Jim Landahl, a National Park Service biological science technician, spent Friday, February 14, moving willow trees from a nursery to a helipad in Grand Canyon National Park. The trees were part of efforts to restore vegetation at a popular campground located at the base of the canyon, where temperatures can reach around 49° Celsius (120°

Since President Donald Trump took office a few weeks ago, the administration’s frenetic activity, which has included withdrawing from global agreements and slashing slashing federal jobs and funding, has left many people reeling. Others, though, seem to be reveling in the chaos. According to political scientists, at least some of this chaos-seeking behavior may be intricately

The disguise is one of several tricks that the larvae use to live among killer termites This blowfly larva breathes through holes that closely resemble termite eyes, helping the impostor blend in inside a termite nest. Vlad Dinca In the insect world, impostors could be hiding anywhere. When lifting a stone during an expedition in

Skip to content Sid Sivakumar, a puzzle constructor and M.D./Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering and neuroscience, edited this puzzle. Looking for answers? Go to sciencenews.org/puzzle-answers . We’ll publish science-themed crosswords and math puzzles on alternating months. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Email us at puzzles@sciencenews.org.

A water harvesting method long used by small desert communities could scale up for cities Large-scale fog water harvesting has the potential to relieve water stress at Alto Hospicio, a fast-growing city in Chile’s Atacama Desert, researchers say. Dr. Virginia Carter Gamberini Rural communities in arid regions have harvested tiny droplets of fog for years

Sex is messy. It’s not just about chromosomes. Or reproductive cells. Or any other binary metric. Many genetic, environmental and developmental variations can produce what are thought of as masculine and feminine traits in the same person. And so sex, scientists say, should be viewed in all its complex glory. “Sex is a multifaceted trait

A water harvesting method long used by small desert communities could scale up for cities Large-scale fog water harvesting has the potential to relieve water stress at Alto Hospicio, a fast-growing city in Chile’s Atacama Desert, researchers say. Dr. Virginia Carter Gamberini Rural communities in arid regions have harvested tiny droplets of fog for years

How objects charge when touched depends on their history, scientists find  A balloon rubbed on hair will pick up a negative charge, but scientists still don’t understand exactly how this process works. Yuricazac/Istock/Getty Images Plus Rub a balloon on your hair and the balloon typically picks up a negative electric charge, while your hair goes

Formed after a solar superstorm, the belts lasted longer than scientists expected The May 2024 solar storm made two new radiation belts (purple) that slotted in between the permanent Van Allen belts (other colors) around Earth. Kristen Perrin/Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA On May 10, 2024, the strongest solar storm in 20 years sparked auroras on

Pamela Canaday loves her job. For the last 20 years, she has been supporting biomedical research labs at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland by running flow cytometry, a test that helps researchers figure out what kinds of cells are in a sample. A self-described “machine junkie,” Canaday says she was born for the