ATLANTA — Homo naledi, a rock star among fossil species in the human genus, has made an encore. Its return highlighted debate over whether this hominid was a distinct Homo species that purposefully disposed of at least some of its dead. H. naledi made worldwide headlines last year when researchers announced the discovery of an […]

There are some pets that you just don’t pet. But that didn’t stop Philip Stoddard, a zoologist at Florida International University in Miami, from petting his pet electric eel Sparky. “It was so beautiful, I had to pet it,” he told Science News for Students. That was a big mistake, writes Roberta Kwok, because Sparky […]

Ancient stargazers chose well when they named the solar system’s largest planet, Jupiter, after the king of the Roman gods. With more than twice the mass of all the other planets combined, Jupiter reigns supreme. It’s the most influential member of our planetary family — after the sun. Jupiter might have hurled the asteroids that […]