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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

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

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

By Tim Vernimmen
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

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.

By Amber Dance
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

By Tim Vernimmen

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

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

The teeming life of dead trees

By Katarina Zimmer

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

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

Multimedia

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

By Shi En Kim

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

A bristly, vivid green caterpillar sits on a piece of wood.
Living World

The caterpillars that can kill you

By Bob Holmes

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

Nine human silhouettes are depicted as tiled mosaics with patches of darker and lighter colors.
Health & Disease

We are all genetic mosaics

Picture your body: It’s a collection of cells carrying thousands of DNA errors accrued over a lifetime — many harmless, some bad, and at least a few that may be good for you.

By Amber Dance
Stars sparkle within pink, filamentous swirls on a black background.
Physical World

When everything in the universe changed

The revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope and next-gen radio telescopes are probing what’s known as the epoch of reionization. It holds clues to the first stars and galaxies, and perhaps the nature of dark matter.

By Elizabeth Quill
Little movie of a solar panel, over which clouds are slowly rolling on a gloomy day.
Food & Environment

Solving renewable energy’s sticky storage problem

By Katarina Zimmer

When the Sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, humanity still needs power. Researchers are designing new technologies, from reinvented batteries to compressed air and spinning wheels, to keep energy in reserve for the lean times.

Illustrated collage highlights some of the science stories of the year.
Society

Top science stories of 2024

By Nicola Jones

This record-setting year for heat saw stunning auroras, a map of a brain, a Dengue epidemic, the first look at rocks from the far side of the Moon, an AI energy scramble and more

A conceptual collage shows a web of images such as false morels, the brain, neurons and a person in a wheelchair, against an image of mountains.
Health & Disease

A devastating nerve disease stalks a mountain village

By Terence Monmaney

Neurologists have grappled with a cluster of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases in France, where a fondness for a toxic wild mushroom may hold the answer

Five self-portraits by Albrecht Dürer arranged in chronological order.
The Mind

Making friends with your past and future selves

By Katherine Ellison

It’s what psychologists call self-continuity, and can improve your health and well-being

Painting showing several women in yellow robes reclining on a long bed. Some are fast asleep. One is awake.
The Mind

The ones who need little sleep

By Marla Broadfoot

Short sleepers cruise by on four to six hours a night and don’t seem to suffer ill effects. Turns out they’re genetically built to require less sleep than the rest of us.

Drawing of a home in cross section highlighting parts and places to make more energy efficient.
Society

The great green building makeover

Getting our homes and workplaces to be energy efficient has major benefits — but not when it is done one window at a time. Here’s why deep retrofits and biomaterials are key to more sustainable living.

By Kaja Šeruga
Photograph of corn stalks growing in a field. The earth is dry and cracked.
Food & Environment

Can desalination quench agriculture’s thirst?

Miles away from the ocean, projects are afoot to clean up salty groundwater and use it to grow crops. Some say it’s a costly pipe dream, others say it’s part of the future.

By Lela Nargi

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