Science News for Students | News and feature articles from all fields of science
Andreas Fath swimming in the Tennessee River
Top Story
Scientist tackles water pollution with epic swims
He swam the entire Tennessee River to study — and bring attention to — what taints our waters
Rim fire
Ecosystems
 
Surprise! Fire can help some forests keep more of their water
Burning clears out vegetation that had been slurping precious groundwater
photo of a road through a car windshield
Technology
 
Getting road-trip ready, and no driver needed
New navigation system for self-driving cars uses laser sensors to ‘see’ its path
a simulated image of an asteroid floating in space
Astronomy
 
Diamonds and more suggest unusual origins for asteroids
One seems to come from a lost planet, the other from outside our solar system
Supreme Court
Mathematics
 
Supreme Court shies away from test on the math of voting rights
High court says citizens can only challenge boundaries of their own election districts

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Editor's Picks
village mural
Murals like this one showcase the lively culture of Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. But violent crime plagues some streets in the area, and sociologist Robert Vargas says changing boundaries of voting districts may contribute to this.
Señor Codo/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Science & Society
Redrawing political boundaries may alter rates of violent crime
tasty snacks
Brain
Sleepyheads prefer junk food
Kilauea volcano

Lava flowing from new fissures along Kilauea’s eastern flank engulfed a street in Hawaii’s Leilani Estates on May 6. 

U.S. Geological Survey

Earth
How long will Kilauea’s new eruption last?
Trending
exploding atomizer
Toxicology
Concerns explode over new health risks of vaping
Brain
Explainer: What is dopamine?
5 pretty faces
Psychology
What makes a pretty face?
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
ocean octopuses
Animals
 
Deep-sea expedition led researchers to doomed octopus nursery
The good news: A healthy population of octopods may be nearby
Kakapo Sirocco
Animals
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Kakapo
This endangered parrot is a ground dweller that can climb trees
plastic bales
Materials Science
 
This plastic can be recycled over and over and over
It can be broken down into its initial building blocks and then reused
Physicist Mary Upton at Argonne National Laboratory
Physics
 
Photons map the atomic scale to help medicine and more
Researchers at a gigantic lab — the Advanced Photon Source — are probing the world of the very small
Heligmosomoides roundworm
Body functions
 
Worms in the gut keep mice from getting plump on high-fat food
The intestinal parasites also changed how food affected their host's immune system
Blogs
Kakapo Sirocco

There are so few kakapos left that many of them have names. This is Sirroco. He lives in captivity and is New Zealand’s official spokesbird for conservation.

Department of Conservation - Kakapo Sirocco/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Kakapo
electron microscopy images of three very very large viruses

Three giant viruses are shown here (from left to right): Pacmanvirus, Mollivirus and Pandoravirus

J. ANDREANI ET AL/J. OF VIROLOGY 2017; E. GHIGO ET AL/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS (CC BY 2.5); © IGS CNRS, AIX-MARSEILLE UNIV.

Analyze This!
Analyze This: These viruses are behemoths
a pair of feet wearing black high heeled shoes on a brick walkway

High heels can make women lose their balance more easily. But many women wear them because they mistakenly think men find them attractive, a teen’s research shows.

Manuel-F-O/iStockphoto

Eureka! Lab
Many women take unnecessary risks with sky-high heels
strata

This woman is standing in front of rock strata, layers representing millions of years. The study of the organization of these layers is stratigraphy.

travelwayoflife/Wikimedia Commons/(CC-BY-SA 2.0)

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Stratigraphy
Body & Brain
Heligmosomoides roundworm

This round worm, Heligmosomoides polygyrus, was retrieved from the gut of a wood mouse. New research shows that being infected by such parasites can keep animals from gaining weight, even when eating fattening food.

Naldo-Crocoduck/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Body functions
Worms in the gut keep mice from getting plump on high-fat food
gut-brain girl

You may not notice, but your guts and brain are in constant communication. And from what scientists have been learning from rodent studies, those chats between gut microbes and the brain can have a whole range of important, hidden impacts.

tommaso79, Dr_Microbe/iStockphoto; Adapted by L. Steenblik Hwang

Body functions
Belly bacteria can shape mood and behavior
vagus stimulation

The vagus nerve runs from the base of the brain down the spinal cord, and reaches out to touch most of your organs along the way. The yellow line in this picture is the top of the vagus nerve, here attached to a small electronic stimulator. That device can be used to treat seizures or depression.

Manu5/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Body functions
Explainer: What is the vagus?
raw chicken

Is this chicken safe to eat? New glowing sensors built into food packaging might soon alert cooks to risky food.

Kwangmoozaa/istockphoto

Technology
Bad food? New sensors will show with a glow
electron microscopy images of three very very large viruses
Microbes
 
Analyze This!
Analyze This: These viruses are behemoths
Don’t worry, though, since giant viruses target amoebas, not people
a pair of feet wearing black high heeled shoes on a brick walkway
Young Scientists
 
Eureka! Lab
Many women take unnecessary risks with sky-high heels
A teen took her love of fashion to science and turned up a few surprises
lady scientist
Science & Society
 
Women are closing the participation gap in science, but slowly
In computer science and physics, it may take more than 100 years to see men and women participating equally
curling chrysanthemum
Materials Science
 
Light-sensitive ‘ink’ gives 4-D printing more wiggle room
By mixing technologies, this 4-D printer can create objects that move in new ways
strata
Earth
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Stratigraphy
This is the study of rocks and their location relative to each other
Space
a simulated image of an asteroid floating in space

Inside a space rock, scientists found unusual diamonds. They hint that rock formed inside a long-lost planet.

dottedhippo/istockphoto

Astronomy
Diamonds and more suggest unusual origins for asteroids
Uranus image

Uranus has a beautiful blue hue. It’s shown in this 1986 image taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft. But new measurements suggest something yucky about the planet. Its atmosphere smells like rotten eggs.

JPL/NASA

Planets
Uranus has stinky clouds
asteroid impact

An asteroid impact can create glass and melted rock, which can trap water vapor. The finding boosts the idea that asteroids brought water to the early Earth.

Zloyel/iStockphoto

Planets
Asteroids may have delivered water to early Earth
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
Invention & Innovation
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
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
photo of a giant mudskipper
Young Scientists
 
Eureka! Lab
A robotic fish could help mangroves grow
The mudskipper mimic measures mud
browsing the internet
Computers & Electronics
 
Incognito browsing is not as private as most people think
Most people misunderstand this so-called privacy mode, new data show
Female teenager sitting with her head on her knees, holding a cellphone
Young Scientists
 
Eureka! Lab
Not all social media sites are equally likely to provoke anxiety
Some apps are more stress-inducing than others, teen finds
language class
Psychology
 
Your window to learn new languages may still be open
People are good at learning grammar in a new tongue until age 17 or 18, new study concludes
shrimp stack
Young Scientists
 
Eureka! Lab
Bioplastics could put some shrimp in your Barbie
Teens turn to natural materials to make ‘greener’ plastics
Latest Headlines
Rim fire

The 2013 Rim Fire, the largest Sierra Nevada fire to date, burned 1,040 square kilometers (400 square miles). Smaller, more frequent fires might have limited this damage and preserved water for surviving trees.

G. Dickman/NSF

Ecosystems
Surprise! Fire can help some forests keep more of their water
Andreas Fath swimming in the Tennessee River

What's hidden in the river? During his epic swim of the Tennessee River, a German scientist sampled — and then studied — the pollutants he encountered.

Courtesy of Andreas Fath

Pollution
Scientist tackles water pollution with epic swims
photo of a road through a car windshield

Laser sensors help a new type of driverless car stay on the road, even without detailed maps.

vvvita/iStockphoto

Technology
Getting road-trip ready, and no driver needed
a simulated image of an asteroid floating in space

Inside a space rock, scientists found unusual diamonds. They hint that rock formed inside a long-lost planet.

dottedhippo/istockphoto

Astronomy
Diamonds and more suggest unusual origins for asteroids
Math & Technology
photo of a road through a car windshield

Laser sensors help a new type of driverless car stay on the road, even without detailed maps.

vvvita/iStockphoto

Technology
Getting road-trip ready, and no driver needed
Supreme Court

Math took center stage at the United States Supreme Court in a case challenging the voting districts for the state of Wisconsin. Another case looked at a voting district in Maryland.

Matt Wade/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Mathematics
Supreme Court shies away from test on the math of voting rights
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
browsing the internet

You may think you’re going deep undercover when you set your web browser to incognito. But you’d likely be mistaken, a new study finds.

Matthew Henry/burst (CC0)

Computers & Electronics
Incognito browsing is not as private as most people think