Science News for Students

These tiny critters play a big role in the ocean

Scientists Say: Krill

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

These caterpillars are scaring the city of London

Crawling, fluffy oak processionary moth larvae pose threats to trees and human health

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Chemistry

Scientists know that you pee in the pool

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

Body functions

Umbrella’s shade doesn’t prevent sunburn

Trending

Toxicology

Concerns explode over new health risks of vaping

Psychology

What makes a pretty face?

Brain

Explainer: What is dopamine?

Fossils

What killed the dinosaurs?

Fossils

This extinct bird boasted dinosaur-like teeth

Reconstructing the bird's skull offers new clues to bird evolution

Weather & Climate

Hurricane Maria’s Puerto Rican death toll skyrockets 72-fold

Official toll had been just 64 — and then scientists launched household surveys

Space

An active sun is a somewhat smaller sun

The sun shrinks and grows a tiny bit over cycles lasting about 11 years

Genetics

Not all DNA makes proteins

Scientists Say: Intron

Uh oh! New approach to saving this species imperiled it

Protecting Australia’s northern quoll from deadly predators can backfire, study finds

Blogs

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

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

Scientists Say: Krill

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

CIPhotos/iStockPhoto

Scientists Say: Intron

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

NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI

Analyze This: Beauty products are big sources of urban air pollution

Scientists Say: Nebula

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!

Body & Brain

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

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

You may not notice, but your guts and brain are in constant communication. And from what scientists have been learning from rodent studies, those chats between gut microbes and the brain can have a whole range of important, hidden impacts.

tommaso79, Dr_Microbe/iStockphoto; Adapted by L. Steenblik Hwang

Body functions

Belly bacteria can shape mood and behavior

Planets

Pluto’s heart has dunes of methane ice

The New Horizons spacecraft spotted the ripples during its flyby in 2015

an illustration of oviraptorosaurs sitting on eggs

Fossils

Hefty dinosaurs had a trick for sitting on eggs safely

Laying a clutch in the shape of a hollow ring let dinos warm their eggs without squashing them

Physics

To witness maximum pressure, peek inside a proton

New data suggest nothing else in the universe matches the pressures inside this particle

Space

This is a massive cloud of dust and gas in space

Scientists Say: Nebula

Behavior

Teens with eating disorders can find themselves bullied

Researchers still don't know why those unhealthy eating habits may put kids at risk of depression and taunting

Space

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

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 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

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

Plants

The plant world has some true speed demons

These wonders of the plant world evolved clever ways to fling, snap and burst — sometimes in the blink of an eye

Pollution

Analyze This!

Analyze This: Beauty products are big sources of urban air pollution

Home cleaning and other products also turn out to be surprisingly large culprits

Microbes

Nom, nom! These bacteria eat antibiotics for lunch

That drug munching may seem scary, but it could be harnessed to clean up antibiotic pollution

Plants

Ouch! Lemons and other plants can cause a special sunburn

They contain chemicals that, when activated by the sun, kill skin cells

Electronic noses might replace search-and-rescue dogs

A powerful new sensor can sniff out people trapped in collapsed buildings

Latest Headlines

Tropical cyclones, such as 2017’s Hurricane Harvey (shown making landfall), have slowed down. That could make them more dangerous.

NOAA

Weather & Climate

Tropical cyclones are getting more sluggish

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

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

Putting hats on Easter Island statues may have required some rock and roll

Scientists Say: Krill

Colossal stone headgear placed atop some Easter Island statues may have been rolled up earthen ramps. Small groups of people could have moved them using only long ropes, a new analysis suggests.

C. Lipo

Archaeology

European oak processionary caterpillars (one shown) have a scary hair problem. It’s not the long hairs you need to worry about, but the near-invisible short ones.

CHRISTIAN FISCHER/WIKICOMMONS (CC BY-SA 3.0)

These caterpillars are scaring the city of London

Math & Technology

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