Science News for Students

Musicians could benefit from teens’ research that pictures sound

The new research could help violin shoppers and vocal coaches, among others

Astronomers spot new type of storm on Saturn

Bigger than squalls, they are smaller than the planet’s massive Great White Spots

This word describes organisms that share similarities in physical traits and genetics

Scientists Say: Species

Newly discovered eel sets a jolting record for animal voltage

Scientists have found two new species, and one is quite the shocker

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A blow to the head can knock a player out of the game and might even cause a concussion.

saintho/iStockphoto

Explainer: What is a concussion?

Too many football hits can change the brain

Concussed brains need time to heal

Trending

In the periodic table, elements are lined up by atomic number, the number of protons they have. An element’s location in the table relates to its reactivity and how its electrons are arranged.

duntaro/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Scientists Say: Periodic table

Chemistry

Moonlight affects animals in many different ways. Wildebeests (a herd shown) rely on moonlight to avoid nighttime attacks by hungry lions.

Karann Kalsey/iStock/Getty Images Plus

The moon has power over animals

A star that wanders too close to a black hole (top left) is stretched into a thin strand. Some of the star material is thrown back into space, as this illustration shows. The rest swirls around the black hole, crashing into itself and forming a disk of superheated gas.

Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science

Astronomy

A black hole slashed a star apart — and was caught in the act

People love scary, spooky stories of spectral phantoms. While there’s no science to support the existence of ghosts, research does provide plenty of explanations for why we might genuinely sense a supernatural presence.

D-Keine/E+/Getty Images

Culture

The science of ghosts

Astronomy

A black hole slashed a star apart — and was caught in the act

Witnessing such events can help scientists learn about supermassive black holes

Chemistry

Leftover opioids? Teen finds possible way to kill such pills

Chemically deactivating them could make disposal easy, reduce risk of misuse

Chemistry

Explainer: What are acids and bases?

One likes to give away protons and the other likes to snatch them up

Sunflower-like rods could boost efficiency of solar collectors

They keep bending toward the sun, then stopping when poised to soak up maximum energy

Saturn now reigns as the solar system’s ‘moon king’

Astronomers discovered the ringed planet has 20 more planets, bringing its total to 82

Blogs

By recording musical notes and turning them into pictures, two teens came up with techniques that could help violin shoppers and vocal coaches, among others.

iunewind/ iStock /Getty Images Plus

Musicians could benefit from teens’ research that pictures sound

The group of insects known as beetles includes over 360,000 different species.

pixelprof/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Scientists Say: Species

Patients can easily overdose on opioid medications. Now a teen has come up with a strategy to chemically deactivate unused pills. This would make them useless to thieves or addicts.

Darwin Brandis/iStock /Getty Images Plus

Leftover opioids? Teen finds possible way to kill such pills

Replacing an aircraft wing’s leading edge with a spinning cylinder could increase lift, reduce drag and help prevent some stalls and spins. That’s the findings of a teen’s new research.

Ian and Rylan Gardner

Teen’s research suggests spinning wing parts might boost aircraft safety

Body & Brain

Starting to vape is easy, but quitting a nicotine habit can be tough, teens are finding. Some vaping-cessation programs have begun to reach out to teens where they live — on their phones.

Mixmike/E+/Getty Images

Health risks are scaring some teen vapers into considering quitting

If the moon can exert potent effects on wildlife, from birds to fish and African buffalo, what can it do to people? Right now, the data are mixed and not all that convincing.

MissDareDevil/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Does the moon influence people?

D-Keine/E+/Getty Images

Culture

The science of ghosts

The mosquito Aedes aegypti (seen on human skin) transmits several dangerous diseases, including Zika. Researchers have shown that these bloodsuckers can’t bite through a fabric made of graphene.

TacioPhilip/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Graphene fabric keeps mosquitoes from biting

Earth

Explainer: Earth — layer by layer

Sizzling heat, unimaginable pressure and some surprise diamonds: It’s all there, deep beneath us

Space

Scientists Say: Black hole

This is an object in space with such intense gravity that not even light can escape

Health risks are scaring some teen vapers into considering quitting

The challenge: Money and other resources are geared more to helping smokers, not vapers

Teen’s research suggests spinning wing parts might boost aircraft safety

Whirling device on a wing’s leading edge could help prevent stalls and spins in some situations

Does the moon influence people?

If it exerts a major effect, the data haven’t proven what it might be. Oh, and forget werewolves

Space

Pictured is a Great White Spot that raged in 2010 and 2011. Until now, astronomers had only seen Saturn ravaged by days-long small storms or by enormous, months-long Great White Spots. Now, astronomers have identified a third, midsize type on the planetary gas giant.

JPL-CALTECH/NASA, SSI

Astronomers spot new type of storm on Saturn

Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science

Astronomy

A black hole slashed a star apart — and was caught in the act

Saturn now has the most known moons of any planet in the solar system. The Cassini spacecraft took this image in 2011. It shows Saturn and five of its moons.

Space Science Institute, JPL-Caltech/NASA

Saturn now reigns as the solar system’s ‘moon king’

Scientists shared this first-ever picture of a black hole in April 2019. They made this picture by combining images taken by a network of telescopes across the globe called the Event Horizon Telescope.

Event Horizon Telescope Collaborative

Space

Scientists Say: Black hole

Invention & Innovation

Rods of a new solar-energy-collection material seen at front of this drawing were inspired by sunflowers.

Yusen Zhao, Yousif Alsaid and Ximin He

Sunflower-like rods could boost efficiency of solar collectors

The mosquito Aedes aegypti (seen on human skin) transmits several dangerous diseases, including Zika. Researchers have shown that these bloodsuckers can’t bite through a fabric made of graphene.

TacioPhilip/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Graphene fabric keeps mosquitoes from biting

When not on the move, snails use mucus to stick to plants and other objects.

Gabriel Pacce/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Reversible superglue mimics snail slime

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

Ultrasound might become a new way to manage diabetes

Cells

This is a molecule that helps cells carry out the instructions in DNA

Scientists Say: RNA

a shadowy image of a young woman in a tunnel with hazy air

Body functions

Air pollution intensifies a teen’s feeling of stress

Those who are anxious or depressed feel the biggest effects

four letter blocks reading "fact", the last two letters are changing to "ke" so the word will read "fake" instead

Science & Society

Studies test ways to slow the spread of fake news

Learning how to tell truth from fabrications can slow the spread of bogus claims

Data show worrisome rise in youth vaping

Growth comes as officials report increase in vaping-related lung injuries

Reversible superglue mimics snail slime

This super-strong adhesive can be undone by adding water

Latest Headlines

By recording musical notes and turning them into pictures, two teens came up with techniques that could help violin shoppers and vocal coaches, among others.

iunewind/ iStock /Getty Images Plus

Musicians could benefit from teens’ research that pictures sound

Physics

JPL-CALTECH/NASA, SSI

Astronomers spot new type of storm on Saturn

The group of insects known as beetles includes over 360,000 different species.

pixelprof/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Scientists Say: Species

This newly discovered species of electric eel (Electrophorus voltai) can give quite a shock. Scientists measured a zap of 860 volts, making it the record holder among known species.

L. Sousa

Newly discovered eel sets a jolting record for animal voltage

Math & Technology

Rods of a new solar-energy-collection material seen at front of this drawing were inspired by sunflowers.

Yusen Zhao, Yousif Alsaid and Ximin He

Sunflower-like rods could boost efficiency of solar collectors

The mosquito Aedes aegypti (seen on human skin) transmits several dangerous diseases, including Zika. Researchers have shown that these bloodsuckers can’t bite through a fabric made of graphene.

TacioPhilip/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Graphene fabric keeps mosquitoes from biting

A new device that harnesses energy from the cold night sky could light up rooms, charge phones and power devices for people in remote areas.

Ryan Hutton/Unsplash

This device uses the cold night sky to generate electricity

When not on the move, snails use mucus to stick to plants and other objects.

Gabriel Pacce/iStock/Getty Images Plus