All Stories
- Animals
Scientists Say: Genus
A genus is a group of closely related species. It’s the first part of the two-part system called binomial nomenclature, used to name living things.
- Climate
Urchin takeover underlies California’s vanishing kelp forests
Some 95 percent of kelp forests along its northern coast are gone. Meanwhile, sea otters are helping slow the loss of surviving kelp farther south.
- Health & Medicine
Simpler, easier COVID-19 test developed with kids in mind
Designed by moms, it avoids any need to stick an uncomfortable swab up the nose. Instead, people just swish a dental roll around their mouths.
- Chemistry
Cool Jobs: Saliva offers a spitting image of our health
Scientists are using this secretion to study our body’s functions, to test for disease and even to diagnose injury.
- Physics
Raindrops on alien worlds will obey Earth-like rules
Their size will be similar no matter what they’re made of or on which planet they fall, a new analysis finds.
- Animals
Let’s learn about dogs
From learning the names of their toys to sniffing out viruses in human sweat, dogs are far more than household pets.
- Physics
Staying grounded in space requires artificial gravity
On TV, people in space walk around like they’re on Earth. How can science give real astronauts artificial gravity? Spin right round, baby.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Alkaline
Alkaline chemicals are basic — substances that produce hydroxide ions in solution.
- Physics
Scientists discover likely source of the moon’s faint yellow tail
These sodium atoms are part of the debris kicked up from the moon’s surface, mostly by micrometeorites, two new studies conclude.
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A sea slug’s head can crawl around and grow a whole new body
Some chopped-up flatworms can regrow whole bodies from bits and pieces. But a sea slug head can regrow fancier organs such as hearts.
- Chemistry
New recycling technologies could keep more plastic out of landfills
Recycling plastics is really hard — especially into useful materials. But new chemical tricks could make recycling easier.
- Chemistry
Explainer: What are chemical bonds?
When various particles, atoms, ions or molecules come together to form a substance, they are held together with chemical bonds.
