Science & Technology

Landfills belch toxic ‘forever chemicals’ into the air

What’s dumped into a landfill is supposed to stay there, but a new study finds that toxic “forever chemicals” are…

A middleweight black hole has been spotted for the first time in our galaxy

For the first time, astronomers have spotted a middleweight black hole in the nearby universe. The discovery could help solve…

Breastfeeding should take a toll on bones. A brain hormone may protect them

Birthing and caring for a newborn can be hard on a mother’s bones. Estrogen, which helps regulate bone growth, drops…

The world has water problems. This book has solutions

The Last DropTim SmedleyPicador, $29.99 A journalist and a farmer visit three fields with different styles of cultivation — conventional,…

Tiny saunas help frogs fight off chytrid fungus

Frogs fighting a deadly fungal infection could get a boost from tiny brick saunas. By spending time in a sun-warmed…

How doctors can help demystify birth control amid online confusion

A young woman in a TikTok video unfolds a drug information package insert, revealing a paper large enough to cover…

Bird flu viruses may infect mammary glands more commonly than thought

The discovery of bird flu in dairy cow milk highlighted a previously overlooked target for the H5N1 virus: mammary glands.…

50 years ago, scientists were gearing up to hurl a probe at the sun

Putting the heat to Helios — Science News, July 6, 1974Helios, a space probe scheduled to go closer to the…

Federally unprotected streams contribute most of the water to U.S. rivers

The dry-looking stream in your backyard may play a major role in feeding U.S. rivers. Channels that flow only in…

Strange observations of galaxies challenge ideas about dark matter

Head-scratching observations of distant galaxies are challenging cosmologists’ dominant ideas about the universe, potentially leading to the implication that the…