Science News for Students | News and feature articles from all fields of science
feral pig
Top Story
Can anything stop the big pig invasion?
Scientists are scrambling to root out wild hogs, a destructive invasive species
knuckle cracking
Body functions
 
Scientists offer new explanation for knuckle-cracking
The noise may emanate when bubbles in a joint’s fluid partially collapse
water bottles
Pollution
 
Plastic taints most bottled water, study finds
Researchers don’t know whether drinking the microplastic bits might pose health risks
Otter kelp
Algae & Fungi
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Kelp
This large ocean organism looks like a plant but is actually a type of algae
upset stomach
Computers & Electronics
 
Computers mine online reviews for signs of food poisoning
Software spots evidence of potential illness in texts of restaurant reviews on Yelp

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Editor's Picks
Robotics
Cool Jobs: Wide world of robots
birdfoot violet
Plants
Warm petals may attract chilly bees
Catching ball
Body functions
Active teens build strong bones for life
Trending
exploding atomizer
Toxicology
Concerns explode over new health risks of vaping
feral pig

A feral pig looks similar to the domestic pig from which it has descended. Each year, these animals are blamed for causing large and amazingly costly damage in the United States alone.

taviphoto/iStockphoto

Animals
Can anything stop the big pig invasion?
More U.S. teens now vape from electronic cigarettes than smoke conventional tobacco cigarettes. They may think the high-tech devices yield a safe kick from nicotine. New studies suggest that even vaping may pose serious health hazards.
Toxicology
Vaping may harm the lungs
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
graphene bread
Materials Science
 
Zap! Laser tattoos could create electronics to eat or wear
Scientists transform the surface of common materials into a nontoxic base for electronics
self hug
Psychology
 
Analyze This!
Analyze This: The power in being understanding of your flaws
Being kind to yourself after making a mistake can have benefits when it comes to depression
reef shark
Technology
 
Electricity sensor harnesses a shark's secret weapon
This new material changes in response to tiny electric fields at sea
house sparrows
Pollution
 
Light at night lengthens how long birds can spread West Nile virus
Under dim light, house sparrows take longer to fight off their infection
5 sec rule graph
Mathematics
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Uncertainty
This word is used to express how much measurements might vary
Blogs
Otter kelp

This otter is floating in a raft of kelp. All that can be seen at the surface are the tips of the kelp plants, which are anchored to the sea floor below.

roclwyr/istockphoto

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Kelp
self hug

It pays to be kind to yourself. A new study shows that being compassionate with yourself when you make mistakes can dampen depression.

SIphotography/iStockphoto

Analyze This!
Analyze This: The power in being understanding of your flaws
5 sec rule graph

This chart shows results from a test of the five-second rule. That’s when you pick food up off the floor before five seconds have passed and assume it hasn’t picked up any bacteria. The lines at the top of bars in the chart represent the uncertainty in the data, or how much the results might change if the experiment were done over and over again.

B. Brookshire/SSP

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Uncertainty
milk glass
Milk contains a natural sugar called lactose.
naturalbox/istockphoto
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Lactose
Body & Brain
knuckle cracking

Stretching out your knuckles can sometimes release a sharp pop or two. Scientists have a new explanation for what’s behind the cracking.

Peterfactors/iStockphoto

Body functions
Scientists offer new explanation for knuckle-cracking
upset stomach

People who get sick at restaurants may post about it online rather than file a complaint with the health department. Now computers can scout for these posts and alert officials.

PhotoBylove/istockphoto

Computers & Electronics
Computers mine online reviews for signs of food poisoning
house sparrows
Another reason for caution in lighting up the night: Study finds it makes it harder for house sparrows to fight off West Nile virus. Mosquitoes can then bite infected birds and later spread the virus to people.
PaulFleet/iStockphoto
Pollution
Light at night lengthens how long birds can spread West Nile virus
sleeping lemurs
Humans get far less sleep than expected for a primate, new data show. Most of the studied primates, including ring-tailed lemurs (like these), sleep about as much on average as researchers estimated they should.
ARROWSG/ISTOCKPHOTO
Body functions
Compared to other primates, humans get little sleep
smartphones
Science & Society
 
On Twitter, fake news has greater allure than truth does
An analysis of 4.5 million tweets shows falsehoods are 70 percent more likely than truths to be shared
pulsar dot
Light & Radiation
 
Wireless devices crowd out cosmic radio signals and more
Cell phones and other Wi-Fi devices can interfere with interstellar — and Earth-based — research
hairy tongue
Animals
 
The secrets of super-slurper bat tongues
Hair-like structures help animals effectively scoop nectar with each dip
steve aurora
Astronomy
 
Meet STEVE, the northern lights in mauve
Citizen scientists captured images of a new type of aurora
sleeping lemurs
Body functions
 
Compared to other primates, humans get little sleep
Time for learning comes at the expense of shut-eye, researchers propose
Space
pulsar dot

This young pulsar — or spinning, ultradense star (large white dot in center right) — is not far outside our Milky Way. Some details of such celestial bodies are not visible. They come only from radio transmissions, which can be masked by Wi-Fi signals on Earth.

NASA/CXC/Univ. of Potsdam/L. Oskinova et al.

Light & Radiation
Wireless devices crowd out cosmic radio signals and more
steve aurora

This is a new kind of aurora that can appear in the sky during displays of the northern lights. It is a purplish and green band of light known as STEVE.

KRISTA TRINDER

Astronomy
Meet STEVE, the northern lights in mauve
Proxima Centauri flare
An artist’s view of a gigantic flare leaving Proxima Centauri in March 2017. This massive release of energy appears to fizzle hopes that its nearby Earth-mass planet can host life.
ROBERTO MOLAR CANDANOSA/CARNEGIE INSTITUTION FOR SCIENCE, SDO/NASA, JPL/NASA
Planets
Flared! How a planetary ‘neighbor’ may have been fried
Venus

Akatsuki spacecraft images show a cloud-covered atmosphere similar to Earth’s. Those clouds hide a hostile surface.

Damia Bouic/DARTS/ISAS/JAXA

Planets
Here’s why Venus is so unwelcoming
Invention & Innovation
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
virus nanoparticles
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
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
Technology
This hydropower harnesses energy one water drop at a time
electromagnetic coil

An electromagnetic coil around a limb would selectively heat metal in an artificial joint (shown inside coil) without hurting any surrounding muscle and bone. Researchers are testing this approach to treat infections on medical implants.

UT Southwestern Medical Center

Technology
Magnetic heating may replace surgery to cure some infections
milk glass
Body functions
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Lactose
This is a sugar found in milk and other dairy products
scared hamster
Psychology
 
Bullying alters ‘bugs’ in the gut, hamster data show
Feces provide link between social stress and certain changes in gut microbes
Dickinsonia
Animals
 
Living Mysteries: Meet Earth’s simplest animal
Tiny Trichoplax, discovered in a fish tank, provides a window into the origin of animals
depressed teen
Psychology
 
Finding and helping teens for whom sadness is a disease
New guidelines will help doctors better spot — and treat — depressed teens
grain crops
Weather & Climate
 
Analyze This!
Analyze This: Climate change could make food less healthy
Levels of nutrients fell as plants breathed in more carbon dioxide
Latest Headlines
knuckle cracking

Stretching out your knuckles can sometimes release a sharp pop or two. Scientists have a new explanation for what’s behind the cracking.

Peterfactors/iStockphoto

Body functions
Scientists offer new explanation for knuckle-cracking
water bottles

In recent tests, bottled water from nine countries contained tiny plastic bits. The microscopic pieces may come from a variety of sources including cosmetics, clothing and packaging materials.

yanik88/istockphoto

Pollution
Plastic taints most bottled water, study finds
Otter kelp

This otter is floating in a raft of kelp. All that can be seen at the surface are the tips of the kelp plants, which are anchored to the sea floor below.

roclwyr/istockphoto

Scientists Say
Algae & Fungi
Scientists Say: Kelp
upset stomach

People who get sick at restaurants may post about it online rather than file a complaint with the health department. Now computers can scout for these posts and alert officials.

PhotoBylove/istockphoto

Computers & Electronics
Computers mine online reviews for signs of food poisoning
Math & Technology
upset stomach

People who get sick at restaurants may post about it online rather than file a complaint with the health department. Now computers can scout for these posts and alert officials.

PhotoBylove/istockphoto

Computers & Electronics
Computers mine online reviews for signs of food poisoning
graphene bread

A special computer-controlled laser was used to inscribe patterned graphene onto a range of different materials, including this bread. Beyond drawing cute owls, though, scientists want to use the technology to put electronic sensors on everyday items.

Jeff Fitlow / Rice University

Materials Science
Zap! Laser tattoos could create electronics to eat or wear
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
smartphones
Fake news spreads faster and further through the Twittersphere than do messages based on truth.
terimakasih0/Pixabay
Science & Society
On Twitter, fake news has greater allure than truth does