Skip to content
cookies to track usage and preferences." data-cookieaccepttext="I UNDERSTAND" data-cookiedeclinetext="Disable Cookies" data-cookiepolicytext="Privacy Policy">
1932

Living World

Why disease outbreaks on Chinese fur farms are a serious risk to public health

Farming animals for fur is not only cruel but also provides an ideal environment for viruses to mix and cross over into humans

Microbial Olympics: Super-duper one-celled athletes

They race, they leap, they spin, they shoot. Meet the organisms for whom physical prowess is more than sport — it’s a matter of life and death.

Beating back the Aedes aegypti mosquito

Scientists are taking a multipronged approach to tackle this dangerous carrier of dengue, yellow fever and other noxious viruses

Top science stories of 2025

In a year of funding chaos, ongoing climate change and pollution perils, we also saw the most powerful telescope yet, personalized gene therapy, and the next-best-thing to an HIV vaccine — not to mention a brand-new color

The science of green hair care

A push to move away from petroleum products — plus the perception that natural is gentler — has scientists lathering up new ingredients, from wood and fungus extracts to engineered proteins

The pernicious infections infiltrating Ukraine’s front lines

Doctors and scientists are waging a shadow war in the besieged nation: bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. The deadly bugs are now knocking on western Europe’s door.

Shucking the past: Can oysters thrive again?

Dredging and pollution devastated the once-bountiful reefs. Careful science may help bring them back.

Getting along with grizzly bears

In rural Alaskan and Canadian communities, reducing conflict between people and their wild neighbors means both species must change their behavior

Return of the California condor

North America’s largest bird disappeared from the wild in the late 1980s. Reintroduction work in the United States and Mexico has brought this huge vulture back to the skies. This is the story of its comeback.

The ones who need little sleep

Short sleepers cruise by on four to six hours a night and don’t seem to suffer ill effects. Turns out they’re genetically built to require less sleep than the rest of us.

What a bioluminescent petunia had to teach me

I bought a glowing plant. It led me down a rabbit hole of radiant mushrooms, 19th century experiments and a modern rivalry between scientists in Russia and the Americas.

Of genes, chromosomes and oratorios

Jenny Graves has spent her life mapping genes and comparing genomes. Now she’s created a musical opus about evolution of life on this planet — bringing the same drive and experimentalism she brought to the study of marsupial chromosomes.

It’s not just us: Other animals change their social habits in old age

In patterns that may sound familiar, long-term studies reveal what elderly deer, sheep and macaques are up to in their twilight years

Nature interrupted: Impact of the US-Mexico border wall on wildlife

Scientists on both sides of the border are working to understand how the barrier is affecting the area’s biodiversity. Meanwhile, communities try to save animals left without access to water.

The most common wombat is also the least understood

Australia’s iconic marsupial has been viewed as a food source, pest, mascot and, now, a conservation concern. Scientists are breaking down myths — using genetics, robots and citizen science — and finding new ways to protect the animals.

Cleaning up cow burps to combat global warming

New tools for lowering methane emissions from livestock are on their way

A lifetime of love for the charismatic narwhal

An independent scientist working with the Inuit has unraveled many mysteries of the one-tusked ‘unicorn of the sea’

The hornet has landed: Scientists combat new honeybee killer in US

An invasive yellow-legged wasp has been decimating beehives in Europe — and bedeviling Georgia since last summer. Researchers are working nest by nest to limit the threat while developing better eradication methods.

From toxic fungus to soy sauce superstar

Today the koji mold is a master fermenter, but it has a checkered past

Inching toward a global treaty on plastic pollution

Delegates from 175 nations are working on an international agreement that would tackle the vast amounts of plastic waste in the environment. A marine scientist specializing in plastic pollution discusses the problem and her hopes for the proceedings.

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error