Engineered Protein Reveals Hidden Incoming Signals Between Neurons

Summary: Researchers have engineered a next-generation glutamate sensor, iGluSnFR4, capable of detecting the faintest incoming synaptic signals between neurons—signals that, until now, have been nearly impossible to record in living…

Numbers in Vision Can Shift How We Perceive Space

Summary: New research reveals that numbers in our visual field can subtly distort how we judge spatial positions, showing that perception is shaped by both numerical magnitude and object-based processing.…

Working Nights May Increase Cancer Risk

Summary: Chronic circadian disruption — such as night-shift work, irregular schedules, or frequent jet lag — accelerates the development and spread of aggressive breast cancer. Researchers found that disrupted internal…

Have a taste of our favorite food stories from 2025

Carly Kay is the Fall 2025 science writing intern at Science News. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in science…

Consciousness May Require a New Kind of Computation

Summary: A new theoretical framework argues that the long-standing split between computational functionalism and biological naturalism misses how real brains actually compute. The authors propose “biological computationalism,” the idea that…

Leonardo Ziccardi | Trait coordination reveals the fast-slow plant economics spectrum along the vertical canopy profile in central Amazonian forests – Functional Ecologists

In this ‘Behind the Paper’ blog post we get into the roof of rainforests as the author Leonardo Ziccardi guides us through the unique world of ancient Amazonian trees from…

Cues Can Hijack Decision Making in Some People

Summary: Some individuals rely heavily on visual and sound cues when making decisions, and this sensitivity can lead to persistent maladaptive choices. When cue–outcome associations shift, these individuals struggle to…

Smiling Faces Trigger Mimicry, and Make Us Trust Them More

Summary: People instinctively mimic others’ facial expressions, but new research shows we do this far more with joyful faces than with sadness or anger—and that the intensity of mimicry predicts…

These are our favorite animal stories of 2025

Carly Kay is the Fall 2025 science writing intern at Science News. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in science…

Viewpoint: RFK, Jr.’s Denmark vaccine schedule delusion—Why it would be a health disaster in the U.S.

It’s official. CNN confirmed that the Department of Health and Human Services was planning to announce an overhaul of the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule to align it with Denmark’s, which recommends fewer…