Plants
The Science of Spring’s Green Show
Spring’s burst of brightness comes before chloroplasts grow and mature
Graphic Science151 articles archived since 1845
Reproduction
How Medication Abortion with RU-486/Mifepristone Works
A step-by-step look at how these drugs end pregnancy
Public Health
How the U.S. Lost Years of Life
Many countries saw drops in life expectancy during the pandemic, but some populations have suffered more than others
Conservation
A New Map Tracks the World’s Largest Glaciers
A visualization compares the forms of Earth’s largest flows of ice
Astronomy
Milky Way Census Shows Stars Take Varied Paths
The Gaia satellite is making the most detailed and complete map of the stars in our galaxy
Climate Change
See How Much Climate Change Has Cost Different Countries
Low-income nations bear the brunt of costs from climate change
Animals
See How a Parasite Travels from Tiny Crustacean to Fish to Bird
A tiny bug manipulates the behavior of its hosts to ensure its unlikely life cycle
Genetics
See How Scientists Put Together the Complete Human Genome
For the first time, researchers have sequenced all 3,117,275,501 bases of our genetic code
Climate Change
Wildfires Followed by Severe Rain Will Become More Common
Graphics show how the two weather extremes will more often pair up
Climate Change
How Climate Change Will Hit Younger Generations
A new analysis shows that people born later will experience vastly more severe weather events
Cancer
How Skin Cancer Rates Vary across the Globe
This leading cancer affects some populations and regions much more than others
Oceans
Coral Reefs Are Struggling, but There Is Some Good News
Graphics show how reefs around the globe are faring
Inequality
Colonialism Casts a Shadow on Fossil Science
Paleontologists from a small number of countries control much of the world’s fossil data
Animals
Monarchs Take Generations to Make Annual South-North Journey
Citizen science data reveal how the declining species travels from its southern wintering site to its northern breeding grounds
Space Exploration
What Is a Lagrange Point?
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will travel to a special spot where the gravity from Earth and the sun is balanced
Basic Chemistry
Mammoth Tusk Reveals Ancient Mammal’s Travels
Chemical analyses showed an individual mammoth made an epic journey across Alaska
Climate Change
Climate Change Drives Escalating Drought
The past two decades have seen some of the most extreme dry periods in U.S. history
Astrophysics
The Solar System’s Mysterious Magnetic Fields
Most of our neighboring planets have magnetic fields, but scientists do not fully understand how they arise
Public Health
The Pandemic’s Hidden Toll Is Revealed in Excess Death Counts
Many of the unexpected deaths in rural U.S. counties last year were not recorded as caused by COVID
Animals
Bird Species Abundances, from Biggest to Smallest
A new study found large species are rare, but those with fewer individuals are abundant
