweeps up 5,200 tons of extraterrestrial dust each year
As our planet orbits the sun, it swoops through clouds of extraterrestrial dust — and several thousand metric tons of that material actually reaches...
Only 3 percent of Earth’s land hasn’t been marred by humans
The Serengeti looks largely like it did hundreds of years ago. Lions, hyenas and other top predators still stalk herds of wildebeests over a...
The P.1 coronavirus variant is twice as transmissible as earlier strains
The P.1 coronavirus variant first identified in Brazil may be twice as transmissible as earlier strains and may evade up to nearly half of...
‘Monkeydactyl’ may be the oldest known creature with opposable thumbs
Future Jurassic Park films could feature one weird new beast in the menagerie: a pterosaur nicknamed Monkeydactyl for its opposable thumbs. This flying reptile...
A coronavirus epidemic may have hit East Asia about 25,000 years ago
An ancient coronavirus, or a closely related pathogen, triggered an epidemic among ancestors of present-day East Asians roughly 25,000 years ago, a new study...
‘First Steps’ shows how bipedalism led humans down a strange evolutionary path
First StepsJeremy DeSilvaHarper, $27.99 No other animal moves the way we do. That’s awfully strange. Even among other two-legged species, none amble about with...
STEM’s racial, ethnic and gender gaps are still strikingly large
Efforts to promote equity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and math have a long way to go, a new report suggests. Over the...
U.S. pauses J&J vaccine rollout after 6 people of 6.8 million get rare blood clots
Federal health officials in the United States are pressing pause on administering Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine following rare reports of blood clots in...
‘One step away from famine’: Inside Afghanistan’s hunger crisis 
Bangladesh: UNICEF chief calls for an end to child marriage 
Rule breaking by just a few people can be contagious 
Yemen war continues to force families from homes amid hunger and disease