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Collage shows Jenny Graves reading a book, a koala, kangaroos, a concert hall.
Society

Of genes, chromosomes and oratorios

By Marla Broadfoot

Jenny Graves has spent her life mapping genes and comparing genomes. Now she’s created a musical opus about evolution of life on this planet — bringing the same drive and experimentalism she brought to the study of marsupial chromosomes.

Photo of an old rhesus macaque putting something on her mouth. She sits on what looks like a beach or bare ground. Vegetation is behind her.
The Mind

It’s not just us: Other animals change their social habits in old age

By Tim Vernimmen

In patterns that may sound familiar, long-term studies reveal what elderly deer, sheep and macaques are up to in their twilight years

Stop motion photo shows how a cat twists and turns during a fall so that it can safely land on its feet.
Physical World

Animals use physics? Let us count the ways

By Tom Siegfried

Cats twist and snakes slide, exploiting and negotiating physical laws. Scientists are figuring out how.

An illustration shows a net wrapping around emissions from a smokestack with more smokestacks in the background.
Society

To help with climate change, carbon capture will have to evolve

By Natasha Gilbert

The technologies are a useful tool to reduce CO2 levels but have yet to move us away from fossil fuels

Conceptual illustration shows various modes of transport, colored green: ships, trucks, trains, cars, planes. A couple of fuel molecules — hydrogen gas and kerosene — are also incorporated into the illo.
Technology

The greening of planes, trains and automobiles

By Nicola Jones

We need new fuels to transport people and goods around the globe as society moves away from coal, natural gas and oil. Here’s how things are shaping up.

A collage of photographs of cichlid fishes of different colors and patterns, including blue and yellow, stripy and splotchy.
Living World

One fish, two fish, 3,000 fish ...

Groups of cichlid fishes in East Africa radiated into thousands of species within dazzlingly short periods of time. How did they do it?

By Curtis Abraham
Aerial image showing an arid terrain, with green bushes and, in the middle, a body of water known as the Quitobaquito spring. The terrain is traversed from side to side by a wall, preventing access to the spring from the southern side.
Food & Environment

Nature interrupted: Impact of the US-Mexico border wall on wildlife

Scientists on both sides of the border are working to understand how the barrier is affecting the area’s biodiversity. Meanwhile, communities try to save animals left without access to water.

By Iván Carrillo
Gray wombat amid foliage and grass.
Living World

The most common wombat is also the least understood

By Amber Dance

Australia’s iconic marsupial has been viewed as a food source, pest, mascot and, now, a conservation concern. Scientists are breaking down myths — using genetics, robots and citizen science — and finding new ways to protect the animals.

Conceptual illo shows a portion of a cell with receptors in its membrane. Little particles with radioactive symbols at their tips are floating around; one of them is docked onto the receptor.
Health & Disease

Radioactive drugs strike cancer with precision

By Elie Dolgin

The tumor-seeking radiopharmaceuticals are charting a new course in oncology, with promise for targeted treatments with fewer side effects

A hammerhead shark swims in the ocean; behind it, a school of fish can be seen.
Food & Environment

A scientific mission to save the sharks

By Angela Posada-Swafford

Despite increasing protection measures, these fish are among the world’s most endangered animals. New tests to detect species being traded, as well as population studies, aim to help save them.

Several cows stare at the camera, in closeup view
Food & Environment

Cleaning up cow burps to combat global warming

By Bob Holmes

New tools for lowering methane emissions from livestock are on their way

Cartoon drawing of a magician in red suit and top hat performing shell game for several birds, two monkeys and a cuttlefish.
Living World

Abracadabra! How magic can help us understand animal minds

By Betsy Mason

By performing tricks for birds, monkeys and other creatures, researchers hope to learn how they perceive and think about their world

Multimedia

Photograph of the front end of a narwhal swimming in the water, its long tusk clearly visible.
Living World

A lifetime of love for the charismatic narwhal

By Nicola Jones

An independent scientist working with the Inuit has unraveled many mysteries of the one-tusked ‘unicorn of the sea’

Photograph of a snake head sticking out of the water with some twigs around it.
Food & Environment

Invasive species are transforming the Everglades

By Katarina Zimmer

From Burmese pythons and Asian swamp eels to Old World climbing ferns, South Florida hosts hordes of non-native animals and plants. What can be done about the ecological havoc they are wreaking?

In a cartoon, an assortment of people — young and old, male and female — queue for a restroom, waiting to relieve their full-to-bursting bladders.
Health & Disease

To pee or not to pee? That is a question for the bladder — and the brain

By Emily Underwood

How do we sense the need to urinate? The basic urge is surprisingly complex and can go awry as we age.

Illustrations of various animal patterns.
Living World

Spots, stripes and more: Working out the logic of animal patterns

By Amber Dance

More than 70 years ago, mathematician Alan Turing proposed a mechanism that explained how patterns could emerge from bland uniformity. Scientists are still using his model — and adding new twists — to gain a deeper understanding of animal markings.

Photo shows a large wasp in flight, with a black body, yellow legs and a brown face.
Food & Environment

The hornet has landed: Scientists combat new honeybee killer in US

By Hannah Hoag

An invasive yellow-legged wasp has been decimating beehives in Europe — and bedeviling Georgia since last summer. Researchers are working nest by nest to limit the threat while developing better eradication methods.

Conceptual illustration shows a person vaulting over a book and calendar away from bad habits and poor willpower, as depicted by unhealthy food and money and scrunched-up paper.
The Mind

Time for half-year resolutions?

If your good intentions from a few months ago haven’t led to much, take note. A psychologist tells us what we can learn from studies on willpower.

By Tim Vernimmen
Photo of a red-coated dog raising its snout toward the hand of a human being holding a dropper filled with tan-colored liquid.
Health & Disease

Fit for a dog? The latest science on CBD for pets

Though studies are still mixed, and products often inconsistent, many scientists have hope that cannabidiol can help canines and other furry patients suffering from arthritis, allergies and anxiety

By Ula Chrobak
Large platters hold monkey meat that has been cooked. Several women stand behind the platters.
Food & Environment

In defense of wild meat’s place at the table

By Tim Vernimmen

Sustainable and safe consumption of wildlife is possible, and important for those who depend on it, says a conservation researcher

Photo of a brown wasp with narrow, ruby red eyes and long antenna leaned over sticking a long stinger into the surface beneath it.
Living World

The wasps that tamed viruses

By Nala Rogers

To protect and rear their young, some insects have transformed wild viruses into tiny biological weapons

A barrel of sake, jar of soy sauce and bowl of miso paste against a background of fluffy, yellow-green Aspergillus mold.
Food & Environment

From toxic fungus to soy sauce superstar

By Rachel Ehrenberg

Today the koji mold is a master fermenter, but it has a checkered past

Photograph of a frog perched on what looks like brown soil near some green vegetation. Its back appears bumpy. Those are the tadpoles.
Living World

The tender art of tadpole parenting

By Tim Vernimmen

From poison frogs to worm-like caecilians, some amphibians are hardworking and surprisingly creative caregivers

Conceptual collage shows two upset parents with some large, accusing fingers pointed at them. In the background is a teenager holding a placard with his details on it, as if posing for a mug shot.
Society

When are parents responsible for their kids’ behavior?

By Elise Hansen

A researcher weighs in on who’s accountable, when and why, in the eyes of the law — and whether the measures work as intended

An underwater spider approaches a bubble.
Living World

They swim and they spin: Meet the aquatic spiders

Some make nests inside seashells, others tote bubbles of air on their backs. The spiders that went back to water evolved lots of slick survival strategies.

By Amber Dance
American football player Christian McCaffrey runs with the ball during the 2024 Super Bowl
Technology

How next-gen data analytics is changing American football

At the NFL’s Big Data Bowl, scientists compete to develop new stats that better capture player performance

By Dana Mackenzie

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