Here’s why so many saiga antelope mysteriously died in 2015

Spring calving season for the saiga antelope of central Kazakhstan is a delight for the researchers who keep tabs on the critically endangered animals. During the day, thousands of newborn saigas lie quiet, hidden within a sea of waving grass. Mothers return twice daily to feed them. “If you come at dawn …

For the first time, China has overtaken the United States in terms of the total number of science publications, according to statistics compiled by the US National ScienceFoundation (NSF). The agency’s report, released on 18 January, documents the United States’ increasing competition from China and …

Thousands of scientists in India have signed an online petition protesting against comments by a higher-education minister who last week publicly questioned the scientific validity of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and called for changes in educational curricula. The incident continued to simmer when …

Scientists hope to narrow down estimates of when and how people expanded into the region beginning around 15,000 years ago, and to clarify the timing and routes of subsequent migrations. The work might also help to explain the genetic diversity seen in today’s Native American populations.

The new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is the most comprehensive analysis of existing research on e-cigarettes. The report also cited conclusive proof that the devices are safer than traditional smoking products and may help smokers quit, citing conclusive proof …

Take notice of any debate in the media and you’ll see that science and religion are, and always were, at loggerheads. Science is about evidence-based fact, religion is about faith-based belief. But repeating statements endlessly in the media doesn’t make them true. The actual entanglements of religious …

The National Institutes of Health would stop processing grants, but astronauts in space would keep working. Lauren Morello. Search for this author in: Pub Med · Nature.com · Google Scholar. NASA engineer examining mirrors on the James Webb Telescope. A NASA engineer examining mirrors on the …

Scientists have known that warming ocean waters are skewing sea turtle populations toward having more females, but quantifying the imbalance has been hard. Researchers analyzed hormone levels in turtles collected on the Great Barrier Reef (off the northeastern coast of Australia) to determine their sex, …

Nestled among palm trees at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens near Pasadena, Calif., there’s a mysterious, metallic structure that curls like a nautilus shell. It’s called the Orbit Pavilion, and it was created by a team of artists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories, or JPL.