Science News for Students | News and feature articles from all fields of science
a group of girls playing soccer
Top Story
The color of body fat might affect how trim people are
Brown, beige, white? Upping the type that burns calories instead of storing them could become a key to health
a photo of Michelle O’Malley
Chemistry
 
Cool Job: One green chemist is mining zoo dung for biological helpers
Her goal is to convert farm-field wastes into useful fuels and chemicals
a photo of Malin Pinsky
Oceans
 
Cool Job: This ecologist is studying an ocean of changes
He’s collecting data to better understand humanity’s role in and on the warming seas
a screen capture from The Addams Family movie of Wednesday Addams
Body functions
 
Technically Fiction
Could Wednesday Addams really jolt a frog back to life?
Electricity is powerful, but not in the way seen in The Addams Family
a composite photo of the 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry winners; ohn B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino
Chemistry
 
2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry goes for pioneering lithium-ion batteries
The three winners helped create lightweight, rechargeable devices

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Editor's Picks
A nightime photo of a wildfire engulfing a forest across a lake. Everything is tinged bright red and orange from the flames.

Extreme wildfires are becoming more common in many parts of the world.

Pinderphoto/iStockphoto

Environment
Is climate change fanning megafires?
a starry night sky over power pylons and high-voltage power lines

A failure of the electric system can quickly leave millions of people in the dark.

Vadven/iStockphoto

Technology
This grid moves energy, but not always reliably
windy palm trees
Temperature and pressure are critical factors in the creation of a windy day.
behindlens/iStockphoto
Weather & Climate
Explainer: Winds and where they come from
Trending
a photo of a young woman on her phone looking solemn

Girls who use social media are most likely to be unhappy when they are cyberbullied.

SolStock/E+/Getty Images Plus

Psychology
Social media doesn’t, by itself, make teens unhappy or anxious
a side view of three different dog breeds

Brain scans from 33 dog breeds revealed a broad variation in regions involved in scent hunting, guarding and companionship.

debbiehelbing/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Animals
Breeding has given different dogs distinct brain shapes
a photo of Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon

This photo, taken in 1969 by Astronaut Neil Armstrong, shows Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Apollo astronauts left a lot on the moon’s surface, from scientific instruments to trash.

NASA

Space
Learning from what Apollo astronauts left on the moon
a group of girls playing soccer

White fat stores energy, and brown fat burns calories. Scientists studying this type of body fat hope to find ways to boost its levels to help fight obesity and diabetes.

 skynesher/E+/Getty Images

Body functions
The color of body fat might affect how trim people are
a little girl chasing a very large soap bubble
Physics
 
Scientists find the secret to colossal bubbles
This ingredient helps big bubbles stay stretchy and resist popping
a photo of James Peebles, Michel Mayor, and Didier Queloz
Planets
 
Physics Nobel rewards discoveries on cosmic evolution and exoplanets
The three scientists helped better reveal the universe — and found an exoplanet orbiting a sunlike star
tidewater glacier in southeast Greenland in 2018
Weather & Climate
 
Report sums up climate's already dramatic impact on oceans and ice
And it warns of worse to come, even if emissions of greenhouse gases start to fall
a composite image of William Kaelin, Gregg Semenza and Peter Ratcliffe
Cells
 
Medicine Nobel honors discovery of how cells deal with oxygen
The finding may one day lead to new medicines, such as for treating cancer
a doctor checking a girl's lymph nodes
Body functions
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Lymph
This clear fluid cleans up the body’s tissues by removing waste and microbes
Blogs
a screen capture from The Addams Family movie of Wednesday Addams

Instead of dissecting a dead frog in biology class, Wednesday Addams of The Addams Family movie resurrects the amphibian. That can’t happen in real life. But the scene shares a lot with science of the past. These days, researchers are still learning about the body electric.

© 2019 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. 

Technically Fiction
Could Wednesday Addams really jolt a frog back to life?
a doctor checking a girl's lymph nodes

When your body fights an infection like the common cold, lymph nodes in your neck might swell as they make more germ-fighting white blood cells.   

FatCamera/E+/Getty Images

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Lymph
a close-up photo of a citrine crystal

This “citrine” crystal is mostly made of silicon and oxygen arranged in a particular pattern. Like other crystals, its chemical building blocks repeat regularly.    

Nastya22/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Crystal
a photo of a mummy in a cemetery in the Nazca desert, Peru

Preserved bodies called “mummies” have been unearthed all over the world, from Asia to Australia. This mummy was found in South America in what is now the country of Peru.

javarman3/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Mummy
Body & Brain
a group of girls playing soccer

White fat stores energy, and brown fat burns calories. Scientists studying this type of body fat hope to find ways to boost its levels to help fight obesity and diabetes.

 skynesher/E+/Getty Images

Body functions
The color of body fat might affect how trim people are
a composite image of William Kaelin, Gregg Semenza and Peter Ratcliffe

The trio of winners for this year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine are (left to right) William Kaelin, Gregg Semenza and Peter Ratcliffe. They discovered the molecular machinery that allows cells to sense and respond to changes in oxygen levels.

FROM LEFT: DANA-FARBER; JOHNS HOPKINS; UNIV. OF OXFORD

Cells
Medicine Nobel honors discovery of how cells deal with oxygen
a photo of a young woman on her phone looking solemn

Girls who use social media are most likely to be unhappy when they are cyberbullied.

SolStock/E+/Getty Images Plus

Psychology
Social media doesn’t, by itself, make teens unhappy or anxious
a woman testing her blood sugar on a hike

People with diabetes monitor their blood sugar to avoid organ damage. Many take drugs that affect insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar. Researchers are exploring ultrasound as an alternative to those drugs.

AzmanJaka/E+/Getty Images Plus; adapted by L. Steenblik Hwang

Health
Ultrasound might become a new way to manage diabetes
a photo of a young woman on her phone looking solemn
Psychology
 
Social media doesn’t, by itself, make teens unhappy or anxious
Cyberbullying is more to blame for teen unhappiness than is ‘screen time’
a photo of Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon
Space
 
Learning from what Apollo astronauts left on the moon
Fifty years ago, astronauts left more than footprints on Earth’s lunar neighbor
Aldrin at Tranquility base on the moon
Planets
 
Preserving remnants of human culture on the moon
Artifacts left by lunar missions have value to science and, potentially, to all of humanity
a photo of a robot "hand" reaching for a jellyfish
Robotics
 
This robot catches jellyfish with a gentle ‘hug’
Silicone fingers swell with water to trap jellyfish without squishing them
a woman testing her blood sugar on a hike
Health
 
Ultrasound might become a new way to manage diabetes
This form of energy releases insulin in mice. That might someday help control blood sugar in people
Space
a photo of James Peebles, Michel Mayor, and Didier Queloz

Three scientists have won the Nobel Prize in physics for revealing hidden aspects of the cosmos. James Peebles of Princeton University (right) studied the structure and evolution of the universe. Michel Mayor of the University of Geneva in Switzerland (center) and Didier Queloz of the University of Geneva and the University of Cambridge in England (left) identified the first exoplanet orbiting a sunlike star.

FROM LEFT: UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE; COURTESY OF INAMORI FOUNDATION; TORBJÖRN ZADIA/ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Planets
Physics Nobel rewards discoveries on cosmic evolution and exoplanets
a photo of Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon

This photo, taken in 1969 by Astronaut Neil Armstrong, shows Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Apollo astronauts left a lot on the moon’s surface, from scientific instruments to trash.

NASA

Space
Learning from what Apollo astronauts left on the moon
Aldrin at Tranquility base on the moon

Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin is seen setting up scientific instruments on the moon. They include a seismometer to measure moonquakes and a mirror array to measure the distance between the Earth and moon. The lunar lander and an American flag can be seen in the background. Those items also were left on the moon.

NASA

Planets
Preserving remnants of human culture on the moon
the planet Jupiter, as seen from NASA's Juno spacecraft

Jupiter, shown in an image from NASA’s Juno spacecraft, has 79 moons. Five recently spotted ones have just gotten their official names.

JPL-Caltech/NASA, SwRI, MSSS, Kevin M. Gill

Planets
Students help name 5 of Jupiter’s newly discovered moons
Invention & Innovation
a woman testing her blood sugar on a hike

People with diabetes monitor their blood sugar to avoid organ damage. Many take drugs that affect insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar. Researchers are exploring ultrasound as an alternative to those drugs.

AzmanJaka/E+/Getty Images Plus; adapted by L. Steenblik Hwang

Health
Ultrasound might become a new way to manage diabetes
a picture of a baby mannequin wearing a premie vest

A baby mannequin wears an invention designed to help sick babies breathe. Called NeoVest, it does away with the traditional mask and breathing tubes that get in the way of a baby feeding and bonding with its parents.  

St. Michael’s Hospital

Health
Tiny vest could help sick babies breathe easier
an illustration of an astronaut planting a plant in space

Plants loaded up with metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, may be key to growing crops in the harshest environments, including space.

gorodenkoff/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Materials Science
High-tech crops may survive harsh conditions, even space
three surgeons operating on an unseen person

To reshape living tissue, surgeons usually cut into cells and stitch the wound. This type of surgery creates scars. A new, painless approach would damage few cells and might take only a few minutes.

andrei_r/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Technology
A new electric surgery tool may someday fix nose, ear and eye problems
a photo of Lisa Grossman in a bunny suit at NASA's Johnson Space Center
Planets
 
Welcome to moon rock central
These Apollo samples are more precious than gold
a satellite image of hurricane Dorian leaving the Bahamas
Weather & Climate
 
Slow hurricanes, like Dorian, become dangerous and hard to predict
Monster storms that stall, as Dorian did, pose special threats
a WHO health worker screening people for Ebola
Science & Society
 
Eight stories you missed while on summer vacation
Catch up on the science you may not have had a chance to read
an illustration of an astronaut planting a plant in space
Materials Science
 
High-tech crops may survive harsh conditions, even space
These resilient plants can use nanoparticles to build their own defences against radiation and more
a photo of a hard plastic water bottle and a woman tying her shoelaces on a running path
Toxicology
 
Study links chemicals in ‘BPA-free’ plastics to obesity in kids
Overweight kids host higher levels of BPS and BPF than do normal-weight kids
Latest Headlines
a photo of Michelle O’Malley

Michelle O’Malley, 37, is a chemical and biological engineer at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her team is looking to mine microbes from animal wastes in a search for making “greener” products.

UC Santa Barbara

Chemistry
Cool Job: One green chemist is mining zoo dung for biological helpers
a photo of Malin Pinsky

Malin Pinsky, 38, is a marine ecologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Since shortly after finishing college, he’s been curious about the oceans and how people and our changing climate are affecting them.

Jeff Heckman, Courtesy of Rutgers Univ.

Oceans
Cool Job: This ecologist is studying an ocean of changes
a screen capture from The Addams Family movie of Wednesday Addams

Instead of dissecting a dead frog in biology class, Wednesday Addams of The Addams Family movie resurrects the amphibian. That can’t happen in real life. But the scene shares a lot with science of the past. These days, researchers are still learning about the body electric.

© 2019 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. 

Technically Fiction
Body functions
Could Wednesday Addams really jolt a frog back to life?
a group of girls playing soccer

White fat stores energy, and brown fat burns calories. Scientists studying this type of body fat hope to find ways to boost its levels to help fight obesity and diabetes.

 skynesher/E+/Getty Images

Body functions
The color of body fat might affect how trim people are
Math & Technology
a photo of a robot "hand" reaching for a jellyfish

The fingers of this robotic hand reach out to catch a delicate jellyfish.

Anand Varma

Robotics
This robot catches jellyfish with a gentle ‘hug’
a woman testing her blood sugar on a hike

People with diabetes monitor their blood sugar to avoid organ damage. Many take drugs that affect insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar. Researchers are exploring ultrasound as an alternative to those drugs.

AzmanJaka/E+/Getty Images Plus; adapted by L. Steenblik Hwang

Health
Ultrasound might become a new way to manage diabetes
a picture of a baby ultrasound held by parents

Ultrasound produces images of babies in the womb. It’s typically one of the first health checks for baby and mom.

Rawpixel/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Light & Radiation
Explainer: What is ultrasound?
a carbon nanotbue computer chip

The sun may be setting on silicon. The first computer chips made from carbon nanotubes (one pictured) are here. 

G. Hills et al/Nature 2019

Computers & Electronics
Computer chips from carbon nanotubes, not silicon, mark a milestone