Researchers used custom-painted plastic birds to test how breeding gulls respond to intruders of different plumage colors near their nests. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/young-gulls-plumage-adult-attacks

Did you know some sharks use their pectoral fins to walk on reefs? The 10th known species of walking shark was recently found in Papua New Guinea. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-species-walking-shark-dudgeon

The Swift space telescope has paused science operations for now, and it could be months until it’s taking data again. But if this mission works, the telescope could last another decade. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/space-telescope-rescue-mission-nasa-swift

Even moderate physical activity can be dangerous during extreme heat. Now imagine competing in the World Cup. Players are facing temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in matches from Miami to Kansas City. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/extreme-heat-outdoor-activity-unsafe

A newly discovered microbe is like a mini version of the Hulk. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/microbe-cannibalistic-hulk

In a new study, California two-spot octopuses learned to use their reflections to find hidden prey, suggesting they can understand mirrors as tools. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/octopus-hunt-crabs-with-mirror

A new estimate of insect diversity suggests there are at least 14 million to 20 million species buzzing and crawling around the globe. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/insects-species-estimate-earth

Renaissance painter Jan Brueghel the Elder painted a bat eating a bird—400 years before scientists would document the behavior. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/discover-bat-diet-renaissance-painting

It’s the end of an era for particle physicists: They just said good-bye to the famed Large Hadron Collider — in its current form, anyway. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cern-large-hadron-collider-upgrade

A large, two-decade study in Hong Kong is the latest to find no link between use of acetaminophen — known as Tylenol in the United States — and a risk of autism or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/acetaminophen-pregnancy-autism-adhd

Good news for fusion fans: A phenomenon that might have hindered efforts to generate energy using nuclear fusion may actually be beneficial. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/nuclear-fusion-alpha-particles-reactor

The cerebellum, the wizened "little brain" nestled in the base of the skull, may help keep us sharp as we age. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cerebellum-brain-aging-boost

The largest living scorpion is over 20 cm long. But scientists have identified a massive prehistoric scorpion species that was more than 4 times that length and could have been one of the first terrestrial predators. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/largest-scorpion-lived-415-million-years-ago

Artificial intelligence is getting better at everything, including hacking. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cybersecurity-threat-new-ai-models

New insights into the crustaceans’ biology may help researchers understand how some bigger animals can survive in the food-poor deep sea. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/big-deep-roly-polies-endure-starvation

As newborn neurons squeeze through the cramped, narrow spaces of developing brain tissue, they break both strands of their DNA, researchers report. The breaks are repaired once neurons reach their destination, usually within a day.  https://www.sciencenews.org/article/brains-break-repair-dna-grow

The Reflecting Pool’s algae problem appeared seemingly overnight. If it goes away, it will also collapse just as fast. A new study shows how the blooms might die off with a process called ferroptosis. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/algae-die-offs-reflecting-pool

The burned bones of small animals regurgitated by owls are evidence of the first-known use of fire. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/hominids-had-fire-longer-than-thought

Fruit salad may have been on the menu for some dinosaurs. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/flowering-plants-dinosaurs-spread-seeds

Perseverance strikes again with an intriguing — yet unresolved — clue in the search for past life on Mars. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mars-carbon-complex-organic-rock

During heavy pollution episodes, such as wildfire smoke, people at higher risk of coronary artery disease may benefit from staying indoors, using air filtration or wearing an N95 mask outdoors. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/safe-air-pollution-heart-health

This cousin of velociraptor had a taste for birds. It may explain the avian carnage at a 120-million-year old fossil bed in northwestern China. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-dinosaur-fossil-murder-mystery

Flesh-eating, hooked-mouth maggots have wriggled their way back into the United States. As of June 11, 12 cases of New World screwworm have been confirmed in Texas and New Mexico in cows, goats and even a dog.  https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-world-screwworm-spread-us-eradicate

While sea cucumbers can naturally shed and regenerate these tentacles, researchers have also found that detached tentacle tissue can remain alive independently after being separated from the organism. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/sea-cucumber-zombie-tissues-tentacles

A thick layer of frozen ground beneath the upper flanks of southern Peru's tallest volcano may be one of the world's largest tropical permafrost areas. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/tropical-permafrost-peru-worlds-largest

In many submerged regions, murky mud shelters strange life-forms that seem to be the key to one of the biggest mysteries of life on Earth. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cells-origin-of-life-asgard-archaea

Climate change may threaten North America’s iconic mass monarch butterfly migration. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/monarch-butterfly-migration-climate

With an extravagant tail, a male of the emperor’s bird-of-paradise has a lot of feathery decoration to work with as he flirts with females and postures toward rival males. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fish-biologists-fluorescent-birds

Scientists have long assumed that the first vertebrates to venture onto land from the water underwent metamorphosis, like a tadpole developing into a frog. New fossil evidence suggests this is not the case. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/assumption-early-land-vertebrates-wrong

Not long after a powerful earthquake rocked Japan, the whole country moved a few millimeters east. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/japan-earthquake-seismic-wave-core

Most of us these days know the feeling of mindlessly scrolling through low-quality content. We call this sensation “brain rot.” But can this content truly rot our brains? https://www.sciencenews.org/article/brain-rot-digital-online-mental-health

A fungal infection is spreading among cats and people in Brazil. Health authorities worry it could spread to other parts of the world. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/deadly-fungus-cats-people-spreading

El Niño is here. And buckle up for a bumpy ride, scientists say: By the end of 2026, this might become the strongest El Niño on record. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/super-el-nino-high-temperatures-disease

The oldest-known traces of plague, around 5,500 years old, have been discovered in hunter-gatherer burials in Siberia. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/plague-outbreak-oldest-hunter-gatherers

We're a month away from Christopher Nolan's adaptation of The Odyssey. While we wait for Odysseus to come eye to eye with the Cyclops Polyphemus, let's take a look at what might have been the inspiration behind the one-eyed monster. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cyclops-odyssey-science-copepod

The Chinese money plant might understand geometry better than you. Scientists have discovered its leaves display a clever pattern that hints at a new explanation for how some plant veins can develop. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/chinese-money-plant-leaves-voronoi-pattern

Could this experimental blood test give a more accurate picture of brain disease? https://www.sciencenews.org/article/experimental-blood-test-dementia-types

Fifty years ago, the Viking 1 lander became the first spacecraft to operate on Mars. Together with its twin, Viking 2, the landers had an ambitious goal: search directly for signs of life. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/nasa-mars-life-viking-space-rover

There’s one part of the ocean that’s not warming up — and that’s not good news. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cold-blob-may-signal-current-decline

Female newborns may be missing out on potentially lifesaving vitamin K shots more often than male newborns, according to a study of a Philadelphia health system. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/vitamin-k-shot-newborns-circumcision

Space symphonies: Science-art project turns sounds of space into classical music. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/music-from-space-weather-data

Forget about the Sunday Scaries and try our latest puzzle! https://www.sciencenews.org/article/crossword-power-play-july-2026-puzzle

The loud squeaks of shoes on a basketball court result from parts of the sole slipping in pulses that repeat thousands of times a second. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/basketball-sneakers-squeak-physics

In the United States, the sunscreen ingredient list hasn’t changed in 20 years — until now. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/sunscreen-bemotrizinol-fda-safe

Alkaloid chemicals bathe the skins of poison dart frogs. Some microbes seem to thrive in — and even feed off — the powerful toxins. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bacteria-eat-toxin-poison-frog-skin

Chemistry and computers join forces to stay a step ahead of illicit fentanyl drugs. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fentanyl-variants-new-detection-method

Whatever you think would happen if you cut a photon in half, it’s stranger than that. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/break-photon-in-half-particle-new-ones

Mastic-based chewing gum may have some benefit to your breath and microbiome, but it won’t change the way you look. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mastic-gum-benefits-jaw-antibacterial

By simply hearing their parents’ song, zebra finch embryos start making last minute changes to their brains to prepare for hot weather on the other side of the eggshell. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/songs-prep-unhatched-finches-hot-world

A highly effective vaccine has long kept measles at bay in many parts of the world. But dropping vaccination rates bring urgency to the question: What’s the backup plan? https://www.sciencenews.org/article/measles-treatments-vaccine-clinical-trial