From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
- Agriculture
A secret climate superhero lies beneath our farms
Agriculture contributes to climate change. But changes to how farms manage soil might help remove carbon and other greenhouse gases from the air.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Vitamin
Our bodies can’t make enough of these tiny but mighty worker molecules. That’s what makes them a dietary essential.
- Health & Medicine
Scratching an itch has both good effects and bad
Mice that scratch itchy ears trigger more redness and swelling — but also may combat harmful bacteria.
- Earth
Let’s learn about the carbon cycle
The total amount of carbon on Earth doesn’t change. But what form those carbon atoms take is constantly changing.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: What is asthma and how is it treated?
This chronic narrowing of lung airways can make it hard to breathe. Fortunately, drugs can widen those airways — even in people with severe asthma symptoms.
- Health & Medicine
Dad’s backyard lessons inspired this hearing scientist to learn
A. Catalina Vélez-Ortega researches how proteins can protect against hearing loss.
- Humans
Biological sex is more complex than just male or female
Trying to define sex with just two options fails to reflect the wide range of natural variation in human genetics, hormones and biology.
- Animals
Narwhals may use their enormous lance-like tusks to play
Video shows narwhals using their tusks to prod — even flip — fish they don’t target as prey. It’s the first reported evidence of these whales playing.
- Plants
Could trees ever get up and walk away?
In fantasy, trees can walk, climb and even fight. Real trees move, too. It just happens in extreme slow mo.
- Brain
Scientists Say: Neuroplasticity
Neurons in the brain forge new connections and sometimes trim back old ones. This capacity for change allows us to learn new skills and recover from injury.
- Health & Medicine
This Indigenous herb may improve therapy for muscle disorder
Treating weakened fruit flies with an herb-drug combo was more effective than the usual drug-only treatment.
- Health & Medicine
2025’s Texas measles outbreak is a lesson in the value of vaccines
The outbreak shows that a near absence of once-common childhood diseases — like measles — is not evidence that vaccines are unnecessary.
