When handled, a small crustacean-munching shark from New Zealand clacked its teeth together This small shark, called a rig or smoothhound, could be the first shark documented to make deliberate sounds. Paul Caiger/University of Auckland Sharks may not be the sharp-toothed silent type after all. The clicking of flattened teeth, discovered by accident, could be

The iconic Cape Verde date palm comes from cultivated trees gone feral New data for a long-running debate on the origins of Cape Verde’s treasured date palms raise questions about tweaking their scientific name. William J. Baker/Plants, People, Planet 2025 What the island nation of Cape Verde cherishes as its own distinctive kind of date

Humans undergoing similar radiation for cancer treatment often suffer painful side effects A protein unique to tardigrades (one shown here under a microscope) can help reduce DNA damage caused by radiation in mice. Videologia/iStock/Getty Images Plus A protein found in tardigrades — tiny animals less than a millimeter long — can protect mice from radiation

John Green’s new book unravels how social injustice sustains the disease Henry Reider, a survivor of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, makes videos to fight stigma surrounding the disease in Lakka, Sierra Leone. His story and those of others like him are the subject of John Green’s new book. Henry Reider Everything Is Tuberculosis John Green Crash Course

The plants ooze a “larval toffee” that essentially starves tomato pinworm larvae The South American tomato pinworm (Tuta absoluta) is damaging tomato plants on four continents. Adding silicon nanoparticles might be a solution to combat the pests. Costas Metaxakis/AFP via Getty Images Silicon powers more than electronics: In tomato plants, it fuels a complex defense

Taylor Swift may not be the first person who comes to mind when you think about climate change. But more than once, the singer has found herself in the middle of a media storm over her carbon di­oxide emissions. Swift regularly hops aboard her private jet, as she did in 2024 to get from a

Compared with European Union countries and others, the United States is an outlier While avoidable deaths in the United States rose, on average, from 2009 to 2019, they trended down for European Union countries and others. David Sacks/Getty Images In the United States, the number of deaths that didn’t have to happen has risen over

In this bonus episode of The Deep End, listen to an interview with Jon Nelson. He’ll share how he’s doing these days, now that his depression is gone. You’ll hear about the work still ahead of him, which may be lifelong. And you’ll hear about his plans for the future.  Transcript Laura Sanders: This podcast

Common coot nests preserve layers of plastic dating back decades Biologist Auke-Florian Hiemstra excavates a common coot nest he and colleagues collected in Amsterdam. City birds have been making their nests out of plastic waste for decades, the team's research shows. Auke-Florian Hiemstra One man’s trash is a common coot’s treasure, at least when it

In Memory Lane, two psychologists lay out the vagaries of how we remember A new book proposes that human memory is like a Lego tower, built from the ground up, broken down, put away and rebuilt each time it’s called to mind. LeventKonuk/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus Memory Lane Ciara Greene and Gillian MurphyPrinceton Univ., $29.95