All Stories
- Chemistry
Rock Candy Science 2: No such thing as too much sugar
Making rock candy at home takes a lot more sugar than you might think. Why? This experiment will show you why.
- Animals
How to find the next pandemic virus before it finds us
Wild animals carry viruses that can sicken people. Monitoring those viral hosts that pose the greatest risk might help prevent a new pandemic.
- Climate
Climate change drove Australian wildfires to extremes
Australia’s devastating 2019–2020 wildfires were at least 30 percent more likely because of human-caused climate change.
- Microbes
Let’s learn about microbial communities
Communities of bacteria and other single-celled critters are all around us, on us — even inside us.
- Animals
Lots of frogs and salamanders have a secret glow
A widespread ability to glow in brilliant colors could make amphibians easier to track down in the wild.
- Climate
How to curb the climate heating by contrails
Contrails are narrow clouds left behind in the sky by jets. They add to climate change. But a new study suggests a way to curb their contribution.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Echolocation
This word describes a method that some animals use to sense their environments by making sounds and listening for their echoes.
- Environment
Here’s one way to harvest water right out of the air
Need water but you have no access to rain, lakes or groundwater? Materials known as metal-organic frameworks could be used to slurp that water from the air, new data show.
- Health & Medicine
How much do masks help against COVID-19?
There’s a range of masks available to the public. From purchased to home-made coverings, all should help — some a lot more than others.
- Health & Medicine
Six foot social-distancing will not always be enough for COVID-19
To avoid COVID-19, keeping a 6-foot social distance is a good rule of thumb. But for plenty of instances, that might not be nearly far enough.
- Agriculture
Let’s learn about trees
These long-lived woody plants provide shade for people, homes for animals — and help protect the planet against climate change.
- Ecosystems
Check out the communities of bacteria living on your tongue
Bacteria scraped off the tongue offer a window into how the microbes structure their communities.
