Three young brothers seated side by side, showing family resemblance.
Living World

Untangling the genetics that underlie our facial features

By Bob Holmes

After turning up hundreds of genes with hard-to-predict effects, some scientists are now probing the grander developmental processes that shape face geometry

The interior of a large dark purple donut shaped metallic device with bright flecks
Physical World

Pursuing fusion power

By M. Mitchell Waldrop

Scientists have been chasing the dream of harnessing the reactions that power the Sun since the dawn of the atomic era. Interest, and investment, in the carbon-free energy source is heating up.

Illustration of a hepatitis C virus attacking liver cells.
Health & Disease

The remaining frontiers in fighting hepatitis C

By Daniela Hirschfeld

A scientist whose work was key to identifying, studying and finding treatments for this life-threatening virus discusses the scientific journey and challenges that persist

Photograph of a bat flying through the air with a large fruit in its mouth.
Food & Environment

As the climate changes, plants must shift their ranges. But can they?

By Liam Drew

Lots of them depend on fruit-eating birds and mammals to spread their seeds. But it’s debatable whether the animals — many in trouble themselves — can disperse seeds far and fast enough to keep pace with a warming world.

A collage of 11 spiders of different colors, sizes and hairy-ness.
Living World

Everyone should start counting spiders

By Betsy Mason

Our collective arachnid aversion could be causing us to overlook something even scarier: Spiders may be disappearing.

Living World

Where the heck did all those structures inside complex cells come from?

Scientists agree that eons ago, a bacterium took up residence inside another cell and became its powerhouse, the mitochondrion. But there are competing theories about the birth of other organelles such as the nucleus and endoplasmic reticulum.

By Viviane Callier
Physical World

The quest to understand tornadoes

Scientists are still grappling with how and why violent twisters form. Will new technology and computing power help?

By Carolyn Wilke
Illustration of a smartwatch with image of a heart on the screen. To the right of the watch, a cable leads to an air pump of a traditional manual blood pressure monitor; on the left is a cable leading to a blood pressure indicator.
Technology

New devices could change the way we measure blood pressure

By Matías A. Loewy

Embedded in a cell phone or in accessories such as rings, bracelets or watches, the novel tools aim to make it easier to manage hypertension. But they must still pass several tests before hitting the clinic.

Photograph of a lakeshore fringed with trees as the sun sets, with lights gleaming out from a few houses.
Food & Environment

Leaning into Indigenous knowledge on climate change

By Chris Baraniuk

Native peoples attuned to the natural world have long collected detailed environmental information. Now scientists are cataloging these observations and learning how they’re affecting Indigenous communities globally.

Aerial photograph showing piles of logs in a clearing in a forest.
Food & Environment

Does it work to pay people not to cut the forest?

By Tim Vernimmen

Evidence that the approach helps to save trees, preserve ecosystems and reduce carbon emissions is often hard to come by. But it can succeed if it’s done right, says an economist.

Photograph of many ants.
Living World

Division of labor in ants, wasps, bees — and us

By Tim Vernimmen

Social insects and humans share the trait of divvying up tasks, as do some fish. Researchers find that it emerges naturally, and it often doesn’t take a boss to keep things in order.

Abstract illustration representing rising student debt, showing graduates in cap-and-gown attire, a laptop and dollar signs.
Society

The knotty economics of student loan debt

By Emily Underwood

People in the US owe a whopping $1.7 trillion for higher education. An economist weighs in on how to deal with the ballooning college tab.

Multimedia

A deep view of the universe, including many galaxies far enough away to look like stars, is visible over the rose-colored clouds of nearby nebula that dominates the foreground.
Physical World

The ‘least crazy’ idea: Early dark energy could solve a cosmological conundrum

By Dan Falk

Measurements of the acceleration of the universe don’t agree, stumping physicists working to understand the cosmic past and future. A new proposal seeks to better align these estimates — and is likely testable.

A woman coughs in a dusty landscape with images of fungal spores and filaments.
Health & Disease

How climate change could make fungal diseases worse

By Shreya Dasgupta

Disease-causing fungi are likely to thrive in a warmer, stormier world — and more of them might be poised to make the leap to infecting people

Photograph of lots of garishly colored Froot Loops cereal
Food & Environment

What can we do about ultraprocessed foods?

By Alice Callahan

Researchers are figuring out the features of these foods that harm our health — and proposing ways ahead

Photograph shows shelves holding tiger and jaguar heads and pelts.
Living World

Animal CSI: Forensics comes for the wildlife trade

By Amber Dance

Scientists are using the latest in DNA fingerprinting to combat the multibillion-dollar business of trafficking plants and animals

Cartoon shows several smiling cells high-fiving each other and passing signals (represented as colored blobs and lightning flashes).
Comic | Living World

Evolution of the nervous system

By Tim VernimmenIllustrated by Maki Naro

COMIC: When, why and how did neurons first evolve? Scientists are piecing together the ancient story.

Food & Environment

Salt taste is surprisingly mysterious

Too much sodium is bad, but so is too little — no wonder the body has two sensing mechanisms

By Amber Dance
Physical World

What would signal life on another planet?

Astronomers have long debated what kind of chemistry might serve as a bona fide alien biosignature. With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, those ideas may be put to the test.

By Elise Cutts
Conceptual illustration of a man with a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device on his head.
The Mind

A magnetic therapy for depression gains precision

By Phil Jaekl

Approved over a decade ago, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is moderately effective. Tailoring the treatment to individual brains may improve results.

Illustration shows a policeman painting fingerprints and a gun onto pieces of wood, implying he is concocting evidence for use in a court of law.
Opinion | Society

It’s way past time to stop police ‘testilying’

By Rachel Moran

OPINION: The culture of deception in US courts needs to end

Photograph of a cuttlefish
Living World

Do spiders dream? What about cuttlefish? Bearded dragons?

By Carolyn Wilke

Researchers are finding signs of multiple phases of sleep all over the animal kingdom. The ‘active’ sleep phases look very much like REM.

A colorful songbird perched on a branch holds a caterpillar in its beak.
Food & Environment

To help birds and insects, cultivate native gardens

By Emily Underwood

Entomologist Doug Tallamy explains how filling our yards with local plants can provide our feathered friends with a caterpillar buffet

A moth larvae on piece of plastic riddled with holes
Food & Environment

The living things that feast on plastic

By Sandy Ong

Scientists are scouring garbage sites around the world for bacteria, fungi and even insects that harbor enzymes that could be harnessed for breaking down various polymers. It’s early days, but if the efforts can be efficiently scaled-up, such biological recycling could put a dent in the plastic waste problem.

Opinion | Health & Disease

How optimizing indoor humidity can help stop the spread of Covid and flu

OPINION: Recent CDC guidelines for indoor air quality disregard the benefits of humidity. But research shows it can kill viruses and help thwart infections.

By Richard Zare
Food & Environment

The underappreciated benefits of wild bees

Native pollinators are key to both ecology and agriculture, but have yet to get their due

By Ula Chrobak

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