Science News for Students | News and feature articles from all fields of science
girl inventor
Top Story
Hurdling poverty to find a life in science
Scientists and engineers share how they overcame one big career obstacle — growing up poor
researchers stand in the water with a narwhal
Animals
 
Here’s what narwhals sound like underwater
Multi-day eavesdropping reveals a range of clicks, calls and buzzes
a photo of a dog with a sad expression
Health
 
Dogs carry a grab bag of flu viruses
Some dog flu viruses come from pigs, but there’s no sign yet that they can infect people
an image of an iceberg floating in the ocean near the Antarctic Peninsula
Weather & Climate
 
Antarctica’s melting speeds up
The continent has lost about 3 trillion metric tons of ice since 1992, raising global sea levels
close up of a teenager's hands with sparkly nail polish and holding a lit cigarette
Chemistry
 
‘Thirdhand’ smoke can hitchhike to non-smoking sites
Harmful cigarette residues may hitchhike to non-smoking sites

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Editor's Picks
pool urine
Chemistry
Scientists know that you pee in the pool
zip liners

Sailing along a zip line can be a spectacular way to take in the local scenery.

JHVEPhoto/iStockphoto

STEM Careers
Cool Jobs: Bringing you summer thrills
Beach/umbrellas
Body functions
Umbrella’s shade doesn’t prevent sunburn
Trending
exploding atomizer
Toxicology
Concerns explode over new health risks of vaping
5 pretty faces
Psychology
What makes a pretty face?
Brain
Explainer: What is dopamine?
dinosaur extinction
Fossils
What killed the dinosaurs?
a satellite image of Hurricane Harvey making landfall in 2017
Weather & Climate
 
Tropical cyclones are getting more sluggish
How speedily the storms move across the landscape has been slowing, which could increase flooding
Krill
Animals
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Krill
These tiny critters play a big role in the ocean
red pukao hats atop Easter island statues
Archaeology
 
Putting hats on Easter Island statues may have required some rock and roll
Small teams of people may have rolled stone cylinders up a ramp, then tipped them onto the stone heads
a photo of an European oak processionary caterpillar on a green leaf
Animals
 
These caterpillars are scaring the city of London
Crawling, fluffy oak processionary moth larvae pose threats to trees and human health
fossil dino like bird skull
Fossils
 
This extinct bird boasted dinosaur-like teeth
Reconstructing the bird's skull offers new clues to bird evolution
Blogs
Krill

This Northern krill is a tiny crustacean that swims in the ocean.

Øystein Paulsen/Wikimedia Commons/(cc-BY-SA 3.0)

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Krill
Intron

Some parts of DNA code for proteins. Other pieces — called introns — get left out on purpose.

CIPhotos/iStockPhoto

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Intron
orion nebula

This is an image of the Orion nebula, a huge cloud of gas and dust where new stars are born

NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Nebula
heavy smog over Los Angeles, California

A large percentage of air pollution in cities such as Los Angeles, Calif., may be due to the use of common household products, one study finds. Each use of hairspray, glue and paint, for instance, has a small effect. But when used by millions of people, the effect on air quality can be large.

MattGush/iStockphoto

Analyze This!
Analyze This: Beauty products are big sources of urban air pollution
Body & Brain
a photo of a dog with a sad expression

Some dogs in southern China carry flu viruses that came from pigs. The viruses probably spread most easily where animals are crowded, such as shelters, farms and markets.

AmyDreves/iStockphoto

Health
Dogs carry a grab bag of flu viruses
bathroom girl

 Especially unhealthy eating behaviors include choosing to vomit after eating, skipping meals, binging on food and exercising excessively after eating.

KatarzynaBialasiewicz/iStockphoto

Behavior
Teens with eating disorders can find themselves bullied
The sun shines on a girl tasting lemonade at her outdoor lemonade stand.

Making lemonade is a rite of summer for many kids. But those lemons can “bite back” if their juice gets on skin and then becomes exposed to sunlight.

mg7/iStockphoto

Plants
Ouch! Lemons and other plants can cause a special sunburn
Heligmosomoides roundworm

This round worm, Heligmosomoides polygyrus, was retrieved from the gut of a wood mouse. New research shows that being infected by such parasites can keep animals from gaining weight, even when eating fattening food.

Naldo-Crocoduck/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Body functions
Worms in the gut keep mice from getting plump on high-fat food
destruction from Hurricane Maria
Weather & Climate
 
Hurricane Maria’s Puerto Rican death toll skyrockets 72-fold
Official toll had been just 64 — and then scientists launched household surveys
closeup of the sun and solar activity
Space
 
An active sun is a somewhat smaller sun
The sun shrinks and grows a tiny bit over cycles lasting about 11 years
Intron
Genetics
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Intron
Not all DNA makes proteins
two northern quolls
Animals
 
Uh oh! New approach to saving this species imperiled it
Protecting Australia’s northern quoll from deadly predators can backfire, study finds
Planets
 
Pluto’s heart has dunes of methane ice
The New Horizons spacecraft spotted the ripples during its flyby in 2015
Space
closeup of the sun and solar activity

The radius of the sun gets a smidge smaller the sun is most active, a new study finds.

SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY/NASA

Space
An active sun is a somewhat smaller sun
053118_lg_pluto-dunes_feat_free.jpg

Pluto’s dunes (center bottom and right) appear along a mountain range in this New Horizons image. The “sand” is made of methane ice.

SWRI, JHU APPLIED PHYSICS LAB, NASA

Planets
Pluto’s heart has dunes of methane ice
a simulated image of an asteroid floating in space

Inside a space rock, scientists found unusual diamonds. They hint that rock formed inside a long-lost planet.

dottedhippo/istockphoto

Astronomy
Diamonds and more suggest unusual origins for asteroids
Uranus image

Uranus has a beautiful blue hue. It’s shown in this 1986 image taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. But new measurements suggest something yucky about the planet. Its atmosphere smells like rotten eggs.

JPL/NASA

Planets
Uranus has stinky clouds
Invention & Innovation
curling chrysanthemum

Using new technologies, researchers have 3-D printed a flower whose petals curl when immersed in water. This shows how 3-D printing can be used to print 4-D objects.

H.J. Qi et al.

Materials Science
Light-sensitive ‘ink’ gives 4-D printing more wiggle room
reef shark

Sharks have an uncanny ability to sense tiny electrical fields. It helps them home in on prey. A new electronic sensor now mimics that ability — and works in saltwater.

ShaneGross/iStockphoto

Technology
Electricity sensor harnesses a shark's secret weapon
virus nanoparticles
In this artist’s illustration, gold nanoparticles (bright blue) covered in tiny hairs (shown in purple) surround a virus and attach to it. As more hairs attach, they squeeze the soft surface of the virus to find places to stick. That squeezing builds enough pressure to squash the virus.
Francesco Stellacci
Materials Science
Hairy nanoparticles put viruses in a deadly embrace
David Ma
David Ma, an engineer at the University of Hawaii, led a team that developed a method to harvest electricity from the friction of a water droplet rolling across a surface.
UH Staff
Technology
This hydropower harnesses energy one water drop at a time
Rim fire
Ecosystems
 
Surprise! Fire can help some forests keep more of their water
Burning clears out vegetation that had been slurping precious groundwater
Andreas Fath swimming in the Tennessee River
Pollution
 
Scientist tackles water pollution with epic swims
He swam the entire Tennessee River to study — and bring attention to — what taints our waters
photo of a road through a car windshield
Technology
 
Getting road-trip ready, and no driver needed
New navigation system for self-driving cars uses laser sensors to ‘see’ its path
a simulated image of an asteroid floating in space
Astronomy
 
Diamonds and more suggest unusual origins for asteroids
One seems to come from a lost planet, the other from outside our solar system
Supreme Court
Mathematics
 
Supreme Court shies away from test on the math of voting rights
High court says citizens can only challenge boundaries of their own election districts
Latest Headlines
researchers stand in the water with a narwhal

Researchers put a sound recording device on a male narwhal to capture its underwater clicks, buzzes and calls.

S. Blackwell

Animals
Here’s what narwhals sound like underwater
a photo of a dog with a sad expression

Some dogs in southern China carry flu viruses that came from pigs. The viruses probably spread most easily where animals are crowded, such as shelters, farms and markets.

AmyDreves/iStockphoto

Health
Dogs carry a grab bag of flu viruses
an image of an iceberg floating in the ocean near the Antarctic Peninsula

An iceberg floats near the Rothera Research Station on the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctic ice is melting faster and faster, new research finds.

A. Shepherd/University of Leeds

Weather & Climate
Antarctica’s melting speeds up
close up of a teenager's hands with sparkly nail polish and holding a lit cigarette

Toxic particles of so-called “thirdhand smoke” can settle on clothing. When the smoker comes indoors, those particles can go airborne again to pollute a new site.

prudkov/iStockphoto

Chemistry
‘Thirdhand’ smoke can hitchhike to non-smoking sites
Math & Technology
search dog

After a disaster, search-and-rescue dogs use their amazing sense of smell to search for trapped people. But could an e-nose do their job for them? This pooch is looking over its shoulder.

Sgt. Kyle Brasier/Dept. of Defense

Technology
Electronic noses might replace search-and-rescue dogs
photo of a road through a car windshield

Laser sensors help a new type of driverless car stay on the road, even without detailed maps.

vvvita/iStockphoto

Technology
Getting road-trip ready, and no driver needed
Supreme Court

Math took center stage at the United States Supreme Court in a case challenging the voting districts for the state of Wisconsin. Another case looked at a voting district in Maryland.

Matt Wade/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Mathematics
Supreme Court shies away from test on the math of voting rights
curling chrysanthemum

Using new technologies, researchers have 3-D printed a flower whose petals curl when immersed in water. This shows how 3-D printing can be used to print 4-D objects.

H.J. Qi et al.

Materials Science
Light-sensitive ‘ink’ gives 4-D printing more wiggle room