Brugmansia suaveolens Jill Pflugheber and Steven F. White From ayahuasca and cannabis to psilocybin mushrooms and tobacco, people have been using mind-altering plants and fungi in spiritual rituals and ceremonies for thousands of years to filter and change their view of the world. Justicia pectoralis Jill Pflugheber and Steven F. White Now the lens has…
One explanation for why we age is the accumulation of mutations in the DNA of cells Mohammed Elamine ALIOUI / Alamy A clump of proteins seems to be in charge of the level of DNA repair that takes place in our bodies, determining how fast mutations accumulate in our cells over a lifetime – and…
Antarctica is warmer than it should be Eyal Bartov / Alamy Since the beginning of September, temperatures in the atmosphere above Antarctica have soared by over 35°C (63°F), while wind speeds have halved and ozone depletion has suddenly stalled. This kind of upheaval should happen only once every 20 years or so, says Martin Jucker…
Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. Plenty of us would find it difficult to compose a new piece of music under any circumstances, even in the prime of our lives. But experimental composer Alvin Lucier is making music from beyond the grave—at least in a manner of speaking. In a museum…
Babies’ brains operate at a different rhythm to those of adults GOODLUZ / Alamy When a baby tries to make sense of what they have seen, their brain activity seems to tick at a slower rhythm than it does in adults, which may help them to continually learn new concepts. Our brain processes sensory stimuli…
McKenzie Prillaman is a science and health journalist based in Washington, DC. She holds a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She was the spring 2023 intern at Science News.
Meteorologists are carefully watching a volatile tropical cyclone situation in the Atlantic Ocean in the coming days that will determine whether the Carolinas will face potentially serious flooding early next week. The uncertain hurricane forecast hinges on a storm system that is currently located over Cuba and the Bahamas. Dubbed Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine, it…
The enduring popularity of books may depend on more than just their story Tetra Images, LLC / Alamy Why do some novels captivate generation after generation, while others hit bestseller lists upon publication, then fade away? A study suggests the answer may partly lie in the structure of their words and sentences. Past research has…
Pasteurization completely inactivates the H5N1 bird flu virus in milk — even if viral proteins linger. Drinking properly pasteurized milk contaminated with avian influenza remnants won’t increase vulnerability to the infection, researchers report in September 26 in Science Advances. Heat treatment completely neutralized the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus while leaving some viral genomic…
September 26, 2025 4 min read NIH Funds New Autism Studies on Genes and Environment as Trump Focuses on Tylenol The National Institutes of Health is investing $50 million into research on genetic and environmental factors underlying autism—news that was eclipsed by President Donald Trump’s recent controversial claims about acetaminophen By Helen Pearson & Nature…
