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
a naked mole rat eating
Animals
 
Eating queen’s poop makes naked mole rats babysit her kids
The scat contains a hormone that transforms other females into nannies
Materials Science
 
Adhesive from trees could make tape more eco-friendly
Researchers used plant wastes, instead of petroleum, to make the glue for tape
thermometer snow
Physics
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Kelvin
This is a temperature scale based around the concept of ‘absolute zero’
Atacama telescope array
Astronomy
 
Distant galaxy seems filled with dark matter
Earlier studies suggested such mega-clusters of stars would lack the dark stuff

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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
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 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
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
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
Blogs
thermometer snow

Sure, this snow is zero degrees Celsius. But it’s a whopping 273 kelvins.

MarianVejcik/iStockPhoto

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Kelvin
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
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 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
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
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
860_Lem_tree_tape.png

Tape is convenient but not environmentally friendly. A new adhesive for tape comes from trees instead of crude oil.

angintaravichian/iStockphoto

Materials Science
Adhesive from trees could make tape more eco-friendly
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
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
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
Latest Headlines
a naked mole rat eating

As in a honeybee hive, the queen in a naked mole rat colony is the only mom. She gives birth to all of the young. But she’ll need child-care help for all her babies. And she’ll get it from the other females, especially if they’ve dined on her poop, new data show.

Kevin McGee/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Animals
Eating queen’s poop makes naked mole rats babysit her kids
860_Lem_tree_tape.png

Tape is convenient but not environmentally friendly. A new adhesive for tape comes from trees instead of crude oil.

angintaravichian/iStockphoto

Materials Science
Adhesive from trees could make tape more eco-friendly
thermometer snow

Sure, this snow is zero degrees Celsius. But it’s a whopping 273 kelvins.

MarianVejcik/iStockPhoto

Scientists Say
Physics
Scientists Say: Kelvin
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
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