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

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What Your Brain Does When It’s in Survival Mode

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How We Use Humor to Hide Pain

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Why It’s So Hard to Admit We’re Wrong

Anxious and depressed woman

The Invisible Load: What Mental Fatigue Feels Like in the Brain

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Why Humans Are Obsessed with Fairness

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The Psychological Cost of People-Pleasing

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What Happens When You Ignore Your Intuition

Daily evolution of behavior and single-neuron and population activity. a,b, Schematics of the experimental apparatus (a) and two different cue–RL conditions (b). c, Average velocity profiles for mice during condition RL1 (blue; shading indicates s.e.m.) and RL2 (orange) on day 7. Note the selective slowing near RLs. d, Licking probability in reference to RLs with anticipatory licking shown in red for day 7. e, Licking selectivity (Methods) as a function of behavior day. f, Example PCs with RL2 preference (left), RL1 preference (middle) and no preference (right). g, Percentage of PCs showing increased cell discriminability across experimental days. h, PDI increases with experimental day. The dashed line shows the PDI for shuffled data. i, Heat maps of PCs with PF activity in condition RL1 (top) and during RL1 (top left) and RL2 (top right; both sorted by activity during RL1). Bottom, same as the top but for PCs with PFs active in condition RL2 (sorted by activity during RL2). Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. in c–e, g and h. Credit: Nature Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-025-01986-3

Scientists Discover the Brain’s Trick for Storing New Memories Without Erasing the Past

A 220-lb anatomically correct dummy laying on an example undulating checkerboard-like surface pattern collectively imposed by the 1,260 linear actuators of the actuator bed, which was designed and fabricated to study the alternating-pressure (AP) approach of eliminating pressure ulcers (PUs). Credit: Zhidi Yang

This Smart Mattress Moves to Prevent Deadly Bed Sores

This functional MRI image of a human brain illustrates the connection between the insula (smaller brain image) and the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (larger brain image) as a result of cognitive fatigue. Credit: Vikram Chib, Johns Hopkins Medicine and Kennedy Krieger Institute

This Is What Your Brain Looks Like When It Gets Tired

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Stem Cell Therapy Restores Insulin Production in Type 1 Diabetes Patients

ACSL4 is specifically upregulated in fibroblasts under chronic injury and IBD. Credit: Nature Metabolism (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-025-01313-x

Scientists Discover a Surprising Link Between Gut Damage and Ferroptosis

Asian women with stress, She kept herself alone in her bedroom, Depression.

Stress Makes You Take More Risks Even When You Shouldn’t

How cats prefer to sleep: on their left shoulder. Credit: Ömer Dogan

Cats Prefer the Left Side When Sleeping and Scientists Finally Know Why

Adult androgenetic mice. Credit: Yanchang Wei

Scientists Create Fertile Mice Using Only Male DNA

Cissy, a Sumatran orangutan mother is taking a nap in her day nest. Credit: Natasha Bartalotta / Suaq

Orangutans Take Power Naps to Recover From Bad Sleep Just Like Humans

A bonobo mother looks at her infant‘s face while grooming it with her mouth. Credit: Franziska Wegdell, Kokolopori Bonobo Research Project

Why Do We Talk to Babies That Way? Scientists Trace the Origins of Baby Talk to Our Primate Roots

Scientists have released the first two years of data taken by an upgraded camera at the South Pole Telescope, located in Antarctica, which maps the afterglow of the Big Bang. Credit: Kevin Zagorski

The South Pole Telescope Just Captured the Sharpest Portrait of the Early Universe

Reconstruction of Swaindelphys. Credit: Kristen Tietjen

Ancient Hedgehog-Sized Giant Discovered in Texas Fossils

A cluster of traces (DIR-S23 - S27 and S32) showing various morphologies. Credit: Cretaceous Research (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106176

Drone Images Reveal Prehistoric Stage Where Dinosaurs Danced to Impress

Credit: Current Biology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.065

This Ancient Fossil Just Solved One of Evolution’s Weirdest Mysteries

Pangenome analysis of Pseudomonas syringae strains (center) has made it possible to find new compounds (outside). Credit: Lu Yuo, Leibniz-HKI

The Plant-Killing Bacterium That Could Help Cure Disease

The team set out in their handmade canoe, making the entire experience as authentic as possible. Credit: 2025 Kaifu et al. CC-by-ND

Ancient Humans Crossed One of Earth’s Strongest Currents Using Stone Tools and Star Maps

Early Agricultural period projectile point types. Credit: Sliva 2009

How a 4,500-Year-Old Migration Planted the Seeds of Agriculture in the Southwest

MeerKAT 1.3 GHz view of LMC SNR J0450–709. Credit: Smeaton et al., 2025.

Astronomers Discover a Colossal Supernova Remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud — and It’s Unlike Anything Seen Before

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Andromeda Sings in Light and Sound in Stunning New Tribute to Vera Rubin

Saturn and Jupiter. Credit: NASA

Distant Cousins of Jupiter and Saturn Finally Caught on Camera

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Why We’re Attracted to the Wrong People

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How the Mind Defends Itself Without Your Permission

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The Real Reason We Lie to Ourselves