All Stories
- Genetics
Explainer: What are genes?
Genes are DNA regions that tell cells how to build proteins. But we have many more proteins than genes. And much of our DNA controls when genes turn on and off.
- Ecosystems
Rare-plant hunters race against time to save at-risk species
One in five plants is at risk of extinction. Meet the rare plant hunters who rappel down cliffs and trek through forests to save them.
- Computing
This bionic mushroom makes electricity
What do you get when you combine fungi, graphene, 3-D printing and photosynthetic bacteria? A mushroom that makes electricity.
- Health & Medicine
Later school starts linked to better teen grades
A Seattle study confirms that later high school start times improve teens’ sleep and grades. Fitbit-like activity trackers provided the evidence.
- Animals
These fuzz-covered flying reptiles had catlike whiskers
New fossils are changing the look of ancient flying reptiles called pterosaurs.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Zirconium
Zirconium is a metal that knows the meaning of tough. It’s so heat resistant that it’s used for molds to shape melted metals, and so radiation resistant that it coats nuclear reactors.
- Materials Science
This bandage uses electrical zaps to heal wounds faster
Scientists have invented a bandage that helps wounds heal faster by zapping them with electricity. The patient’s own motions power this device.
- Climate
The big melt: Earth’s ice sheets are under attack
Antarctica and Greenland are losing ice 3 to 6 times as quickly as in the 1980s. And by 2100, the rate of loss could increase another 10-fold.
- Earth
Why Antarctica and the Arctic are polar opposites
Antarctica and the Arctic are shaped by different forces. And in the face of global warming, these cold climates are morphing in different ways.
- Climate
Climate change cripples planet’s glaciers and ice caps
The world’s glaciers and ice caps hold far less ice than Antarctica and Greenland. But as they shrink, they’re impacting sea levels and water supplies.
- Climate
ICESat-2 measures ice and more from space
ICESat-2, launched in September 2018, will detect changes in Earth’s ice sheets and glaciers. It also will monitor our planet’s forests and clear shallow waters.
- Psychology
School bullying has risen in areas that supported Trump
Bullying rose in areas that favored Republican Donald Trump in the 2016 election for U.S. president. The new findings come from surveys of Virginia middle school students.
