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Close-up photo of three mosquitos perched on a rat tail.
Living World

Blood, poop and carcasses: How feasting bugs are helping map biodiversity

By Alice Sun

Critters that dine on flesh and waste also consume the animal’s DNA. That genetic material is helping scientists detect and map elusive species and their pathogens.

Illustration shows a bank of data center hardware. Above it is the Earth getting very hot in a frying basket.
Technology

How to tame AI’s voracious appetite for energy

By Katarina Zimmer

Scientists are exploring new algorithms, hardware and computing methods to lower AI’s power demands. Strategic siting of data centers and other steps to increase green energy use are also key.

Profiles of dog, bird, goat, mouse and snake in thermal reds and oranges.
Living World

They call it stupid hot for a reason: Heat muddles animal brains

By Marta Zaraska

As temperatures rise, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn. The consequences of these behavioral changes may ripple through ecosystems.

A conceptual illustration shows brain scans, map of South Africa and other elements.
The Mind

A social compass in the brain

By Richard Stone

People with a rare genetic disorder that damages the amygdala are helping neuroscientists rethink how the brain shapes fear, trust and concern for others

An artist’s conception of a frilly T cell interacting with a transparent B cell against a backdrop of red blood cells.
Health & Disease

A revolutionary cancer treatment could transform autoimmune disease

By Amber Dance

Researchers are testing CAR T cell therapy as a way to reset the immune system in lupus, Graves’ disease and other conditions where the body’s defenses go rogue

Collage featuring photos of five endangered species.
Food & Environment

The deep roots and fragile future of biodiversity

Species are disappearing at least 10 to 100 times more rapidly today than extinctions observed over millions of years. A biologist says the answer is reciprocity — to give to the planet and not just take.

By Valeria Román
An illustration shows strands of RNA used to make drawings of items such as a bicycle, running shoe, hand holding a cigarette and an ice cream cone.
Living World

Do you take after your dad’s RNA?

Evidence is growing from rodent studies that sperm carries marks of a father’s life experiences, influencing traits in offspring. Bits of RNA could be the drivers of these epigenetic effects.

By Holly Barker
A collage illustrates the wide diversity of snakes that can be found on the surface of the ground, on tree branches, in the water and in holes in the ground.
Living World

Evolution of snakes: Scientists unravel the mysssteries

By Amber Dance

Huge snakes, tiny snakes, poisonous snakes and constrictor snakes, snakes that slither, burrow or swim: New fossils and modern technology are tracing serpent origins

Collage shows a rodent, chemical stick figure of a drug of abuse, a woman and her brain, synapses, neurons.
The Mind

What addiction does to the brain

By Emma Yasinski

Changes in neural connections due to substance use and withdrawal are long-lasting, and craving can peak well into abstinence. Understanding this process could inspire drugs to support recovery.

A woman eats, surrounded by images of comfort food.
Food & Environment

Why we crave ‘comfort food’

By Debbie Koenig

Nostalgia plays a big role in the meals that bring us solace — which mean we might be able to recondition ourselves toward healthier foods that still soothe

Illustration shows a man standing in a forest and surveying outflow from power plant smokestacks in distance, tinged with red.
Food & Environment

The world has veered way off-target of its climate goals. Can we rebound?

By Nicola Jones

Once global warming peaks, it could take centuries to cool things back down. But we can bend the curve by cutting fossil fuel emissions now.

A woman rings a bell as medical workers cheer.
Health & Disease

Life after cancer treatment is different. So are the health needs.

By Lola Butcher

As the number of long-term survivors grows, doctors and patient advocates are working to improve post-cancer care

Multimedia

Three ants carrying cut bits of plants across a log
Living World

The crazy nests built by leaf-cutter ants

By Nala Rogers

Turrets and tunnels and carbon dioxide — oh my! These ants farm, but they are also master builders.

Three glass containers contain three kinds of loose-leaf tea.
Food & Environment

What’s the secret to a great cup of tea?

By Amber Dance

From where the Camellia sinensis bush is grown to whether the leaves are withered or fermented, much can influence the popular drink’s molecular and flavor profile

Black and white photograph shows a family group with one of the faces scratched out.
The Mind

The troubling rise of family estrangement

By Katherine Ellison

As more adults cut off their parents, a researcher calls for closer scrutiny of causes and effects, and suggests paths to reconciliation

Halifax harbor with smokestacks of a power plant in foreground.
Food & Environment

Stashing CO₂ in the sea

By Sandy Ong

Keeping global warming to manageable levels will require removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it somewhere else. The world’s oceans may be a promising option.

Colorful illustration shows RNA molecules of various shapes.
Living World

The silent majority: RNAs that don’t make proteins

By Christina Szalinski

Once considered cellular junk, non-coding RNAs are emerging as key players in everything from brain development to cancer — with much still to be discovered

A turtle swims out from a fishing net.
Food & Environment

How new fishing tech can reduce bycatch of turtles and other creatures

Nets equipped with water bottles and other tricks can help save some species, while allowing fisherman to still catch others

By Gennaro Tomma
Illustration shows big blue blobs (proteins) to which are attached strings of colored shapes (sugar structures).
Living World

Sweet! The cell’s sugary coating comes into view

Built from thickets of glucose, galactose, mannose and more, the glycome plays key roles in cell communication, immunity and the blood-brain barrier

By Esther Landhuis
Photograph of sandy sea bottom covered in round nodules. The light is dim and greeny blue.
Physical World

Mining the deep ocean

By Natasha Gilbert

Renewable technologies need a multitude of critical minerals. The seabed could supply these riches. But at what cost?

Animation shows a black-and-white voronoi diagram growing from points within a plane. Each “seed” gives rise to a cell, based on uniform outward growth from the initial point. The cells create a tessellation pattern over the entire plane.
Society

A light in the dark: Finding the good in the natural world

By KC Cole

OPINION: Is it absurd to think that science can inform our values? Not at all, says writer KC Cole.

A conceptual illustration of a person holding cradling her torso, which is colorful, glowing and special-looking.
The Mind

What is wisdom, and can it be taught?

By Emily Laber-Warren

Scientists are trying to name the qualities that make someone wise and figure out how to cultivate them

Illustration shows scientists evaluating three different scales that compare the weight of orange, yellow and blue balls, each representing a type of neutrino.
Physical World

For particle physicists working with neutrinos, almost nothing is everything

By Nicola Jones

Several massive multimillion dollar experiments should soon reveal more about the nature of these ghostly particles

Conceptual illustration of a woman looking at her reflection.
The Mind

Brain, think on thyself

By Tim Vernimmen

What the science of self-awareness can tell us about confident decision-making

A curled-up dormouse sleeping in a nest of grass
Living World

The strange animals that control their body heat

Some creatures can dramatically alter their internal temperature — a strategy called heterothermy — and outlast storms, floods and predators

By Hannah Thomasy
A graphic shows a diverse selection of foods with just one protein source, a single shrimp.
Living World

The curious case of low-protein diets

In the lab, animals live longer on less of the stuff. How could this be, and what does it mean for human aging?

By Amber Dance

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