Life

  1. Animals

    Bees and butterflies struggle to find flowers in polluted air

    Emissions from cars and trucks make it harder for insects to find flowers. That in turn reduces flower visits and pollination, a new study finds.

    By
  2. Life

    Scientists Say: Eukaryote

    Eukaryotes are living things whose cells package their genetic material inside a pouch called a nucleus.

    By
  3. Animals

    See the world through a jumping spider’s eyes — and other senses

    Scientists are teasing out the many ways the spiders’ vision, listening and taste senses differ from ours

    By
  4. Animals

    Goldfish driving ‘cars’ offer new insight into navigation

    Fishes’ internal sense of direction is not limited to their natural environment. The latest Wild Things cartoon from Science News for Students.

    By and
  5. Brain

    Addiction can develop when reward-seeking changes a teen’s brain

    Over time, the pleasure disappears and craving grows. That craving causes stress that can drive people to use drugs or pursue unhealthy behaviors again and again.

    By
  6. Brain

    Americans tend to see imaginary faces as male, not female

    When people see imaginary faces in everyday objects, those faces are more likely to be perceived as male than female.

    By
  7. Animals

    Mysterious kunga is the oldest known human-bred hybrid animal

    People bred these animals — part donkey, part wild ass — some 4,500 years ago, probably for use in fighting wars.

    By
  8. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Decay

    This word can refer to rotting flesh or the transformation of radioactive atoms.

    By
  9. Animals

    DNA in air can help ID unseen animals nearby

    Analyzing these genetic residues in air offers a new way to study animals. It could give scientists a chance to monitor rare or hard to find animals.

    By
  10. Animals

    Living mysteries: Why teeny-weeny tardigrades are tough as nails

    Tardigrades often live in cool, damp moss. Their cushy life has somehow prepared them to survive the lethal radiation of outer space.

    By
  11. Brain

    Nodding off may turn your creativity on

    In an experiment, people who fell into a shallow sleep were more likely than non-sleepers or deep sleepers to discover a sly math trick.

    By
  12. Animals

    World’s biggest colony of nesting fish lives beneath Antarctic ice

    Totally unexpected, it’s far, far larger than any other known community of nesting fish — fully one-third larger than the area of Washington, D.C.

    By