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Bottles as military vehicles shooting at green viruses

ChemistryApril 15, 2025

The Nontoxic Cleaner That Kills Germs Better Than Bleach—And You Can Use It on Your Skin

Hypochlorous acid is safe enough to spray in your eyes yet more effective than bleach. Why isn’t it everywhere?

Jen Schwartz

Illustration of what exoplanet K2-18 b could look like.

Extraterrestrial LifeApril 17, 2025

Is Dimethyl Sulfide Really a Sign of Alien Life?

Meghan Bartels

HealthApril 18, 2025

How the THC in Weed Affects Your Brain

Jeffery DelViscio, Mary Budwick, Michael Tabb

Baby colossal squid with a clear, spotted dome, a glowing red undercarriage and pinkish tentacles against the black of the deep ocean

AnimalsApril 15, 2025

This Is the First Colossal Squid Filmed in the Deep Sea—And It’s a Baby!

Ashley Balzer Vigil

A robot hand unleashes a swirl of puzzle pieces, crosswords, and circles with numbers and letters

GamesApril 20, 2025

Science Jigsaw: Sunday, April 20, 2025

Gayoung Lee

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A low-polygon human brain dissolves from top to bottom, visually representing the progression of memory loss.

Alzheimer's DiseaseApril 18, 2025

Lifesaving Alzheimer’s Research Delayed by Trump Funding Cuts

Allison Parshall

Rock quartz texture, nature pattern

VisionApril 18, 2025

This Impossible New Color Is So Rare That Only Five People Have Seen It

Jacek Krywko

Oil field with rigs and pumps at sunset.

Fossil FuelsApril 18, 2025

America’s ‘Golden Era’ of Oil Is Already Losing Its Glitter

Benjamin Storrow, E&E News

National Ice Core Laboratory, holds a one-meter section of an ice core stored at -36 degrees C.

PoliticsApril 18, 2025

Trump Administration's Science Cuts Come for NSF Funding

Dan Garisto, Nature magazine

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May 2025 Issue

Mining ship seen from below in the ocean

Oceans

Suddenly Miners Are Tearing Up the Seafloor for Critical Metals

Willem Marx

Many discrete loops. Each looks like a close shape made of a continuous black line drawn in 3D space.

Mathematics

Mathematicians’ Favorite Shapes Hold the Key to Big Mathematical Mysteries

Rachel Crowell, Violet Frances

Closeup of a honeybee

Bees

A Deadly Parasite Threatens Bees and 130 Crops They Help Grow

Hannah Nordhaus

Bottles as military vehicles shooting at green viruses

Chemistry

The Nontoxic Cleaner That Kills Germs Better Than Bleach—And You Can Use It on Your Skin

Jen Schwartz

Large orange irregular object in space smaller planets in distance

Planetary Science

Mysterious Dark Comets Puzzle Astronomers

Robin George Andrews

Young elephant greeting older elephant

Behavior

The Hidden Social Lives of Male African Elephants

Caitlin O'Connell

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Games

A robot hand reaches toward bubbles with letters in them

Spellements

Create as many words as you can!

Illustration of a hand and multiple numbers against a purple background.

Math Puzzles

Stretch your math muscles with these puzzles.

A robot hand unleashes a swirl of puzzle pieces, crosswords, and circles with numbers and letters

All Games

Science inspired games, puzzles and quizzes

Special Edition

Ancient scroll with illuminated letters

Artificial Intelligence

Inside the AI Competition That Decoded an Ancient Herculaneum Scroll

Tomas Weber

Design of a blue tech-like background with a brain in the center.

Artificial Intelligence

Building Intelligent Machines Helps Us Learn How Our Brain Works

George Musser

Hands from "The Creation of Adam" painting by Michelangelo, with HTML coding above the hands.

Artificial Intelligence

God Chatbots Offer Spiritual Insights on Demand. What Could Go Wrong?

Webb Wright

A close-up, side-view view of the head of a Sperm Whale under water, with blue background.

Behavior

Artificial Intelligence Could Finally Let Us Talk with Animals

Lois Parshley

Illustration of a old-timey man with a mustache wearing a suit sitting, touching a ghost with a human face

Computing

Will Machines Ever Become Conscious?

Christof Koch

A man surrounded by multiple robot dogs.

Artificial Intelligence

Scientists Are Putting ChatGPT Brains Inside Robot Bodies. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

David Berreby

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The Past 35 Years of Science and Technology from Our Editor Gary Stix’s Perspective

Rachel Feltman, Gary Stix, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

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ChemistryApril 16, 2025

A Nontoxic Disinfectant That Is Safe for Surfaces and Skin

Rachel Feltman, Jen Schwartz, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

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DinosaursApril 14, 2025

A Long Day on Uranus, a Better Method of Making Coffee and Disputed Dino Decline

Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

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CancerApril 11, 2025

How Is This Prenatal Blood Test Detecting Cancer in Pregnant Patients?

Rachel Feltman, Laura Hercher, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

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April 9, 2025

Bacterial Vaginosis Sometimes Acts like an STI

Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

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Rock quartz texture, nature pattern

VisionApril 18, 2025

This Impossible New Color Is So Rare That Only Five People Have Seen It

Researchers discover a new color outside the range of human color vision, but you have to laser your retinas to see it

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AutismApril 17, 2025

RFK, Jr., Is Wrong about Cause of Rising Autism Rates, Scientists Say

Autism rates are rising, but RFK, Jr., is wrong about the reasons. Here’s what the science says

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MathematicsApril 14, 2025

Mathematicians Crack 125-Year-Old Problem, Unite Three Physics Theories

A breakthrough in Hilbert’s sixth problem is a major step in grounding physics in math

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LanguageApril 14, 2025

Language Differences Control Your Brain’s Sentence-Prediction Habits

The brain’s response to information depends on language’s grammatical structure

Gayoung Lee

Artist rendering of the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope in orbit, silhouetted in front of a vibrant purple field of space

AstronomyApril 18, 2025

NASA’s Next Major Space Telescope Is Ready to Launch. Trump Wants to Kill It and Other Vital Science

Amid harsh cuts, the Trump administration has proposed canceling the nearly ready-to-launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

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Closeup of a honeybee

BeesApril 15, 2025

A Deadly Parasite Threatens Bees and 130 Crops They Help Grow

Scientists are racing to stop a tiny mite that could devastate the pollinators and agriculture

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