Science Magazine
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A speck in a dish—that’s all the nervous system of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster looks like to the naked eye. But look closely enough, and it resolves into a network of 166,700 nerve cells connected through 124.2 million synapses. The intricate map—called a connectome—has now been published, marking the end of an ambitious 20-year research project. Learn more: News from Science
Science Magazine110,104 次观看 • 1 个月前
A tiny fly larva living in one of Africa's deepest lakes has evolved air-filled organs strong enough to withstand pressures found more than 200 meters underwater, according to a new Science study. The findings challenge a long-standing explanation for why insects have never colonized the open ocean.
Science Magazine201,987 次观看 • 2 个月前
In July 2023, researchers on a whale watching expedition in the Caribbean Sea encountered an unusual scene: 11 sperm whales clustered tightly at the water’s surface. The animals began to inch closer and closer together in the waters off the island of Dominica, with their attention turned to one individual, until a burst of blood tinted the water. At first, the scientists—part of Project CETI, a nonprofit that studies how sperm whales interact—thought the animal had been attacked. But then they saw a tiny tail pop out of the water. The researchers quickly realized they had in fact observed a group of whales helping a calf take its first breath. Even more fortuitous, they had captured it on video from a drone. Read more: News from Science
Science Magazine141,550 次观看 • 2 个月前
This is what a Jurassic forest may have sounded like. By combining exquisitely preserved fossil wings with experiments on living insects, computer simulations, and machine learning, scientists have re-created what they say is a partial Middle Jurassic soundscape. If the reconstruction is correct, one of the insect calls would be the oldest known evidence of ultrasonic communication in animals—long before echolocating bats appeared. Learn more: News from Science
Science Magazine80,061 次观看 • 1 个月前
Cannibalism is common among insects, but so-called killer flies take it to another level. Small and extremely fast, these predatory insects view any airborne moving object as a potential target—including when that object is another killer fly. This behavior makes mating dangerous: Males risk becoming lunch if they try to make contact with a female or even fly near her. New research finds one way males avoid this fate: by approaching females in a winding, unpredictable flight pattern and then repeatedly dodging as she launches her attack. Learn more: News from Science
Science Magazine116,068 次观看 • 2 个月前
When cells grow together, they often align with their neighbors, forming liquid crystal-like patterns known as “nematic order.” But that order isn’t perfect, and at certain points, the alignment can break down, creating “topological defects”: small regions where cells swirl or fan out instead of lining up cleanly. And according to research published in Science, what looks like a defect can be used strategically as built-in instructions for shaping larger structures. Instead of growing upward, cells can store and release stress in certain places along a previously flat sheetlike structure, forming a bowl, a ridge, or a fold. Learn more:
Science Magazine98,682 次观看 • 2 个月前
A new analysis in Science of more than 116,000 bird songs has revealed that the astonishing variety of passerine birdsong is built from just eight basic acoustic motifs, like trills, whistles, and harmonic notes. The findings also reveal that local environments greatly shape how birds communicate around the world. Learn more:
Science Magazine93,563 次观看 • 2 个月前
In November 2024, environmental police in Rochedo, Brazil, stumbled on an unexpected sight: thousands of orange-and-black bumblebee catfish scaling the slippery rocks behind waterfalls on the Aquidauana River. A week later, a team of Brazilian scientists arrived to document the unprecedented event, detailing their findings in a 2025 study. These videos provide rare insight into the lives and migrations of these little-studied catfish. Learn more: #ScienceMagArchives
Science Magazine97,473 次观看 • 2 个月前
In a new #ScienceEditorsBlog, Editor-in-Chief Holden Thorp talks to reporter Jeff Horwitz, who shared the 2026 Pulitzer Prize with Engen Tham for their coverage of Meta, which exposed information that was held internally at the company on how Facebook and Instagram were causing harm. This reporting also served as inspiration for the movie "The Social Reckoning." Thorp and Horwitz discuss the Science papers at the center of the story, which raised questions about the extent to which Facebook was knowingly stoking political polarization, as well as the challenges of conducting research about the impact of social networking platforms. Learn more:
Science Magazine12,944 次观看 • 8 天前