School mask mandates in the U.S. reduced coronavirus transmission
The verdict is, once again, in: Masking in schools is effective. During the COVID-19 pandemic’s delta variant wave, schools that required masking had approximately...
SCIENTIFIC NEWS
A new saber-toothed mammal was among the first hypercarnivores
Nearly 42 million years ago, a fearsome bobcat-sized creature prowled the forests of what is now San Diego. Unlike most animals at the time,...
How to make irresistible traps for Asian giant hornets using sex
Male Asian giant hornets captivated by the chemical signals of a ready-to-mate queen could one day find themselves stuck in a trap instead. In...
Some of the sun’s iconic coronal loops may be illusions
Coronal loops, well-defined hot strands of plasma that arch out into the sun’s atmosphere, are iconic to the sun’s imagery. But many of the...
50 years ago, oxygen was touted as a potential memory loss treatment
Retaining older people’s memory — Science News, March 18, 1972 In spite of the age-old yearning for the Fountain of Youth, there is a...
Earth’s purported ‘nearest black hole’ isn’t a black hole
The nearest black hole to Earth isn’t a black hole at all. Instead, what scientists thought was a stellar triplet — two stars and...
How did we get here? The roots and impacts of the climate crisis
Even in a world increasingly battered by weather extremes, the summer 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest stood out. For several days in...
The spongy moth’s new name replaces an ethnic slur
A menacing pest just became a bit less problematic, at least socially, after getting an update to its common name. Lymantria dispar is an...
Ancient Homo sapiens took a talent for cultural creativity from Africa to Asia
Creativity runs deep in human evolution. Stone Age people steered their cultures through some inventive twists and turns as far-flung groups of Homo sapiens...
The mysterious Hiawatha crater in Greenland is 58 million years old
The powerful impact that created a mysterious crater at the northwestern edge of Greenland’s ice sheet happened about 58 million years ago, researchers report...
People Who Choose to End Their Lives 
A quantum computing feat brings the ‘megaquops’ era a step closer 
AI can give you your voice back 
As El Niño Returns, East Africa’s Urban Poor Brace for Heavy Rains