Science News Explores | News from all fields of science for readers of any age

It’s a wonderful world — and universe — out there.

A brighly colored illustration of a large birdlike dinosaur attacking a bird

Fossils

A new dino may be the culprit in an ancient murder mystery

The new microraptor, Jian changmaensis, may have snacked on birds when not gliding through northwestern China some 120 million years ago.

By Aaron Tremper24 hours ago

an illustration meant to represent ADHD showing three kids sitting at desks in a classroom, except that the middle kid is jumping out of their chair jubilantly

Humans

Explainer: What is ADHD?

By Rachel LeaAugust 13, 2026

This microbe turns into a ‘Hulk’ that eats its own kind

By Tina Hesman SaeyAugust 12, 2026

A teenager in a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants with a sad expression sits on a bed looking at a smartphone screen

Health & Medicine

What to know about using AI chatbots for therapy

By Aimee Cunningham and Maria TemmingAugust 11, 2026

An illustration of two blue planets orbiting a faraway star.

Space

‘Superpuff‘ planets are as dense as cotton candy

By Lisa GrossmanAugust 10, 2026

an illustration of a machine printing a heart

Tech

Explainer: What is bioprinting?

By Tejasri GururajAugust 6, 2026

A translucent blue cylindrical crystal mounted on a post used to create the first nuclear clock

Physics

Scientists made clocks from an atomic nucleus

By Emily ConoverAugust 5, 2026

Word of the Week

a closeup of a budding tree branch

Life

Scientists Say: Phenology

This field of science identifies the environmental cues behind life cycle patterns.

By Katie Grace Carpenter24 hours ago

Experiment

a splatter of red paint against a white background, meant to mimic blood spatter at a crime scene

Physics

Experiment: Measure fake blood spatter

Future forensic scientists, get out your corn syrup and red food coloring! It’s time to fake a crime scene.

By Science BuddiesJuly 29, 2026

Technically Fiction

An illustration shows a woman holding a tablet and appearing to talk with a variety of animals (a bear, dog, turtle and cat). The animals each have speech bubbles with what looks like a scribbled language in them.

Animals

Chatty cats and talking dogs could one day ‘speak’ in our language

Scientists are making advances in decoding animal sounds. That might someday make animal translators a possibility.

By Laura SandersJuly 20, 2026

Beach Reads

Ocean energy could be the wave of the future

Energy systems that turn the power of ocean waves into electrical energy could be on the horizon — or pumping away near the sea floor.

By Alison Pearce StevensMay 30, 2019
Earth
Nature’s coast guards

By Jennifer Weeks
Oceans
Experiment: Build your own beach!

By Science Buddies
Climate
Let’s learn about coral reefs

By Bethany Brookshire

Science News Explores Magazine

Cover image for the August 2026 issue of Science News Explores. The main image is a parrotfish eating coral.

August 1, 2026 Vol. 5 No. 7

Instagram

Watch This

A hand drawn illustration showing a woman sitting on a train. She looks up from her phone to side-eye the passenger sitting beside her — a snake that is reading a newspaper.

King cobras may be riding trains across India [COMIC]

The snakes may be tempted onboard by tasty rodents — but train rides can carry cobras far from their forest habitats.

A surfer in a black wetsuit crouches on a surfboard inside a large curling turquoise wave as the waves break over him. Palm trees are visible in the background.

Big waves shape this surfer-scientist’s research and life

Several adult sperm whales hold a baby whale up to the surface of a large body of water

Watch the first sperm whale birth caught on video by scientists

A coiled brown tree snake shows its patterned scales and head in close-up against a black background.

Physics explains how snakes climb and stand without limbs

Why do objects shatter the same way? Math solves the mystery

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More Stories

Earth

Scientists Say: Fjord

By Katie Grace CarpenterJuly 27, 2026
Scientists Say: Subsidence

By Alison Pearce StevensJuly 20, 2026
Earth’s crust under Africa is thinning in a way never seen before

By Katherine KorneiJuly 7, 2026

Space

‘Superpuff‘ planets are as dense as cotton candy

By Lisa GrossmanAugust 10, 2026
Scientists Say: Event horizon

By Katie Grace CarpenterJuly 13, 2026
A small object beyond Pluto may have a thin atmosphere

By Lisa GrossmanJune 15, 2026

Tech

Explainer: What is bioprinting?

By Tejasri GururajAugust 6, 2026
Nature-inspired rocket-nozzle redesign stands by for liftoff

By Katie Grace CarpenterJune 3, 2026
Pokémon Go players helped build new maps of cities

By Kathryn HulickMay 19, 2026

Environment

Experiment: Remove microplastics from water with yeast

By Science BuddiesJune 30, 2026
Hawaii is turning fishnets and other plastic trash into roads

By Sara NovakMay 29, 2026
Teen engineer finds eco-friendly way to fight harmful algal blooms

By Maria TemmingApril 14, 2026

Animals

Scientists Say: Amphisbaenian

By Fechi InyamaAugust 10, 2026
Songs prep unhatched finches’ brains for a hot world

By Jake BuehlerAugust 4, 2026
Analyze This: How sea slugs get their flashy colors

By Carolyn WilkeJuly 28, 2026

Brain

VR can train the human brain to treat wings like real limbs

By Yujia HuangJuly 6, 2026
Imagination is not just replaying what we’ve seen and heard

By Nora BradfordJune 9, 2026
Scientists Say: Synesthesia

By Katie Grace CarpenterJune 8, 2026

Physics

Scientists made clocks from an atomic nucleus

By Emily ConoverAugust 5, 2026
Experiment: Measure fake blood spatter

By Science BuddiesJuly 29, 2026
Physics explains why gold doesn’t ‘rust’

By Emily ConoverJuly 14, 2026

Health & Medicine

What to know about using AI chatbots for therapy

By Aimee Cunningham and Maria TemmingAugust 11, 2026
U.S. sunscreen users are finally getting a new option

By Meghan RosenJuly 30, 2026
Teens invent first chewing gum to tackle anxiety

By Katie Grace CarpenterMay 22, 2026