Fires may have affected up to 85 percent of threatened Amazon species
Much of the Amazon’s biodiversity is under fire — literally. In the last two decades, deforestation and forest fires have encroached on the ranges...
SCIENTIFIC NEWS
Perspective-changing experiences, good or bad, can lead to richer lives
In December, my husband, our 5-year-old daughter and I tested positive for COVID-19. Life, already off-kilter, lurched. Smell, taste, breath — were they normal?...
How radio astronomy put new eyes on the cosmos
One can only imagine what Grote Reber’s neighbors thought when, in 1937, the amateur radio enthusiast erected in his yard a nearly 10-meter-wide shallow...
Streetlights, especially super bright LEDs, may harm insect populations
Moths flock to streetlights, bewitched by their luminous brilliance. But bathing in brightness all night seems to have consequences for the grounded forms of...
These charts show that COVID-19 vaccines are doing their job
As the coronavirus continues to surge across the United States, hospitals are again filling up with ill COVID-19 patients. And the vast majority of...
‘On the Fringe’ explores the thin line between science and pseudoscience
On the FringeMichael D. GordinOxford Univ., $18.95 There is no such thing as pseudoscience, and Michael Gordin has written a book about it. In...
New ideas on what makes a planet habitable could reshape the search for life
When considering where to look for extraterrestrial life, astronomers have mostly stuck with what’s familiar. The best candidates for habitable planets are considered the...
50 years ago, astronomers were chipping away at Pluto’s mass
The shrinking mass of Pluto — Science News, August 28, 1971 Pluto was the last of the planets to be discovered (in 1930). If...
An incredibly resilient coral in the Great Barrier Reef offers hope for the future
A coral the size of a carousel is the widest known in the Great Barrier Reef. Found just off the coast of Goolboodi Island...
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...
Newborn screening for cancer risk could save lives. Should it be done? 
World marks second warmest July on record 
Ebola deaths top 2,000 as scientists race to develop vaccine 
South Sudan: UN mission decries deadly attacks, works to calm tensions after ‘nothing but devastation’