Frontiers | Science news

Health

Published on 19 Jan 2026

Decades of suffering: Long-term mental health outcomes of Kurdish chemical gas attacks

Researchers found exceptionally high levels of trauma among survivors of a notorious atrocity: the 1988 chemical attack on Halabja in Kurdistan.

Health

Published on 18 Dec 2025

Global food systems driving twin crises of obesity and global heating

A major review in Frontiers in Science highlights how tackling unsustainable food systems—reflected by our changing food environment—is urgent for both health and climate.

Credit: flickr/James Boyes. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Health

Published on 16 Dec 2025

Sports injuries sustained during your period might be more severe

Professional female football players aren’t more likely to injure themselves during menstruation, but injuries that are sustained could be more disruptive, causing three times more days off the field

Health

Published on 15 Dec 2025

Cannabis derivatives could provide new ovarian cancer treatments

Lab studies find that a combination of THC and CBD kills ovarian cancer cells without harming healthy cells

Image credit: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Mond-vergleich.svg

Neuroscience

Published on 20 Oct 2025

Do animals fall for optical illusions? What fish and birds can teach us about perception

Dr Maria Santacà describes how not only how fish and birds perceive their worlds, but also how ecological pressures shape the evolution of perception.

Neuroscience

Published on 07 Oct 2025

Instructions help you remember something better than emotions or a good night’s sleep

Scientists find that words you’ve been told to recall are better remembered than words with negative emotional connotations — but surprisingly, sleeping doesn’t help.

Neuroscience

Published on 03 Sep 2025

Happy music could help you recover from motion sickness

Listening to joyful music helped study participants with motion sickness recover better than other participants — while sad music helped less than doing nothing.

Vantage point of the Murin-an garden in Kyoto the researchers used for the experiment in summer. Credit: Ueya Kato Zoen.

Neuroscience

Published on 15 May 2025

Seeing well-designed gardens could relax us almost immediately because we look at them differently

In well-designed gardens, our gaze shifts quicker and more often. Researchers believe this could be key to understanding the relaxing effects gardens can have on viewers.

A Bushveld sengi (Elephantulus intufi), photographed by Dr Maria Oosthuizen

Environment

Published on 27 Jan 2026

96% accurate footprint tracker for tiny mammals could help reveal ecosystem health

New footprint identification technology can identify ecosystem-critical species which were once only distinguishable by DNA.

Belugas swim in the sea off Alaska. Photo taken by Lisa Barry with permission from NOAA Fisheries

Environment

Published on 21 Jan 2026

DNA tests reveal mysterious beluga family trees

Groundbreaking DNA analysis of Alaskan beluga whales shows both males and females have many different mates.

Environment

Published on 22 Aug 2025

Wildfires can raise local death rate by 67%, shows study on 2023 Hawaiʻi fires

Scientists studying the devastating Lāhainā, Maui fires of August 2023 found that deaths were two-thirds higher than expected that month — and 367% higher during the most intense week of the blaze.

Environment

Published on 24 Jun 2025

Wildlife forensic scientists develop new tool to detect elephant ivory disguised as legal mammoth ivory

Stable isotope analysis can tell apart ivory from mammoths dug up from the permafrost and modern elephants, closing a loophole for selling elephant ivory

Psychology

Published on 08 Dec 2025

Are you more likely to buy a one-star-reviewed item if it’s just for an acquaintance? Here are five articles you won’t want to miss

With less than one month before the holidays, many of us are gearing up for the annual Christmas shopping extravaganza. We’re highlighting five articles you won’t want to miss before hitting the shops.

Psychology

Published on 13 Aug 2025

Now you see me, now you don’t: how subtle ‘sponsored content’ on social media tricks us into viewing ads

Scientists find that people mostly avoid social media ads when they see them, but many ads blend in seamlessly.

Psychology

Published on 24 Jul 2025

Students more likely to pass oral exams at noon — and that might apply to job interviews, too

Physiological rhythms could explain why Italian university students were more likely to fail exams early or late in the day.

A group of students sit together at a table.

Psychology

Published on 07 May 2025

Humans prefer to put more effort into empathizing with groups than with individuals

Study participants asked to choose whether to empathize with or describe people preferred to empathize with groups, despite finding it difficult and distressing.

Concept design for a rectangular space telescope, modeled after the Diffractive Interfero Coronagraph Exoplanet Resolver (DICER), a notional infrared space observatory, and the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: Leaf Swordy/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 01 Sep 2025

Circle versus rectangle: finding ‘Earth 2.0’ may be easier using a new telescope shape

Guest editorial by Prof Heidi Newberg, an astrophysicist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and author of a new Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences article

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 25 Feb 2025

Laser-powered device tested on Earth could help us detect microbial fossils on Mars

Scientists successfully identify microbe fossils in terrestrial rocks like those found on Mars, opening up the possibility of searching for fossils on the Red Planet.

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 06 Feb 2025

Efforts to find alien life could be boosted by simple test that gets microbes moving

Scientists explored microbial movement as a possible biosignature to detect life on Mars and beyond, cheaper and faster than ever before.

Space sciences and astronomy

Published on 03 Feb 2025

Can ocean-floor mining oversights help us regulate space debris and mining on the Moon?

Space belongs to no-one, yet many nations and private entities now plan to lay their claim on its resources. In a recent Frontiers in Space Technologies article, Nishith Mishra, Martina Elia Vitoloni and Dr Joseph Pelton shared their thoughts about how plans to exploit the ocean floors could impact the way resources from space are used and managed.

Frontiers | Science news

Science news

96% accurate footprint tracker for tiny mammals could help reveal ecosystem health

To reach net-zero, reverse current policy and protect largest trees in Amazon, urge scientists

Mosquitoes’ thirst for human blood has increased as biodiversity loss worsens

DNA tests reveal mysterious beluga family trees

Latest posts

96% accurate footprint tracker for tiny mammals could help reveal ecosystem health

To reach net-zero, reverse current policy and protect largest trees in Amazon, urge scientists

Frontiers Science House: did you miss it? Fresh stories from Davos – end of week wrap

News roundup from Davos Frontiers Science House Day 4 and outlook for Day 5

Whales may divide resources to co-exist under pressures from climate change

Grammy-nominated Aloe Blacc calls for open data sharing across funders and corporations at the Frontiers Science House

Categories

Health

Decades of suffering: Long-term mental health outcomes of Kurdish chemical gas attacks

Global food systems driving twin crises of obesity and global heating

Sports injuries sustained during your period might be more severe

Cannabis derivatives could provide new ovarian cancer treatments

Neuroscience

Do animals fall for optical illusions? What fish and birds can teach us about perception

Instructions help you remember something better than emotions or a good night’s sleep

Happy music could help you recover from motion sickness

Seeing well-designed gardens could relax us almost immediately because we look at them differently

Environment

96% accurate footprint tracker for tiny mammals could help reveal ecosystem health

DNA tests reveal mysterious beluga family trees

Wildfires can raise local death rate by 67%, shows study on 2023 Hawaiʻi fires

Wildlife forensic scientists develop new tool to detect elephant ivory disguised as legal mammoth ivory

Psychology

Are you more likely to buy a one-star-reviewed item if it’s just for an acquaintance? Here are five articles you won’t want to miss

Now you see me, now you don’t: how subtle ‘sponsored content’ on social media tricks us into viewing ads

Students more likely to pass oral exams at noon — and that might apply to job interviews, too

Humans prefer to put more effort into empathizing with groups than with individuals

Space sciences and astronomy

Circle versus rectangle: finding ‘Earth 2.0’ may be easier using a new telescope shape

Laser-powered device tested on Earth could help us detect microbial fossils on Mars

Efforts to find alien life could be boosted by simple test that gets microbes moving

Can ocean-floor mining oversights help us regulate space debris and mining on the Moon?

Frontiers | Science news

96% accurate footprint tracker for tiny mammals could help reveal ecosystem health

To reach net-zero, reverse current policy and protect largest trees in Amazon, urge scientists

Mosquitoes’ thirst for human blood has increased as biodiversity loss worsens

DNA tests reveal mysterious beluga family trees

Latest posts

96% accurate footprint tracker for tiny mammals could help reveal ecosystem health

To reach net-zero, reverse current policy and protect largest trees in Amazon, urge scientists

Frontiers Science House: did you miss it? Fresh stories from Davos – end of week wrap

News roundup from Davos Frontiers Science House Day 4 and outlook for Day 5

Whales may divide resources to co-exist under pressures from climate change

Grammy-nominated Aloe Blacc calls for open data sharing across funders and corporations at the Frontiers Science House

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Health

Decades of suffering: Long-term mental health outcomes of Kurdish chemical gas attacks

Global food systems driving twin crises of obesity and global heating

Sports injuries sustained during your period might be more severe

Cannabis derivatives could provide new ovarian cancer treatments

Neuroscience

Do animals fall for optical illusions? What fish and birds can teach us about perception

Instructions help you remember something better than emotions or a good night’s sleep

Happy music could help you recover from motion sickness

Seeing well-designed gardens could relax us almost immediately because we look at them differently

Environment

96% accurate footprint tracker for tiny mammals could help reveal ecosystem health

DNA tests reveal mysterious beluga family trees

Wildfires can raise local death rate by 67%, shows study on 2023 Hawaiʻi fires

Wildlife forensic scientists develop new tool to detect elephant ivory disguised as legal mammoth ivory

Psychology

Are you more likely to buy a one-star-reviewed item if it’s just for an acquaintance? Here are five articles you won’t want to miss

Now you see me, now you don’t: how subtle ‘sponsored content’ on social media tricks us into viewing ads

Students more likely to pass oral exams at noon — and that might apply to job interviews, too

Humans prefer to put more effort into empathizing with groups than with individuals

Space sciences and astronomy

Circle versus rectangle: finding ‘Earth 2.0’ may be easier using a new telescope shape

Laser-powered device tested on Earth could help us detect microbial fossils on Mars

Efforts to find alien life could be boosted by simple test that gets microbes moving

Can ocean-floor mining oversights help us regulate space debris and mining on the Moon?

Frontiers Science House: did you miss it? Fresh stories from Davos – end of week wrap