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A collage of 11 flowers of thermogenic plants
Living World

Rotten tricks: How hot and stinky plants woo pollinators

By Rachel Ehrenberg

To attract insects, thermogenic plants turn up the heat, emit strong odors and even disguise themselves as corpses

A collage of different kinds of wild seeds, varying in size and shape.
Living World

The surprisingly tricky art of seed banking

By Katarina Zimmer

To safeguard threatened plants, science must unravel the hidden biology of often-persnickety seeds as they age, sleep and awaken

Black silhouettes of dead trees stand out against a pinky orange sky
Food & Environment

Ghost forests are growing as sea levels rise

By Jude Coleman

As trees choked by saltwater die along low-lying coasts, marshes may move in — for better or worse, scientists are learning

A collage illustration shows people of all ages and ethnicities using shared mobility services, including e-scooters, bicycles and rideshares.
Society

Shared mobility: Making travel easier for all

By Kaja Šeruga

Carshares, bikeshares and the like are a positive for the environment, though access to them isn’t equal. What can be done to give everyone more transportation options?

Conceptual illustration shows a dark, hot hydrothermal vent at the bottom of the ocean, plus the genesis of small organic chemicals and primitive cells.
Living World

At the dawn of life, did metabolism come first?

By Viviane Callier

Some scientists propose that in the beginning, geochemistry gave way to biochemistry — with no genetic material necessary. Only later did RNA and DNA appear.

Ilustration of a doctor raking in a Japanese rock garden drawn to resemble a person’s profile, symbolically erasing a tumor cell by reducing stress.
Health & Disease

How stress shapes cancer’s course

Studies show psychological strain can accelerate tumors — could beta blockers slow them down?

By Diana Kwon
Three panels show a cow, a chicken and a woman, with viral particles moving from each animal to the woman.
Health & Disease

Everything you need to know about bird flu

How dangerous is it? Where did it come from? H5N1 influenza’s origins stretch back to the 1990s, and key events paved the way for the outbreak we’re seeing today.

By Amber Dance
Illustration of a woman shows a primary tumor in breast that has spread to other body parts.
Health & Disease

How cancer cells travel to new tissues and take hold

By Amber Dance

Understanding these astonishing migrations through the human body, known as metastases, could suggest novel treatments

Animation visualizes one electron orbiting a proton along a specified orbit.
Physical World

Pursuing the electrical fluid: How scientists discovered the electron

By Tom Siegfried

A celebration of 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Mechanics and Science would be remiss without a look at how the carrier of electricity finally yielded its secrets — paving the way to the quantum era

Photograph of snow-capped mountains with forests and snowy landscape in foreground.
Physical World

How did eastern North America form?

By Alexandra Witze

With many collisions and much crumpling of rock, down the ages. The story holds lessons for how the edges of continents are built and change over time.

A 3D visualization shows an orbiter’s view of Mars with a prominent region of white ice visible atop the planet.
Physical World

Ghost rivers, hidden lakes: The long search for water on Mars

By Nicola Jones

Martian lake beds and deltas reveal the Red Planet’s watery past. But many puzzles remain, scientist Bruce Jakosky says.

Aerial photograph of solar panels and sundry huts set among vegetation.
Technology

For climate and livelihoods, Africa bets big on solar mini-grids

By Victoria Uwemedimo and Katarina Zimmer

Nigeria is pioneering the development of small, off-grid solar panel installations to bring reliable electricity to remote communities — setting a model for other African countries

Multimedia

An indigenous woman in traditional dress with a baby on her back stands in front of a lake, with high mountains in background.
Health & Disease

Born in thin air: Overcoming the challenges of pregnancy at high elevation

By Tim Vernimmen

In people not adapted to life at altitude, the sparse oxygen can impair fetal growth, causing problems that can last a lifetime. Researchers are searching for remedies.

Photo illustration shows aerial view of Reno’s skyscrapers, roads and some trees in the foreground. Overlaid with orange to suggest heat.
Food & Environment

Why sizzling cities are mapping hot spots street by street

By Ula Chrobak

In metros like Reno, Nevada, citizen scientists hit the road to collect detailed temperature data — key to taming urban heat, saving lives and designing for a warmer future

Collage featuring a brain, hippocampus, rabbit and neuronal activity.
The Mind

It began with a rabbit: Unraveling the mystery of memory

By Tim Vernimmen

Half a century after the discovery of long-term potentiation, we’re still learning how the brain remembers

Silhouette of a pig and a human overlap with a heart shared between them.
Health & Disease

Pig organs in people: The future of cross-species transplants

By Amber Dance

Can genetically modified animals help ease the shortage of organs? After years of research into xenotransplantation, the field is at a turning point — yet risks and ethical issues remain.

Two people conversing. Their speech bubbles contain short interjections.
The Mind

Huh? The valuable role of interjections

By Bob Holmes

Utterances like um, wow and mm-hmm aren’t garbage — they keep conversations flowing

Photo of a white-faced capuchin raising its arm and sticking out its tongue.
Living World

Meet the capuchin monkey: Curious, creative and vengeful

UCLA’s Susan Perry has devoted decades to studying the fast-motion life of these New World primates and learning how the young acquire the skills they need to thrive

By Tim Vernimmen
Insects crawl on, and mushrooms sprout from, a dead tree on the forest floor
Living World

The teeming life of dead trees

Rotting logs turn out to be vital to forest biodiversity and recycling organic matter

By Katarina Zimmer
Image shows the dark maria of the near side of the Moon alongside the lighter colored far side.
Physical World

Moon rocks reveal hidden lunar history

By Nicola Jones

As NASA astronauts aim for landings in 2027, geologists find surprises in recently retrieved samples from the far side

Photograph of a couple sitting on a couch. They are reading quietly.
The Mind

Quiet couples: Alone time together

By Francine Russo

The right kind of silence can be golden, revitalizing and strengthening a relationship

A condor spreads its wings on the summit of a mountain.
Food & Environment

Return of the California condor

By Iván Carrillo

North America’s largest bird disappeared from the wild in the late 1980s. Reintroduction work in the United States and Mexico has brought this huge vulture back to the skies. This is the story of its comeback.

Photograph of a woman lying on her bed in her home while a nurse in white coat and mask checks her vital signs.
Health & Disease

Bringing the hospital into the home

By Lola Butcher

A movement to provide hospital-level care for sick patients in their own beds, in the comfort of familiar surroundings, is growing in the United States — a trend already embraced in some other countries

Illustration shows a robot standing in front of a judicial robe hanging on a hook.
Society

Why regulating AI is so hard — and necessary

By Carl-Johan Karlsson

Misinformation, market volatility and more: Faced with the need to mitigate risks that artificial intelligence presents, countries and regions are charting different paths

A cross-section of a tree’s roots beneath the soil.
Food & Environment

Why scientists are enlisting fungi to save endangered plants

The mycorrhizae that live among and in plant roots can boost the health of certain species, and even whole ecosystems — but scientists warn against a one-size-fits-all approach

By Shi En Kim
A bristly, vivid green caterpillar sits on a piece of wood.
Living World

The caterpillars that can kill you

Some species make venoms that are deadly. With more research, those toxic compounds could yield useful medicines.

By Bob Holmes

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