Science News for Students | News and feature articles from all fields of science

Climate Change Chronicles

a photo of a a camera on a tripod standing on a melt pond, there is ice stretching to the distant horizon

Cameras set up in the Arctic’s Chukchi and Bering seas (one shown) record the amount of light that reaches water through the ice. More light means more algal blooms.

K. Frey/Clark University

Weather & Climate
Disappearing sea ice could disrupt Arctic’s food web
a photo of a flooded house

Data from two U.S. agencies linked climate change with more rain in Eastern states — and flooding, such as here, in South Carolina. 

SC National Guard/Flickr

Weather & Climate
Wet and wild 2018 is officially fourth-hottest year
A photo of a student climate change strike in London on February 15. In the middle of the image is a student holding a sign that reads I'd be in school if the Earth was cool.

Thousands of students protested in support of climate change action in London, England, on February 15. A global strike is planned for March 15.

Socialist Appeal/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Science & Society
Students strike to spur adults into climate action
an underwater photo of a coral reef ecosystem with brightly colored corals and fish

Corals provide the base of a unique community of ocean creatures. But ocean acidification may make it difficult for corals to build their beautiful structures.

iBorisoff/iStockphoto

Chemistry
Shell shocked: Emerging impacts of our acidifying seas
an underwater photo of a little skate

This is a little skate, a fish closely related to sharks and rays. As the oceans get more acidic, little skates may become better walkers.

Page Valentine/USGS; adapted by L. Steenblik Hwang

Animals
Ocean acidification may ground swimming skates
a photo of a a camera on a tripod standing on a melt pond, there is ice stretching to the distant horizon
Top Story
Disappearing sea ice could disrupt Arctic’s food web
If ice-free is the new normal, then big changes are in store for life here
a photo of a sick baby with a thermometer under their arm
Body functions
 
Fevers can have some cool benefits
That heating boosts our immunity by speeding disease-fighting cells to an infection
a photo of lots of Spanish dry-cured ham hanging in a shop
Chemistry
 
Ham bone broth could be a tonic for the heart
Simmering Spanish ham bones releases heart-healthy chemicals
a photo of a pair of gloved hands holding a rock
Earth
 
Why we should stop ignoring the life stories of minerals
The crystals shouldn’t just be classified by shape alone, one scientist argues
a photo of two okapi in a zoo enclosure
Science Education
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Okapi
This African mammal shares its long tongue with its closest relative — the giraffe

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Editor's Picks
protester crying
Science & Society
Racism hurts
diverse teens
Psychology
Think you’re not biased? Think again
fist-bumping
Science & Society
Five things students can do about racism
Trending
a photo of a a camera on a tripod standing on a melt pond, there is ice stretching to the distant horizon

Cameras set up in the Arctic’s Chukchi and Bering seas (one shown) record the amount of light that reaches water through the ice. More light means more algal blooms.

K. Frey/Clark University

Weather & Climate
Disappearing sea ice could disrupt Arctic’s food web
A photo of a student climate change strike in London on February 15. In the middle of the image is a student holding a sign that reads I'd be in school if the Earth was cool.

Thousands of students protested in support of climate change action in London, England, on February 15. A global strike is planned for March 15.

Socialist Appeal/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Science & Society
Students strike to spur adults into climate action
an underwater photo of a coral reef ecosystem with brightly colored corals and fish

Corals provide the base of a unique community of ocean creatures. But ocean acidification may make it difficult for corals to build their beautiful structures.

iBorisoff/iStockphoto

Chemistry
Shell shocked: Emerging impacts of our acidifying seas
a photo of a flooded house

Data from two U.S. agencies linked climate change with more rain in Eastern states — and flooding, such as here, in South Carolina. 

SC National Guard/Flickr

Weather & Climate
Wet and wild 2018 is officially fourth-hottest year
a close-up photo of a child's open mouth with a tongue depressor holding the tongue down
Health
 
What’s behind frequent strep throat? Consult the tonsils
Immune problems may be one source — stowaway germs may give faulty diagnoses
a girl testing a circuit board
Young Scientists
 
Eureka! Lab
What is trendy in today’s science fair projects?
We analyzed more than 19,000 science fair projects to find out
a photo of the three winners of the 2019 Regerneron Science Talent Search
Young Scientists
 
Exoplanet hunting, HIV-fighting and math garner big prizes for teens
Forty finalists competed for more than $2 million in awards at the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search
a photo of a grandma hugging her grandchild
Culture
 
Grandmother can be good for grandkids — up to a point
She may boost the kids’ survival, but only when grandma is younger and lives nearby
a photo of an emergency road sign that says "Global warming ahead"
Weather & Climate
 
Eureka! Lab
These teens have some ideas for stopping climate change
Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists share their ideas for halting climate change in its tracks
Blogs
a photo of two okapi in a zoo enclosure

These are okapi. Don’t let the stripes fool you. They are closely related to giraffes, not zebras. 

Alan Eng/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-2.0)

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Okapi
a girl testing a circuit board

Entrants in today’s science fairs are performing research in university labs and also doing award-winning work from home.

StefaNikolic/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS

Eureka! Lab
What is trendy in today’s science fair projects?
a photo of an emergency road sign that says "Global warming ahead"

If you could do one thing to stop climate change, what would it be?

Bill Oxford/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Eureka! Lab
These teens have some ideas for stopping climate change
a teen sits on the bed with her head on her knees and her arms wrapped around herself, she is holding a phone

Most teens report being cyberbullied. This kind of bullying can feel inescapable.

AntonioGuillem/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Analyze This!
Analyze This: Most teens have been cyberbullied
Body & Brain
a photo of a sick baby with a thermometer under their arm

A fever may be (mostly) good for us, whether we're babies, teens or adults. A new study shows how it speeds infection-fighting cells to where they’ll do the body good.

Aynur_sib/iStockphoto

Body functions
Fevers can have some cool benefits
a photo of lots of Spanish dry-cured ham hanging in a shop

Broth from the bones of Spanish dry-cured ham, like that shown here, could boost heart health, new data suggest.

Michal Osmenda/Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-2.0)

Chemistry
Ham bone broth could be a tonic for the heart
a close-up photo of a child's open mouth with a tongue depressor holding the tongue down

The germs that cause strep throat infections can hide out in the tonsils.

vitapix/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Health
What’s behind frequent strep throat? Consult the tonsils
a photo of a spoonful of powdered clay

Someday, swallowing clay might keep you from absorbing much of the fat in your diet. But don't try it just yet.

Edalin/iStockphoto

Health
Could eating clay help manage weight?
a photo of a flooded house
Weather & Climate
 
Wet and wild 2018 is officially fourth-hottest year
And temps are likely to only keep rising, bringing even more extreme weather
a teen sits on the bed with her head on her knees and her arms wrapped around herself, she is holding a phone
Science & Society
 
Analyze This!
Analyze This: Most teens have been cyberbullied
Survey tallies the types of bullying kids deal with online and on their phones
an illustration of the earth with latitude and longitude lines
Science Education
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Latitude and Longitude
One measures the distance from the equator, the other from the Prime Meridian
A photo of a student climate change strike in London on February 15. In the middle of the image is a student holding a sign that reads I'd be in school if the Earth was cool.
Science & Society
 
Students strike to spur adults into climate action
Kids across the globe are protesting a failure of governments to cut greenhouse-gas emissions
a photo of a fossil of developing baby plesiosaur skeleton inside the mother's skeleton
Fossils
 
Bones show ancient marine reptile was a big baby
Plesiosaurs likely needed this survival advantage in predator-infested seas
Space
a photo of the three winners of the 2019 Regerneron Science Talent Search

Ana Humphrey (center), Samuel Weismann (left) and Adam Ardeishar (right) took home first, second and third place in the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search.

C. Ayers/SSP

Young Scientists
Exoplanet hunting, HIV-fighting and math garner big prizes for teens
a long exposure of a meteor shower at night

Space dust rains down on Earth all the time. Most of these specks are too small to see. But when one the size of a sand grain hits the atmosphere, it blazes with visible light, becoming a micrometeor, or “shooting star.”

x-reflexnaja/istockphoto

Space
On the lookout for micro-missiles from space
an image of the moon and where the impact happened

During a lunar eclipse on January 21, amateur astronomers caught lucky views of an object roughly the size of a basketball smacking into the moon and producing a bright flash of light (inset).

Fritz Pichardo/Dominican Astronomical Society

Space
Caught on camera: A small rock hit the moon
an artist's illustration of ICESat-2 aiming green laser's at the Earth's surface

ICESat-2’s bright green lasers can monitor Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets by detecting changes in their heights.

NASA

Earth
ICESat-2 measures ice and more from space
Invention & Innovation
a photo of a porthole into an underwater habitat, fish are swimming past the round window

A new kind of glass can keep itself clean underwater. The key is microscopic pancake-shaped structures that let liquid flow between them.

ES3N/iStockphoto

Materials Science
A self-cleaning glass keeps itself spotless underwater
a photo of a green spiral of cyanobacteria printed onto a white mushroom marked with black graphene ink

Researchers 3-D print a green spiral of cyanobacteria onto a mushroom. The microbes give off electrons when exposed to light. Those electrons flow into the black graphene ink to produce an electric current.

American Chemical Society

Technology
This bionic mushroom makes electricity
a close-up of a new kind of bandage

A new bandage uses electrical pulses to help wounds heal faster. It’s powered by the patient’s natural body motions.

Sam Million-Weaver/Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison

Materials Science
This bandage uses electrical zaps to heal wounds faster
a photo of a person writing "Bye" on rewritable paper

A special pen heats the blue ink on this rewritable paper. As the ink warms, it turns clear. The white paper beneath reveals a written message.

Luzhuo Chen

Chemistry
This rewritable paper depends on disappearing ink
an anxious girl taking a text in a classroom holds her head in her hands
Psychology
 
Easing test anxiety boosts science grades in low-income students
Coping with stress before exams could help more kids stay in science
a photo of ivy plants inside a wood cabinet there is a fog or mist creeping out from behind the doors
Plants
 
This houseplant can clean indoor air
Adding a rabbit gene helps this ivy break down cancer-causing chemicals
a photo of a porthole into an underwater habitat, fish are swimming past the round window
Materials Science
 
A self-cleaning glass keeps itself spotless underwater
Microscopic pancakes on its surface stop dirt from sticking
eagle with fish
Ecosystems
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Niche
A term in ecology, it’s how an organism fits into its community
a photo of four different Lego minifigures lying on their backs in a circle, heads towards the middle of the photo
Science Education
 
These researchers swallowed Legos for science
The toys should pass through the digestive tract without harm, study concludes
Latest Headlines
a photo of a sick baby with a thermometer under their arm

A fever may be (mostly) good for us, whether we're babies, teens or adults. A new study shows how it speeds infection-fighting cells to where they’ll do the body good.

Aynur_sib/iStockphoto

Body functions
Fevers can have some cool benefits
a photo of lots of Spanish dry-cured ham hanging in a shop

Broth from the bones of Spanish dry-cured ham, like that shown here, could boost heart health, new data suggest.

Michal Osmenda/Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-2.0)

Chemistry
Ham bone broth could be a tonic for the heart
a photo of a pair of gloved hands holding a rock

Rocks may be made from a single mineral or many. But knowing the recipe of the molecules that make up a mineral tells only part of its story. One scientist wants to broaden their biographies.

SeventyFour/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Earth
Why we should stop ignoring the life stories of minerals
a photo of two okapi in a zoo enclosure

These are okapi. Don’t let the stripes fool you. They are closely related to giraffes, not zebras. 

Alan Eng/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-2.0)

Scientists Say
Science Education
Scientists Say: Okapi
Math & Technology
a photo of the three winners of the 2019 Regerneron Science Talent Search

Ana Humphrey (center), Samuel Weismann (left) and Adam Ardeishar (right) took home first, second and third place in the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search.

C. Ayers/SSP

Young Scientists
Exoplanet hunting, HIV-fighting and math garner big prizes for teens
an illustration showing a network of tiny robots

Botnets are big armies of zombie computers.

BeeBright/iStockphoto

Technology
Rise of the botnets
A short video clip of the OroBOT walking as seen from overhead

Researchers built a robot called OroBOT to re-create the way that Orobates pabsti might have walked. That four-legged creature lived some 290 million years ago.

Tomislav Horvat and K. Melo/EPFL Lausanne

Fossils
This robot shows how an ancient creature might have walked
a photo of a porthole into an underwater habitat, fish are swimming past the round window

A new kind of glass can keep itself clean underwater. The key is microscopic pancake-shaped structures that let liquid flow between them.

ES3N/iStockphoto

Materials Science
A self-cleaning glass keeps itself spotless underwater