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  1. Animals

    Explainer: What are cicadas?

    There are more than 3,000 species of cicadas, but the best known in North America are periodical cicadas, which emerge every 13 or 17 years.

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  2. Animals

    How bees play telephone to form a swarm

    Honeybees use pheromones and flapping wings to tell each other where to find the queen — so they can all be together. Learn more with this web comic.

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  3. Materials Science

    Copper ‘foam’ could be used as filters for COVID-19 masks

    The lightweight new material could serve as a washable and recyclable, eco-friendly alternative for many current mask filters.

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  4. Psychology

    Most people will add something — even when subtracting makes more sense

    People default to adding when solving puzzles and problems, even when subtracting works better. That could underlie some modern-day excesses.

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  5. Life

    Scientists Say: Genus

    A genus is a group of closely related species. It’s the first part of the two-part system called binomial nomenclature, used to name living things.

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  6. Ecosystems

    Urchin takeover underlies California’s vanishing kelp forests

    Some 95 percent of kelp forests along its northern coast are gone. Meanwhile, sea otters are helping slow the loss of surviving kelp farther south.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Simpler, easier COVID-19 test developed with kids in mind

    Designed by moms, it avoids any need to stick an uncomfortable swab up the nose. Instead, people just swish a dental roll around their mouths.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Cool Jobs: Saliva offers a spitting image of our health

    Scientists are using this secretion to study our body’s functions, to test for disease and even to diagnose injury.

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  9. Space

    Raindrops on alien worlds will obey Earth-like rules

    Their size will be similar no matter what they’re made of or on which planet they fall, a new analysis finds.

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  10. Life

    Let’s learn about dogs

    From learning the names of their toys to sniffing out viruses in human sweat, dogs are far more than household pets.

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  11. Physics

    Staying grounded in space requires artificial gravity

    On TV, people in space walk around like they’re on Earth. How can science give real astronauts artificial gravity? Spin right round, baby.

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  12. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Alkaline

    Alkaline chemicals are basic — substances that produce hydroxide ions in solution.

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