All Stories
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- Microbes
Mystery microbes of the sea
Biologists find archaea a true curiosity. They make up one of life’s three main branches. The two better known branches are bacteria and eukaryotes (u KARE ee oatz). That last branch includes animals, plants and fungi. But archaea have remained mysterious. Very little is known about them. In fact, their unique status wasn’t even recognized until relatively recently, in 1977.
- Tech
A squishy speaker
Researchers have unveiled a see-through speaker that conducts electricity, is elastic like skin and vibrates like Jell-O.
- Brain
Age-old fears perk up baby’s ears
Kids start paying attention to scary sounds when only a few months old.
- Planets
Seeing the moon’s water
Rocky details of our moon can be gleaned without the aid of visiting astronauts. The latest example: An orbiting spacecraft may have just spotted water locked within surface rocks.
- Life
Building an almost-brain
Special cells can weave themselves together into blobs that, under a microscope, look a lot like the brain tissue in a developing fetus. You might think of these cellular masses as “brains-under-development.” Madeline Lancaster and Jürgen Knoblich offer a more technical name for them: “cerebral organoids.”
- Chemistry
Cool Jobs: Repellent chemistry
Chemistry is just one way to repel water in nature. Structure, or the shape of things, is another. To excel at water repellency, the lotus leaf relies on both.
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Goodbye SNK, hello Science News for Students
Science News for Kids gets a new name, a new look and more resources that mesh with the curricula and needs of today’s classrooms.
- Humans
Ancient jewelry from space
Scientists have found beads made out of metal mined from meteorites.
- Brain
Learning words in the womb
Fetuses are listening. And they’ll remember what they heard. Studies had shown they can hear songs and learn sounds while in the womb. Now scientists show that fetuses can learn specific words, too. And for at least a few days after they’re born, babies can still recall commonly repeated words.
- Animals
Alien carp leap onto the scene
Last summer, Alison Coulter got a big surprise as she piloted a boat along the Wabash River in Indiana. Startled by her boat’s motor, a 60-centimeter (24-inch) carp leaped out of the river. In some cases, jumping Asian carp have broken a boater’s nose, jaw or arm.
- Brain
Video games: When granddad wins
With some practice, people over 60 bested untrained 20-year-olds.
