Imaging scans show where symbols turn to letters in the brain

Scientists watched brain activity in a region where reading takes root, and saw a hierarchy of areas that give symbols both sound and meaning.

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Electrodes show a glimpse of memories emerging in a brain

Nerve cells in an important memory center in the brain sync their firing and create fast ripples of activity seconds before a recollection resurfaces.

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Climate misinformation may be thriving on YouTube, a social scientist warns

Analyzing 200 climate-related videos on YouTube shows that a majority challenge widely accepted views about climate change and climate engineering.

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Murray Gell-Mann’s ‘totalitarian principle’ is the modern version of Plato’s plenitude

The ancient principle of plenitude is reborn in the modern belief that whatever can exist must exist.

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Alzheimer’s targets brain cells that help people stay awake

Nerve cells in the brain that are tied to wakefulness are destroyed in people with Alzheimer’s, a finding that may refocus dementia research.

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A new FDA-approved drug takes aim at a deadly form of tuberculosis

The antibiotic could help tackle extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, which kills tens of thousands each year.

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LIGO and Virgo probably spotted the first black hole swallowing up a neutron star

In a first, astronomers may just have detected gravitational waves from a black hole merging with a neutron star.

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We’re closing down our comment section

Science News’ forthcoming website won’t feature comment sections on stories, but instead will invite e-mail feedback so readers can make their voices heard.

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Chemists have created and imaged a new form of carbon

A new molecule takes its place among buckyballs, carbon nanotubes and other odd forms of carbon.

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Fluid in superdeep diamonds may be from some of Earth's oldest unchanged material

Primordial rock deep in the mantle and dating to just after Earth’s formation could yield insights about the planet’s formation and evolution

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New cloaking devices could hide objects from water waves and currents

Specially designed materials could help prevent boats from rocking too violently in harbors, researchers say.

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The first chlamydia vaccine has passed a major test

A clinical trial for a vaccine against the sexually transmitted disease found that the product provoked an immune response.

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Astronomers just quintupled the number of known repeating fast radio bursts

A Canadian telescope spotted eight more repeating fast radio bursts. What causes these cryptic flashes of radio waves from deep space remains unclear.

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A planetary body may have smashed into Jupiter, creating its weird core

A planetary body smashing into Jupiter may have jostled the gas giant’s insides during its formative years, creating the strange interior seen today.

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CRISPR enters its first human clinical trials

The gene editor will be used in lab dishes in cancer and blood disorder trials, and to directly edit a gene in human eyes in a blindness therapy test.

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Engraved bones reveal that symbolism had ancient roots in East Asia

Denisovans might have etched line patterns on two animal bone fragments more than 100,000 years ago in what’s now northern China.

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A mussel poop diet could fuel invasive carp’s spread across Lake Michigan

Asian carp, just a human-made waterway away from reaching Lake Michigan, could live in much more of the lake than previously thought.

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Two of four Ebola treatments prove highly effective in a clinical trial

An Ebola field trial in Congo is shifting its focus toward treatments that preliminary data suggest can help prevent death from the disease.

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Even without concussions, just one football season may damage players’ brains

A group of college football players underwent brain scans after a season of play. The results suggest the sport could impact neural signaling.

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Plants don’t have feelings and aren’t conscious, a biologist argues

The rise of the field of “plant neurobiology” has this scientist and his colleagues pushing back.

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