Science

Math puzzle: imagine there’s no zero

Solve the math puzzle from our February 2025 issue, based on the number system o...

Plastic shards permeate human brains

A study of microplastics and nanoplastics in brains shows an astonishing increas...

Welcome to The Deep End, a new podcast about brain impl...

This new six-part podcast follows the lives of people with severe depression who...

An African strontium map sheds light on the origins of ...

While genetic tests can reveal the ancestry of enslaved individuals, strontium a...

A new kind of non-opioid painkiller gets FDA approval

The new drug, called Journavx, is a non-opioid for treating short-term moderate ...

Hotter cities? Here come the rats

Well, rats. A study of 16 cities shows that higher ambient temperatures and loss...

Do science dioramas still have a place in today’s museums?

Science dioramas of yesteryear can highlight the biases of the time. Exhibit exp...

Ancient rocks reveal when rivers began pouring nutrient...

Rivers began pumping weathered material into the sea about a billion years after...

Wild baboons don’t recognize themselves in a mirror

In a lab test, chimps and orangutans can recognize their own reflection. But in ...

Scratching an itch is so good, and so bad

The motion kicks off inflammation but may also combat harmful bacteria 

A tiny neutrino detector scored big at a nuclear reactor

A compact method of detecting neutrinos provides new tests of physics theories a...

Feeding sharks ‘junk food’ takes a toll on their health

Many blacktip reef sharks in French Polynesia are commonly fed by tourists. But ...

Better male birth control is on the horizon

Men have two birth control options: condoms and vasectomies. Why has it taken so...

Trump orders sow chaos in global public health 

A recent flurry of executive orders and surprise actions by the Trump administra...

Life’s ingredients have been found in samples from aste...

Samples from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission show the asteroid Bennu had organic molec...

Here’s how ancient Amazonians became master maize farmers

Casarabe people grew the nutritious crop year-round on savannas thanks to networ...