Science News for Students

This tiny animal is apocalypse-proof

Asteroids or exploding stars won’t wipe out microscopic critters called tardigrades

The galaxies M81 (left) and M82 (right) may be exchanging gas. Supernova explosions in M82 would toss out gas that could be pulled toward M81. That could help M81 bulk up.

Markus Schopfer/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Half the Milky Way may be stolen material

Galactic winds may have delivered half of the material that makes up our galaxy

Scientists filmed this humpback whale swimming with a large group of others as it fed off the coast of South Africa. The video shows the whale using its front flippers to move toward its prey.

Charles Littnan and Ari Friedlaender

Humpbacks flap their flippers like underwater birds

Researchers spotted whales making moves once thought impossible

High above the earth, a layer containing ozone helps protect us from the sun’s radiation.

Nastco/istockphoto

Earth

This is a molecule made of three oxygen atoms that can be both protective and harmful

Scientists Say: Ozone

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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

Fossils

What killed the dinosaurs?

Blogs

High above the earth, a layer containing ozone helps protect us from the sun’s radiation.

Nastco/istockphoto

Scientists Say: Ozone

The study of caves is called speleology. A scientist who studies them is a speleologist.

Khlongwangchao/istockphoto

Scientists Say: Speleology

Does the best mosquito repellent come in a spray can? To find out, scientists put common products to the test.

redstallion/iStockphoto

Analyze This!

Analyze This! Mosquito repellents that work

Curiosity has done a lot more than take selfies in front of Gale Crater, and with its mission extended through next fall, there’s still more science to come.

MSSS, JPL-Caltech/NASA

What the Curiosity rover has learned about Mars so far

While it has found no signs of life, its cameras and other tools have spied hints of water and habitable soils

Ceres is a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt. New research suggests it could have once been a ball of mud with a solid core.

IDA/DLR/MPS/UCLA/JPL-CALTECH/NASA

Early solar system may have slung giant mud balls

The first asteroids may not have been so rocky, explaining some meteorite mysteries

More than 150 girls from around the world competed in the 2017 European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad in Zurich, Switzerland.

Evelyn Merkli/European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad/Flickr (CC-BY-NC 2.0)

Mathematics

Math isn’t just for boys

Unfortunately, too many girls have yet to get that message

These are the shimmering blue wings of a morpho dragonfly.

GREG LASLEY/INATURALIST.ORG (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Could a dragonfly’s wings be alive — and breathing?

Surprising microscope image hints at breathing equipment in the wing of a morpho dragonfly

The star EBLM J0555-57Ab (illustrated, right) is one of the smallest ever found. It has a radius similar to Saturn’s (illustrated, left). The star’s mass is just large enough that it can fuse hydrogen in its core.

COURTESY OF UNIV. OF CAMBRIDGE

Newfound stars rank as farthest and one of the smallest

It would take more than a backyard telescope to spot them

Body & Brain

These are the shimmering blue wings of a morpho dragonfly.

GREG LASLEY/INATURALIST.ORG (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Could a dragonfly’s wings be alive — and breathing?

Major cities can easily be seen from space at night owing to the huge outpouring of light they emit. They also can be seen from a great distance, on the ground, due to the way they produce a dome of overhead light known as sky glow.

Britus/iStockphoto

Environment

Night lights have a dark side

In healthy adults, a flu-vaccine patch (seen here) packed with “microneedles” painlessly delivers a dose of flu vaccine and causes only mild side effects — ones similar to what a traditional flu shot causes.

Christopher Moore, Georgia Tech

Getting a flu ‘shot’ could become as easy as sticking on a bandage

Most vaccines are given through injections, but some can be given by nose or mouth.

Remains/iStockphoto

Explainer: What is a vaccine?

Invention & Innovation

Robotics

Underwater robot vacuums up lionfish

Materials Science

Nanowires made from silver are super stretchy

Technology

These antennas turn anything into a radio station

Technology

‘Nanostraws’ safely sneak a peek inside cells

Pictures by turn-of-the-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge became an animation that scientists stored in bacterial DNA.

EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE/U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Scientists hide a real movie within a germ’s DNA

A tool called CRISPR helped store a galloping horse GIF in the DNA of bacteria

Scientists are using a tool called CRISPR/Cas9 to edit DNA.

kirstypargeter/iStockphoto

Explainer: How CRISPR works

This technique lets scientists edit DNA in plants and animals

The study of caves is called speleology. A scientist who studies them is a speleologist.

Khlongwangchao/istockphoto

Earth

Scientists Say: Speleology

This is the study of places dark and deep

Aaron Parness of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory poses like Superman to grab a floating cube with a gecko-inspired gripper. He’s on an airplane that can temporarily make passengers weightless.

H. Jiang et al/Science Robotics 2017

Space

Robot grippers imitate gecko feet to help nab space junk

Engineers tested the sticky technology on a giant air hockey table and in low gravity

Britus/iStockphoto

Environment

Night lights have a dark side

Artificial light at night impairs stargazing, animal behaviors — and maybe even human health

Cool Jobs

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

Ecosystems

Cool Jobs: Bringing caves' dark secrets to light

Science & Society

Cool Jobs: New tools to solve crimes

Chemistry

Cool Jobs: Counting calories

Space

They may look like chubby microscopic caterpillars, but water bears are no joke. These creatures will probably live long after humans are gone.

Eraxion/istockphoto

This tiny animal is apocalypse-proof

The galaxies M81 (left) and M82 (right) may be exchanging gas. Supernova explosions in M82 would toss out gas that could be pulled toward M81. That could help M81 bulk up.

Markus Schopfer/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Half the Milky Way may be stolen material

Curiosity has done a lot more than take selfies in front of Gale Crater, and with its mission extended through next fall, there’s still more science to come.

MSSS, JPL-Caltech/NASA

What the Curiosity rover has learned about Mars so far

Ceres is a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt. New research suggests it could have once been a ball of mud with a solid core.

IDA/DLR/MPS/UCLA/JPL-CALTECH/NASA

Early solar system may have slung giant mud balls

Global warming could force airplanes to carry a lighter load — such as fewer passengers — on each flight.

Chalabala/iStockphoto

Weather & Climate

Hotter air may lead planes to carry fewer passengers

Feverish temps could make it more difficult for planes to lift off

Does the best mosquito repellent come in a spray can? To find out, scientists put common products to the test.

redstallion/iStockphoto

Analyze This! Mosquito repellents that work

Analyze This!

Spray-on repellents are usually the best at keeping those blood suckers from making you their next meal

Christopher Moore, Georgia Tech

Getting a flu ‘shot’ could become as easy as sticking on a bandage

Applying a flu-vaccine patch studded with 100 microneedles feels like pressing Velcro on the skin

Details about the moon’s early atmosphere may be stored in its surface. This false-color image shows the lunar surface. Craters and other low-lying areas are blue. Higher regions are red. The near side of the moon appears at left; the far side at right.

NASA, GSFC, MIT, LOLA

Space

Early moon may have had metallic skies and gale-force winds

Early Earth’s glow helped vaporize metals to form a lunar atmosphere with stiff gusts and metallic snow

It may not look like this Czechoslovakian wolfdog and the smaller Chihuahua have much in common, but they were both domesticated from wolves.

cynoclub/istockphoto

Agriculture

Scientists Say: Domestication

This is the process that brings organisms out of the wild and into our lives

Latest Headlines

They may look like chubby microscopic caterpillars, but water bears are no joke. These creatures will probably live long after humans are gone.

Eraxion/istockphoto

This tiny animal is apocalypse-proof

The galaxies M81 (left) and M82 (right) may be exchanging gas. Supernova explosions in M82 would toss out gas that could be pulled toward M81. That could help M81 bulk up.

Markus Schopfer/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Half the Milky Way may be stolen material

Scientists filmed this humpback whale swimming with a large group of others as it fed off the coast of South Africa. The video shows the whale using its front flippers to move toward its prey.

Charles Littnan and Ari Friedlaender

Humpbacks flap their flippers like underwater birds

High above the earth, a layer containing ozone helps protect us from the sun’s radiation.

Nastco/istockphoto

Math + teens + practice = a winning competition

Earth

Scientists Say: Ozone

Math & Technology

$girl chalkboard$

Math offers a different way to look at the world and solve problems. Like athletes, mathletes can compete, even from young ages, to win medals and have fun — sometimes in exotic places.

isaiahlove/iStockphoto

Mathematics

More than 150 girls from around the world competed in the 2017 European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad in Zurich, Switzerland.

Evelyn Merkli/European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad/Flickr (CC-BY-NC 2.0)

Mathematics

Math isn’t just for boys

Pictures by turn-of-the-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge became an animation that scientists stored in bacterial DNA.

EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE/U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Scientists hide a real movie within a germ’s DNA

Scientists are using a tool called CRISPR/Cas9 to edit DNA.

kirstypargeter/iStockphoto