Feature

  1. Illustration of Kuiper Belt in the solar system
    Astronomy

    The discovery of the Kuiper Belt revamped our view of the solar system

    Thirty years ago, astronomers found the Kuiper Belt, a region of space home to Pluto and other icy worlds that helped show how the solar system evolved.

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  2. an electron micrograph showing red viruses leaving a B cell
    Health & Medicine

    Multiple sclerosis has a common viral culprit, opening doors to new approaches

    Learning how the common Epstein-Barr virus may trigger multiple sclerosis could help experts design better treatments — or perhaps end the disease.

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  3. illustration of different mars rovers on the martian surface
    Space

    How Mars rovers have evolved in 25 years of exploring the Red Planet

    Over 25 years, remotely controlled rovers have uncovered Mars’ watery history and continue to search for evidence that life once existed there.

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  4. photo of Michel Roccati standing and using a walker as a researcher monitors his progress on an tablet
    Neuroscience

    Spinal stimulation gives some people with paralysis more freedom

    Methods that stimulate the spine with electrodes promise to improve the lives of people with spinal cord injuries, in ways that go well beyond walking.

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  5. dark field microscope images of long, thin cable bacteria filaments
    Environment

    Electrical bacteria may help clean oil spills and curb methane emissions

    Cable bacteria are living electrical wires that may become a tool to reduce methane emissions and clean oil spills.

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  6. Herminia Pasantes stands in her lab with her arms raised in excitement
    Neuroscience

    Herminia Pasantes discovered how taurine helps brain cells regulate their size

    Mexican scientist Herminia Pasantes spent decades studying how nerve cells regulate their size and why it’s so vital.

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  7. A tardigrade
    Animals

    Tardigrades could teach us how to handle the rigors of space travel

    Tardigrades can withstand X-rays, freezing and vacuum. Now researchers are learning how they do it, with an eye toward human space travel.

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  8. Anthropology

    Demond Mullins climbed Everest to inspire more Black outdoor enthusiasts

    Mullins hopes his successful Mount Everest summit will encourage more Black people to experience the great outdoors.

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  9. image of foods in the Mediterranean diet
    Health & Medicine

    How scientists are shifting their search for links between diet and dementia

    Studies of food’s impact on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are hampered by complexity. Scientists hope new research approaches prove more fruitful.

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  10. illustration of the higgs boson
    Particle Physics

    How physicists are probing the Higgs boson 10 years after its discovery

    The famous particle may point to cracks in the standard model and new physics beyond.

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  11. A photo of a yellow pasture with and farm in the distance. Behind the buildings heavy dark smoke clouds fill the sky
    Health & Medicine

    Western wildfires’ health risks extend across the country

    As western wildfires become more common, hazardous smoke is sending people — especially children — to emergency rooms on the East Coast.

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  12. a scientist in front of cages full of mosquitos at a lab in Terni, Italy
    Genetics

    Who decides whether to use gene drives against malaria-carrying mosquitoes?

    As CRISPR-based gene drives to eliminate malaria-carrying mosquitoes pass new tests, the African public will weigh in on whether to unleash them.

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