Science News for Students

The Milky Way galaxy houses 100 million black holes

New count of cosmic chasms is based on galaxy size and makeup

Three new technologies could shed new light on what goes on inside our brains.

Innovative tools let scientists observe brain activity of organisms on the go

Artificial light at night can distract insects away from plants they would otherwise pollinate. And the fallout of this disruption in pollination may spread into daylight hours, a new study finds.

fotogigi85/iStockphoto

Pollution

Light pollution can foil plant-insect hookups

Upsetting nighttime pollinators can have daytime after-effects for some meadow flowers

Huge cyclones can cause waves of pressure to hit the ocean floor. This effect is called a weather bomb.

Mode-list/istockphoto

Scientists Say: Weather bomb

This is what happens when a huge storm sends a wave of pressure through the ocean floor

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Toxicology

Concerns explode over new health risks of vaping

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

Scientists in India found these frogs living in tree cavities.

S.D. Biju/S.D Biju et al/PLOS ONE 2016 (CC-BY 4.0)

Ecosystems

As trees come down, some hidden homes are disappearing

Blogs

Huge cyclones can cause waves of pressure to hit the ocean floor. This effect is called a weather bomb.

Mode-list/istockphoto

Scientists Say: Weather bomb

Oops! Is that muffin still safe to eat? The latest DIY Science video tests if the five-second rule is true.

The five-second rule: Designing an experiment

What's living on this meat and on my kitchen floor? I'm about to find out.

The five-second rule: Growing germs for science

What if you were at this Naples, Fla., beach when the water suddenly got sucked back into the ocean? Earlier this month, Hurricane Irma made that happen, putting beach-goers in danger.

Milan Boers/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Here's why Irma caused some coastal water to temporarily go missing

The hurricane’s tricky behavior left some residents confused — and in danger

Saturn’s north pole was dark when Cassini arrived in 2004. But as the seasons changed, light illuminated a bizarre six-sided swirl of gases at the pole (shown here in false color). The hexagon has been known since the 1980s. It is about 30,000 kilometers (18,600 miles) wide with a massive hurricane centered on the north pole.

JPL-CALTECH/NASA, SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

Space

Cassini spacecraft takes its final bow

The NASA spacecraft has revealed a lot about Saturn during its 13 years in orbit

As Irma moved out of Florida (lower center), seen here at 9 a.m. Sept. 11, the massive storm now covered parts of at least 12 U.S. states and many Caribbean islands.

GOES-16/NOAA

Five portraits of Hurricane Irma’s record-breaking fury

Stunning shots display one of history’s biggest and most powerful Atlantic storms

Quantum refers to the measurement and operations of particles and energy on subatomic scales. At this scale, things can appear as particles or waves and exist in more than one place at once.

agsandrew/iStockphoto

Physics

Explainer: Quantum is the world of the super small

The public often misuses the term, but here’s what it really means

Oops! Is that muffin still safe to eat? The latest DIY Science video tests if the five-second rule is true.

The five-second rule: Designing an experiment

You can do research at home to test a common belief about food safety

Body & Brain

Three new technologies could shed new light on what goes on inside our brains.

Brains may need flexible networks to learn well

In brains that learn with ease, groups of nerve cells switch easily between conversations with other cells in their networks.

Zapp2Photo/iStockphoto

Brain

Scientists in India found these frogs living in tree cavities.

S.D. Biju/S.D Biju et al/PLOS ONE 2016 (CC-BY 4.0)

Ecosystems

As trees come down, some hidden homes are disappearing

Researchers edited a gene that causes heart failure in newly fertilized eggs (left). Four-celled (center) and five-day-old embryos (right) look normal.

OHSU

Genetics

Molecular scissors fix disease-causing flaw in human embryos

Invention & Innovation

A new electronic device is stretchy and light, and dissolves in acid.

Bao Lab/Stanford University

Materials Science

Vinegar dissolves new electronics when they’re no longer needed

Robotics

Underwater robot vacuums up lionfish

Materials Science

Nanowires made from silver are super stretchy

These antennas turn anything into a radio station

What's living on this meat and on my kitchen floor? I'm about to find out.

The five-second rule: Growing germs for science

Here’s how to build a low-cost incubator at home

Is this bologna bacteria-free? An experiment should answer that question. Now it’s time to analyze the data.

The five-second rule: Myth busted?

After the bologna drops and the microbes grow, it’s time to look at the unappetizing results

I swabbed bologna for science. Other scientists have tried testing the five-second rule with bread, watermelon and gummy candies.

The five-second rule: Microbes can’t count

Other scientists have studied the five-second rule and agree — it’s a lie

In Patagonia, kelp gulls eat the feces of fur seal pups that are infected with hookworms. Sometimes the birds wound the poor pups in their efforts to obtain a meal, a new study reveals.

M. SEGUEL ET AL./ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017

Animals

Poop-eating gulls can be pain in the butt for seal pups

Birds can harm baby fur seals while eating parasites in their feces

In brains that learn with ease, groups of nerve cells switch easily between conversations with other cells in their networks.

Zapp2Photo/iStockphoto

Brain

Brains may need flexible networks to learn well

The brain’s ability to shift connections might boost learning

Cool Jobs

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is probably the most famous scientist with a disability, but he’s far from alone. Meet some of the many other scientists and engineers who have hurdled physical or medical barriers to find rewarding careers in research.

Paul E. Alers/NASA

STEM Careers

Disabilities don’t stop these experts in science and tech

Students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may face challenges to pursuing a career in STEM. Fortunately, there are resources that can help.

Jovanmandic/iStockphoto

STEM Careers

Deaf students can overcome hurdles to careers in STEM

DaNa Carlis flew in a jet about 13,700 meters (45,000 feet) above the Pacific Ocean, near Hawaii, to gather weather data. Here, he is about to release an instrument called a dropsonde to measure factors such as temperature and wind speed.

D. Carlis

STEM Careers

Calling scientists of all colors

NASA held a press conference last year about Hidden Figures. From left: director Ted Melfi, Octavia Spencer (Dorothy Vaughan), Taraji P. Henson (Katherine Johnson), Janelle Monáe (Mary Jackson), producer Pharrell Williams and historian Bill Barry.

NASA/Kim Shiflett

Mathematics

Meet the people behind the film Hidden Figures

Space

Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, may house 100 million black holes, scientists estimate.

den-belitsky/iStockphoto

The Milky Way galaxy houses 100 million black holes

JPL-CALTECH/NASA, SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

Space

Cassini spacecraft takes its final bow

NASA/Kim Shiflett

Mathematics

Meet the people behind the film Hidden Figures

This time-lapse photo shows the stages of a November 2012 solar eclipse in the South Pacific.

RICK FIENBERG/TRAVELQUEST INTERNATIONAL/WILDERNESS TRAVEL (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

What scientists hope to learn from Great American Eclipse

Fire ants build towers using three simple rules, no leader needed.

Candler Hobbs and David L. Hu

Animals

Three simple rules guide fire ants in building towers

The same set of rules build floating rafts

These peppers contain capsaicin, a chemical that gives us a burning sensation.

ablokhin/istockphoto

Chemistry

Scientists Say: Capsaicin

This molecule provides the burn when you eat a pepper

Ammonia gas separates from urine in the tube on the right. It’s part of a new process that makes fertilizer from nutrients in the waste.

Aalto University/Lasse Lecklin

Chemistry

Recycling urine may be a way to boost plant growth

New methods recover nutrients from human pee

Scientists in India found these frogs living in tree cavities.

S.D. Biju/S.D Biju et al/PLOS ONE 2016 (CC-BY 4.0)

Ecosystems

As trees come down, some hidden homes are disappearing

A wildlife housing shortage is developing around the world among animals that depend on tree hollows

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

Picturing how many Great Salt Lakes Harvey dropped onto Texas

Outside Comment

Here are some ways to visualize Tropical Storm Harvey’s mega deluge

Latest Headlines

Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, may house 100 million black holes, scientists estimate.

den-belitsky/iStockphoto

The Milky Way galaxy houses 100 million black holes

Three new technologies could shed new light on what goes on inside our brains.

Light pollution can foil plant-insect hookups

Artificial light at night can distract insects away from plants they would otherwise pollinate. And the fallout of this disruption in pollination may spread into daylight hours, a new study finds.

fotogigi85/iStockphoto

Pollution

Huge cyclones can cause waves of pressure to hit the ocean floor. This effect is called a weather bomb.

Mode-list/istockphoto

Scientists Say: Weather bomb

Math & Technology

Three new technologies could shed new light on what goes on inside our brains.