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

istockphoto-1338777350-612×612

Why We’re Drawn to What’s Familiar — Even When It Hurts

Thymocyte differentiation and thymic cross-talk. (A) The thymic tissue is separated into cortical (gray) and medullary (red shaded) regions, shown here for a cross-section through one lobe of the organ. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2415288122

Scientists Discover How the Thymus Builds Its Maze to Train the Immune System

A sample of Aspergillus flavus cultured in the Gao Lab. Credit: Bella Ciervo

Deadly Tomb Fungus Transformed into a Potent Cancer Fighter

Optical cavities alter the electromagnetic vacuum, resulting in changes to the properties of materials placed inside them. However, probing these effects poses a significant challenge, as the cavities are typically small and tightly confined. In this study, scientists at the MPSD demonstrate that photons leaking from the cavity carry valuable information about the internal state of the material. By analyzing these escaping photons, researchers can effectively "peek" inside the cavity and gain insights without directly disturbing the system. Credit: J. M. Harms / MPSD

Escaping Photons Reveal Hidden Secrets of Matter

ocean_desert

Ancient Earth Burps of CO₂ Triggered Ocean Oxygen Crashes

1023_melanoma

Melanoma’s Hidden Weakness Found in Its Power Supply

Rule representations for a cognitive task, such as paying attention to an objects' shape or orientation, do not pre-exist in the cortex, but they emerge first in the thalamus after integrating weak distributed cortical inputs across cortical layers, as new findings show and represented by this image highlighting the thalamus and a description of the task. Credit: Sima Mofakham

Scientists Discover the Brain’s Hidden Powerhouse of Abstract Thought

Sleep need–dependent plasticity of an RE-ZI circuit promotes homeostatic recovery sleep. Credit: Science (2025). DOI:10.1126/science.adm8203

Scientists Discover Brain Circuit That Helps You Recover From Lost Sleep

Credit: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15390

Bats Fall in Love in Church Attics as Males Sing for Their Mates

The head from an Osiride statue (MMA 31.3.153), partially restored with plaster_ 478mm (h) × 381mm (w) × 473cm (d). Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hatshepsut’s Statues Were Broken with Ritual, Not Revenge

Relay 2 satellite. Credit: NASA

A Long-Dead Satellite Just Sent a Signal and It Sounded Like a Cosmic Mystery

Scientists estimate there is a 4.3-percent chance this asteroid will hit the Moon in 2032.

What If an Asteroid Hits the Moon in 2032? Scientists Say Earth Could Feel the Impact—Spectacularly

pexels-calebemirandafotografia-108370

Your Brain Knows Ice Cream Is Coming Before You Do

a) In primary melanoma, the loss of CDH1 activates β-catenin signaling, subsequently triggering the upregulation of ESR1. b) ECADneg/GRPRpos cancer cells grow in tissues expressing naturally GRP including lung, breast and gastric tissue. c) ECADneg/GRPRpos melanoma cells gain the ability to disseminate through the bloodstream to distant organs, notably the lungs, where GRP is produced in abundance. Credit: Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09111-x

A Hidden Hormonal Pathway in Women May Explain Melanoma’s Deadly Turn

Neuron network in brain: iStock

Scientists Reveal Never-Before-Seen Brain Receptor Structures That Could Transform Neurological Treatment

pills-384846_1920

New Diabetes Pill Targets Muscle and Burns Fat Without Side Effects

An artist’s view of what the area of the Zvejnieki cemetery (northern Latvia) might have looked like when animal parts were processed in the cooking pits. Credit: Tom Björklund

Stone Age Secrets Revealed in Ancient Tooth Jewelry

The killswitch arrests the dynamics of endogenous cellular condensates. Credit: Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09141-5

Scientists Freeze Proteins Inside Cells to Unlock Secrets of Disease

Illustration of the effect of a hypothetical 5th force on the electronic structure for different calcium isotopes. Credit: PTB

Physicists Detect Mysterious Nonlinearity in Calcium Atoms, Tightening the Net on a Hypothetical Fifth Force

beverage-3548084_1920-1

Sugary and Diet Drinks Found Not to Raise Dementia Risk in Older Adults

Image of the sun, observed in ultraviolet by the SDO (NASA) space telescope, in October 2014, showing several coronal loops. Credit: NASA/SDO & AIA science team

Elder Twin of the Sun Shows Unexpected Magnetic Strength

Scanning electron micrograph of the number 15 grain of sample plate C0105-042 from Ryugu, in which djerfisherite was discovered. Credit: Hiroshima University/Masaaki Miyahara

Mysterious Mineral Discovery in Ryugu Challenges Solar System History

Thumbnail images of COSMOS2020-635829 for the 4 JWST filters used in the study. The RGB image on the right is a combination of the JWST F444W (red channel), the F277W (green channel), and F115W+F150W (blue channel). The dashed circles mark the four extra-planar sources that are identified in the tail of COSMOS2020-635829. Credit: arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2506.14117

A Cosmic Jellyfish Spotted Eight Billion Light Years Away

istockphoto-1338777350-612×612

The Cognitive Trap That Keeps You from Growing

istockphoto-1337222734-612×612 (1)

What Your Brain Does When No One’s Watching

depression_1680423744532_1690106708137

How Emotion Hijacks Logic — and What to Do About It

Sand dunes of Erg Chebbi in the Sahara Desert, Morocco.

Buried Beneath Sand and Legend: The Vanished Kingdoms of the Ancient World

110314-science-atlantis-1031a

What Really Happened to the People of Atlantis?

Secrets of a Civilization That Time Forgot

Scientists used mutual radio occultation, in which a radio signal is sent between two spacecraft, to learn more about the Martian ionosphere. This depiction shows the European Space Agency’s Mars Express (left) and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (right) spacecraft taking a measurement over the Red Planet’s south pole on 13 November 2020. Credit: Jacob Parrott

Mars Reveals Midday Atmospheric Secrets with New Radio Technique