Science News for Students

Are you scared of heights? Virtual reality could help

In a therapy app, an avatar coaches people through sky-high situations

a young koala rides piggyback on an adult koala hanging on a tree

Genetics

Koala genes could help scientists save these furry animals

Details show why koalas are picky eaters and why their numbers are dropping

Health

Scientists Say: Remission

This is a word used in medicine to describe a disease that isn’t active

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Editor's Picks

Pollution

Trees can make summer ozone levels much worse

Chemistry

Scientists know that you pee in the pool

Microbes

World’s deepest zoo harbors clues to extraterrestrial life

Trending

Toxicology

Concerns explode over new health risks of vaping

What makes a pretty face?

Fossils

What killed the dinosaurs?

an illustration of two Pleistocene animals, a bison and a mammoth at a watering hole on a cloudy day

About 13,000 years ago, bison, mammoths (seen here in an illustration) and other large mammals roamed North America. Researchers continue to argue over what led to their extinction.

VICTOR O. LESHYK

An ancient cold snap causes heated debate

an image of the highest mountains on Pluto

Planets

New Horizons data reveal first global maps of Pluto and Charon

The charts show never-before-seen details of the the dwarf planet and its moon

An ancient cold snap causes heated debate

The claim that a comet was responsible just won’t die

an illustration of a high-energy neutrino shooting out of a blazar

Astronomy

Scientists traced an incoming neutrino back to its galactic birthplace

Detectors beneath the South Pole spotted the high-energy particle as it slammed into the ice

an illustration of a newly discovered giant long-necked sauropod called Ingentia prima

Fossils

There’s more than one way to build a giant dinosaur

Fossils of a new long-necked species break from the expected blueprint for massive bodies

an illustration of the Parker Solar Probe flying towards the sun

Space

The Parker Solar Probe aims to touch the sun

Due to launch this month, the spacecraft will get within 6 million kilometers of our star

Blogs

Every so often, a doctor gets to deliver good news. Remission is a word they use to say that a disease is no longer active.

beer5020/iStockPhoto

Scientists Say: Remission

This is an image of a person taken with an infrared camera. It indicates where the person’s skin is warmer (red and orange) and cooler (green and blue).

metamorworks/iStockPhoto

Scientists Say: Infrared

Different areas of the brain do different things. The ventral striatum — located deep inside in the brain — plays roles in mood, addiction and learning.

Eraxion/iStockPhoto

Scientists Say: Ventral striatum

Upwelling brings cold water from the depths of the ocean to the surface. Those cold waters are rich in nutrients, which helps life thrive. Here, areas of upwelling in the ocean highlighted in red.

NOAA

Scientists Say: Upwelling

Body & Brain

a girl with braces enjoying a slice of pizza

All our senses inform what we taste.

MarianVejcik/iStockphoto

Taste good? Senses inform the brain — but don’t tell everyone the same thing

a photo of an assortment of lunch foods on a white background

What gives all of these foods a different flavor? For starters, each produces a different combination of tastes — information that the brain will sort through as it decides whether it likes a food (or doesn’t).

klenova/iStockphoto

Explainer: Taste and flavor are not the same

a giant clam with blue and green frills embedded in a coral reef

Showy blue and green frills are the only visible parts of this giant clam. It traps itself for life inside the rocky mass of a reef by a process that’s been misunderstood for decades.

Nhobgood/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Here’s how a clam can hide within a rock

a photo of a longhorned tick adult and nymph dwarfed by the edge of a dime

Scientists have discovered the longhorned tick in four U.S. states. This species can reproduce by cloning. Here, an adult and a young tick, or nymph, are shown next to a dime.

J. Occi/Rutgers Center for Vector Biology

An Asian, self-cloning tick threatens U.S. livestock

Light & Radiation

This is a wavelength of light beyond what people can see

Scientists Say: Infrared

a photo of the dry Aral Sea, two boats are sitting on the ground

Environment

People are changing which parts of Earth get more (or less) water

Dams, demand and climate change are shifting where this precious resource collects

Taste good? Senses inform the brain — but don’t tell everyone the same thing

By mapping how the body determines flavor, scientists reveal clues that could help people eat better

Explainer: Taste and flavor are not the same

One contributes to the other, but only partially

a red-footed booby chick sitting in a tree

Ecology

Bird poop helps keep coral reefs healthy, but rats are interfering

Nitrogen from bird guano makes for more productive reef ecosystems

Space

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

New maps of Pluto show details of the dwarf planet’s mountains. Shown here are the highest mountains. The rise 3 to 6 kilometers (1.9 to 3.7 miles) above the smooth plains called Sputnik Planitia. The plains are made of nitrogen-ice.

Paul Schenk/Lunar and Planetary Institute

Planets

New Horizons data reveal first global maps of Pluto and Charon

About 13,000 years ago, bison, mammoths (seen here in an illustration) and other large mammals roamed North America. Researchers continue to argue over what led to their extinction.

VICTOR O. LESHYK

An ancient cold snap causes heated debate

Scientists traced a high-energy neutrino back to its birthplace: a blazar. That galaxy harbors a supermassive black hole that fuels powerful jets of particles.

Science Communication Lab/DESY

Astronomy

Scientists traced an incoming neutrino back to its galactic birthplace

Invention & Innovation

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

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

Electricity sensor harnesses a shark's secret weapon

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, 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

This hydropower harnesses energy one water drop at a time

Planets

Finding living Martians just got a bit more believable

Spoiler alert: Any would likely be microscopic

a lava flow on Kilauea's lower east rift zone

Kilauea’s volcanic fireworks show no signs of stopping

From lavanadoes to laze and vog, the ongoing eruption is a lesson in volcano vocabulary

a spider in a tiptoe stance getting ready to take flight

Electric currents in the air may cue ‘ballooning’ spiders on when to take off

In the lab, spiders prepared to ‘fly’ when researchers turned on an electric field

Brain

Scientists Say: Ventral striatum

This area of the brain influences motivation, reward and more

Here’s how a clam can hide within a rock

This mollusk’s boring organ is anything but

Latest Headlines

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

The 2018 Carr fire in northern California, seen here outside Redding, threw pollutants into the air for weeks, beginning July 23. The state reported that air quality was “unhealthy” throughout the region affected by this intense fire. One of the biggest in state history, this fire eventually burned more than 175,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,077 homes.

E.L. Karey

Environment

Wildfires worsen extreme air pollution in U.S. northwest

In a new virtual reality therapy app, an animated coach guides people with a fear of heights through activities such as saving a cat from a tree.

Oxford VR

Are you scared of heights? Virtual reality could help

Scientists have mapped koalas’ genetic code. They hope its lessons will save these animals.

Robyn Cox/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Genetics

Koala genes could help scientists save these furry animals

Math & Technology

In a new virtual reality therapy app, an animated coach guides people with a fear of heights through activities such as saving a cat from a tree.

Oxford VR

Are you scared of heights? Virtual reality could help

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

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