Science News Today

Science News Today produces evidence-based reporting on discoveries and developments in biology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, health and medicine, Earth sciences, archaeology, and technology. Our reporting draws on peer-reviewed research, original scientific studies, and other reliable scientific sources. Articles published under this byline reflect a collaborative editorial process that may include research, source verification, fact-checking, writing, and editing, rather than the work of a single author. Science News Today takes editorial responsibility for content published under this byline. For more information about our standards and practices, please see our Editorial Policy.

Articles by Science News Today

A Tully monster (Tullimonstrum gregarium). Credit: University of Missouri

The Fossil Bed That Froze 300 Million Years of Life

Credit: James Klarevas-Irby/ANU

Even Birds Feel the Pressure of Leadership

A common octopus in an aquarium

The Moment an Octopus Thought a Fake Arm Was Its Own

Researchers have developed a proof-of-concept device capable of detecting a biomarker implicated in endometriosis with unprecedented sensitivity from menstrual blood. The device is similar to a pregnancy test, showing two lines if the biomarker is detected in the sample. Credit: Dipanjan Pan / Penn State

This Simple Test Could End Years of Suffering for Millions with Endometriosis

Graphical abstract. Credit: Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.5c00492

The Shocking Way Plastic Is Changing Animal Behavior

Ötzi the Iceman, a man who died 5,300 years ago. Credit: Alamy

Ötzi Was Not Alone Discover the Genetic Mysteries of His Ancient Neighbors

Hand copy of Ni 12501. Credit: Jane Matuszak in Matuszak 2025

The Forgotten Storm God Who Vanished into the Underworld

High resolution image of interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS, captured by the Vera Rubin observatory on July 3rd. Credit - C.O. Chandler et al.

This Comet Traveled Across the Stars and We Almost Missed It

When the JWST detected Little Red Dots only 600 million years after the Big Bang, it was a puzzling find. Early thinking suggested that they're galaxies, but not everyone agrees. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Dale Kocevski (Colby College)

A Cosmic Mystery 13 Billion Years in the Making

Luminosity light curve over time of AT2018hyz in several frequency bands, including early upper limits (triangles) and the late-time detections starting at about 970 days (circles). Credit: arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2507.08998

The Star That Died Twice and Refused to Go Quietly

Top: Amplitude of the electric field fluctuations during a Juno pass over the Jupiter's north pole. The white line indicates the ion cyclotron frequency while the black line gives the electron plasma frequency. Bottom: the inferred density from the plasma frequency measurement. Credit: Creative Commons 4.0

NASA’s Juno Just Found Something in Jupiter’s Skies That Shouldn’t Exist

A schematic model for the possible crustal and upper mantle stratigraphy in the region of the CE5 landing site in northern Oceanus Procellarum. Credit: Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adr1486

The Moon Was Hotter Than We Thought and It Changes Everything

Crewmembers show a decrease in gray matter volume in several subcortical brain regions and increase in ventricular volume after a winter-over at the Concordia station. A) Gray matter brain volume was lower in Hippocampus, Pallidum and Thalamus immediately after winter-over (Post1). B) Hippocampus and Pallidum volumes returned to baseline levels five months after return from Antarctica. Credit: npj Microgravity (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41526-025-00497-6

Your Brain on Antarctica Looks a Lot Like Space

This narrative illustration visualizes the discovery of how oxytocin-mediated neural circuits in the hypothalamus promote social bonding through playful interactions. A traditional Japanese landscape represents the oxytocin network, with symbolic hand gestures illustrating human–rat interactions. A classic sailboat signifies the diffusion of pleasure signals, while red spheres depict oxytocin molecules traveling through neural pathways. Joyful rats constructing an arched bridge reflect how positive touch enhances oxytocin fiber development. The repeated kanji "快" (pleasure) reinforces the emotional–neural link, while a hidden "戯" (play) in the red mountain adds a subtle artistic layer. Credit: Professor Hirotaka Sakamoto of Okoyama University

The Surprising Science Behind Why Rats Love to Be Tickled

The photograph of the whole skeleton of Pulaosaurus qinglongin. Credit: PeerJ (2025). DOI: 10.7717/peerj.19664

The Tiny Fossil That Changed How We Hear Dinosaurs

child-talking

The Brain’s Hidden Voice Behind Every Word You Speak

genome-editing-correct

They Edited the Brain’s DNA and Stopped a Fatal Childhood Disorder

DNA methylation separates skin Treg and blood CCR8+ Treg cells from blood CD45RA+ Treg cells. Credit: Nature Immunology (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41590-025-02210-x

The Immune Cells That Heal You From the Inside Out

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New Hope for Alzheimer’s Patients Found in Unexpected Cancer Medications

Carefree friends talking and sitting on a park bench outdoors

The Emotion That Warms Your Heart and Changes Your Brain

An illustration portraying how dietary components such as white sugar (and various carbohydrates) affect gut bacterial immune-modulatory functionalities. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60202-9

Your Gut Bacteria Can Flip Their Genes After Sugar and It Affects You

Glioblastoma xenografts recapitulate known growth patterns. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61999-1

Scientists Discover How a Deadly Brain Tumor Chooses Its Path

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The Five Proteins That Could Unlock the Mystery of Brain Disease

Credit: Asano Kohei, Sugiura Hitomi

Why Optimists May Literally Think Alike

CEM cells showing green-labelled WT cores and magenta-stained nuclei, with arrows highlighting core signals inside the nucleus. Scale bar: 5 µm. Credit: Diamond Light Source

The Hidden Doorway HIV Uses to Invade Our Cells

Yayoi pottery confirm that both crops were present in early farming settlements in Northern Kyushu. Credit: Fukuoka City Education Board

When Rice Came to Japan but the Fish Stayed on the Fire

A colony of clonal raider ants raised in the Kronauer lab, seen from above. Credit: Daniel Kronauer

How Tiny Ants Decide Who Becomes Queen and Who Becomes Worker

Design of IDR binding proteins.Design pipeline and 12 representative examples of active designs (for each panel, the target name is at left and the target sequence is at the bottom; targets are tan and binders are blue in the structure models. Interface residues are shown as sticks). Credit: Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adr8063

How AI Is Cracking Biology’s Biggest Mystery

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Why Some Families Only Have Boys or Girls May Not Be Just Luck

3D electron tomography reveals glycogen particles (purple) clustered on the surface of lipid droplets (yellow), closely associated with endoplasmic reticulum membranes (blue) and mitochondria (red), highlighting a spatially coordinated organelle network in mouse hepatocytes. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60994-w

What Happens to Sugar Inside Your Cells Will Surprise You