Science News for Students | News and feature articles from all fields of science
people waiting in line to evacuate before Hurricane Irma struck St. Maarten
Top Story
Climate change sets people on the move
Many people are adapting to uncomfortable changes in their homelands by migrating elsewhere
Atacama telescope array
Astronomy
 
Distant galaxy seems filled with dark matter
Earlier studies suggested such mega-clusters of stars would lack the dark stuff
a piece of magnesite, a gray and white mineral, on a black table and against a black background
Pollution
 
Scientists find an easier way to trap carbon dioxide in rock
If they can scale it up, this process could someday help curb climate change
a photo of pumping gas into a car
Earth
 
Explainer: Where fossil fuels come from
Spoiler alert: It’s not from dinosaurs
an photo of offshore natural-gas platform burning off methane
Pollution
 
Explainer: CO2 and other greenhouse gases
Carbon dioxide is just one of several chemicals that contribute to the greenhouse effect

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Editor's Picks
weather bomb
Earth
‘Weather bomb’ storms send tremors through Earth
flood boating

Some people needed boats to deal with catastrophic flooding, seen here, due to Tropical Storm Harvey’s astounding downpours in Texas last week. Such mega-storms could become more common, scientists worry.

Karl Spencer/iStockPhoto

Outside Comment
Weather & Climate
Picturing how many Great Salt Lakes Harvey dropped onto Texas
a photo of the dry Aral Sea, two boats are sitting on the ground

Asia’s Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth largest lake, is now largely dry. The reason: People have been pulling too much water from the rivers that feed it.

oxico/iStockphoto

Environment
People are changing which parts of Earth get more (or less) water
Trending
a photo of a liger lounging on some rocks in a zoo enclosure

If a zoo keeps a male lion and a female tiger in the same enclosure, a liger can result. It has a mix of its parents’ traits.

Алексей Шилин/Wikimedia Commons

Evolution
The mixed-up world of hybrid animals
boy texting on his phone in a classroom while his classmates work

Laptops and phones in the classroom can lower everyone’s test scores, a new study finds.

Wavebreakmedia/iStockphoto

Psychology
Phones in the classroom hurt everyone’s grades
a photo of hurricane Florence from the Internation Space Station

Florence was captured by cameras aboard the International Space Station on September 12. The storm was so big that scientists had to use a super wide-angle camera to see it all.

 NASA

Weather & Climate
Climate change intensified Hurricane Florence, study finds
the back of a schoolbus driving on a street before sunrise

Many students start school earlier than experts recommend. A new study shows that earlier start times are linked with being slightly heavier.

captivecookie/iStockphoto

Behavior
Study links weight to when the school bell rings
a photo of a sunset in Tehran with an orange-red sky
Weather & Climate
 
Analyze This!
Analyze This: How hot will it get?
Temperatures are rising because of human-caused climate change
Oceans
 
New tools aim to better predict blooms of toxic algae
Better understanding the threats from ‘toxic tides’ can protect the environment — and our health
a microscopic image of Angiostrongylus cantonensis larvae
Health
 
Parasitic worms sicken people in the mainland United States
Infected produce or raw slugs may be the source, experts say
the back of a schoolbus driving on a street before sunrise
Behavior
 
Study links weight to when the school bell rings
Teens and preteens who start school earlier weigh a bit more
protein structure
Chemistry
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Peptide
These tiny chemical chains are the building blocks of proteins and more
Blogs
a photo of a sunset in Tehran with an orange-red sky

Because of climate change, it’s getting hotter across the globe.

Ahmadmahmood/iStockphoto

Analyze This!
Analyze This: How hot will it get?
protein structure

This is the chemical structure of pepsin, a large molecule that breaks down proteins into smaller peptides. The pepsin molecule is itself made of peptides, here shown in different colors.

ibreakstock/iStockphoto

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Peptide
Sahithi Pingali

Sahithi Pingali, 16, works on her science fair project in Inventing Tomorrow.

IQ190 Productions LLC

Eureka! Lab
New movies give an inside look at the ‘Olympics’ of science fairs
mosquito larva

Hey, baby. This is a mosquito larva, an immature stage between the egg and an adult.

buccaneership/iStockPhoto

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Larva
Body & Brain
a microscopic image of Angiostrongylus cantonensis larvae

This parasitic roundworm causes rat lungworm disease.

DPDx/CDC

Health
Parasitic worms sicken people in the mainland United States
the back of a schoolbus driving on a street before sunrise

Many students start school earlier than experts recommend. A new study shows that earlier start times are linked with being slightly heavier.

captivecookie/iStockphoto

Behavior
Study links weight to when the school bell rings
a satellite image of air pollution over India

This satellite photo shows air pollution over India, where it shortens the average life span by about 1.5 years.

NESDIS/NOAA

Pollution
Air pollution is shortening lives worldwide
crickets and worms

To many people around the world, eating bugs is delicious, not gross. Now research shows there may also be health benefits to eating some insects, like crickets (left).

nito100/iStockphoto

Health
Crickets for breakfast?
a photo of hurricane Florence from the Internation Space Station
Weather & Climate
 
Climate change intensified Hurricane Florence, study finds
It concluded that the storm’s size and fury would have been much smaller without global warming
a satellite image of air pollution over India
Pollution
 
Air pollution is shortening lives worldwide
The average life span is a year shorter due to tiny particles in the air people breathe
Sahithi Pingali
Young Scientists
 
Eureka! Lab
New movies give an inside look at the ‘Olympics’ of science fairs
‘Science Fair’ and ‘Inventing Tomorrow’ take viewers behind the scenes of Intel ISEF
a photo of a liger lounging on some rocks in a zoo enclosure
Evolution
 
The mixed-up world of hybrid animals
Mating between two species can produce offspring with new colors, shapes and behaviors
crickets and worms
Health
 
Crickets for breakfast?
Eating insects could improve your health, new data suggest
Space
Atacama telescope array

With these telescopes of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile, astronomers discovered the most distant galaxy that seems to be filled with dark matter.

C. Malin/ESO

Astronomy
Distant galaxy seems filled with dark matter
fountains of lava erupt behind palm trees at night

At around 8:45 p.m. on May 5, a new fissure from Kilauea began sputtering lava in this residential neighborhood. Within 15 minutes, fountains of molten rock were spewing up to heights of 70 meters (230 feet).

U.S. Geological Survey

Earth
Nine big stories you may have missed this summer
an image of Jupiter showing the orbits of the 12 newly discovered moons around the planet

Of 12 newly discovered moons of Jupiter (illustrated in bold, orange, blue and green), one orbits in the opposite direction of its neighbors (arrows show orbit direction). Four moons discovered by the spacecraft Galileo are also shown (purple).

Roberto Molar Candanosa/Carnegie Institution for Science

Planets
Jupiter has 12 more moons than we knew about — and one is a weirdo
a photo of the August 2017 solar eclipse

The August 21, 2017 solar eclipse, seen here from Oregon, triggered odd weather across the United States.

Frank Fichtmüller/iStockphoto

Weather & Climate
When the moon throws shade, the weather can change
Invention & Innovation
Tarzan the robot swinging over a field of crops

Tarzan, shown here, travels over crop fields with an energy-efficient swinging motion. One day, such robots might help with farm work.

Georgia Tech Research Institute

Robotics
Tarzan the robot was actually inspired by a sloth
a photo of a man watching tv with his hands clasped behind his head

A TV delivers content through images and sound. But for those who cannot see or hear, watching TV is impossible without special technology.

BrianAJackson/iStockphoto

Computers & Electronics
New tech helps deaf-blind people ‘watch’ TV
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
a computer generated image of a football player tackling another football player holding the football
Brain
 
Football and hockey don’t necessarily doom players’ brains to serious damage
Tests of former pro athletes showed their brains appear better than even the players had expected
boy texting on his phone in a classroom while his classmates work
Psychology
 
Phones in the classroom hurt everyone’s grades
In classes where devices are allowed, students do worse on exams
mosquito larva
Animals
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Larva
This is an immature life stage, usually of an insect
an artist's rendition of a rainy stormy sky, with two signs on a signpost in the foreground, one is a triangle with an exlamation mark in the middle, the other is a storm cloud with raindrops falling from it
Weather & Climate
 
Hawaii’s record 2018 rains may foretell wetter times ahead
With warmer atmospheres and oceans, monster deluges may become ever more common there and elsewhere
Animals
 
Cool Jobs: Sucking up science with mosquitoes
Scientists study these blood-suckers in hopes of learning how to keep us safe from disease
Latest Headlines
Atacama telescope array

With these telescopes of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile, astronomers discovered the most distant galaxy that seems to be filled with dark matter.

C. Malin/ESO

Astronomy
Distant galaxy seems filled with dark matter
people waiting in line to evacuate before Hurricane Irma struck St. Maarten

Many people evacuated the island of St. Maarten before Hurricane Irma struck last year. It was one of several hurricanes that year believed to have been made worse by climate change.

Staff Sgt. Angel Oquendo/U.S. Air National Guard

Science & Society
Climate change sets people on the move
a piece of magnesite, a gray and white mineral, on a black table and against a black background

In nature, this magnesite takes thousands of years to form. Now researchers can make tiny amounts of this mineral in the lab. And it only takes three months to form.

A_Pobedimskiy/iStockphoto

Pollution
Scientists find an easier way to trap carbon dioxide in rock
a photo of pumping gas into a car

The liquid fuels that power most vehicles have been millions of years in the making.

bunyarit/iStockphoto

Earth
Explainer: Where fossil fuels come from
Math & Technology
Tarzan the robot swinging over a field of crops

Tarzan, shown here, travels over crop fields with an energy-efficient swinging motion. One day, such robots might help with farm work.

Georgia Tech Research Institute

Robotics
Tarzan the robot was actually inspired by a sloth
860_stretchy_nanoelectronics.png

Batteries not required. This foldable keyboard (shown with its inventor Nelson Sepúlveda) can harvest energy from keystrokes.

G.L. Kohuth/MSU

Computers & Electronics
What powers these electronics? We do!
a photo of an origami frog folded with dark blue paper
Robert Lang folded this 2011 sculpture — Poison Dart Frog HP, Opus 598 —from a single sheet of paper. Artists have worked with this type of paper-folding, known as origami, for centuries. Recently, some scientists have found use for this technique in their research.
Artist Robert J. Lang
Mathematics
Cool Jobs: The art of paper folding is inspiring science
a photo of a man watching tv with his hands clasped behind his head

A TV delivers content through images and sound. But for those who cannot see or hear, watching TV is impossible without special technology.

BrianAJackson/iStockphoto

Computers & Electronics
New tech helps deaf-blind people ‘watch’ TV