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Stories from Sara Hashemi

Dealing with centuries of darkness and eye parasites doesn't seem to affect Greenland sharks' vision.

Greenland Sharks Can Survive for Centuries—and Maintain Long-Lasting Vision, Despite Living in the Dark

The long-living sharks aren’t as blind as once thought and have DNA repair mechanisms that may help prevent their vision from degrading, a study suggests

A neural circuit that processes motivation and reward seems to act as a "brake" when faced with an unpleasant task, a study suggests.

Can’t Get Started on a Daunting Task? This Brain Circuit That Slams the Brakes on Motivation Might Be to Blame

Monkey experiments hint at a “motivation brake” pathway between two brain regions. Manipulating it may lead to new treatments for depression and other psychiatric conditions

Cloud-9, shown in magenta. The circle represents the region where researchers focused their search for stars—the peak of radio emission.

Astronomers Find an Odd Space Cloud, Like a Galaxy Without Stars, That Could Shed Light on the Secrets of Dark Matter

Named “Cloud-9,” the discovery is a new type of celestial object known as a RELHIC, which is unlike anything scientists have ever observed

Same-sex behaviors seem to be common among rhesus macaques.

Biologists Reveal How Same-Sex Sexual Behavior May Have Given Some Primates an Evolutionary Advantage

Nonhuman primates like bonobos and chimpanzees might engage in same-sex sexual activities to strengthen bonds, particularly in harsh environments or within strict social structures, a new study suggests

Three-dimensional reconstructions of the rockhead poacher's insides hint that the fish may beat its cranial pit like a drum

This Bizarre Fish Has a Hole in Its Head. The Creature Might Use It Like a Drum to Rock Out

The rockhead, or deep-pitted, poacher may use its ribs to beat the inside of its head cavity to communicate with other creatures, according to a new study

The Teal Wand is the only self-collection device for HPV testing approved by the Food and Drug Administration for at-home use.

Many Americans Will Soon Have Access to At-Home Cervical Cancer Screening Tests at No Cost

U.S. guidance announced on Monday recommends self-collection of samples to test for HPV, the virus that often causes cervical cancer. Private insurers must cover the costs of the swab kits by 2027

A satellite view of a phytoplankton bloom in the Southern Ocean

Earthquakes Deep Below Antarctic Waters Seem to Have Surprising Effects on Life at the Surface

Quakes may cause ocean floor vents to release more nutrients, triggering blooms in plantlike organisms called phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean

The two cubs in their indoor den 

Meet the National Zoo’s Adorable 1-Month-Old Sloth Bear Cubs—the First Born There in More Than a Decade

The cubs will spend the next few months with their mother before debuting to the public

A humpback whale off the coast of Iceland

By Collecting Whale Breath, Researchers Detected a Deadly Virus in the Arctic for the First Time

Flying a drone with Petri dishes above exhaling whales helped scientists identify a dangerous pathogen that can damage the animals’ respiratory, immune and nervous systems

The newfound "fairy lantern" species in its natural habitat in Malaysia

A Rare, Parasitic ‘Fairy Lantern’ Plant Species Was Discovered in Malaysia. It Might Be Critically Endangered

The plant was first spotted near a popular picnic site within a forest. But subsequent surveys have found fewer than 20 individuals of the species, named Thismia selangorensis

The researchers examined 3D reconstructions of hundreds of ant exoskeletons.

Some Ants Sacrifice Stronger Exoskeletons for Larger Colonies, Which May Help Them Take Over New Environments

Species with thinner protective barriers may need fewer resources and tend to have a greater ability to adapt to new habitats, a study suggests

Estrogen may cause certain colon cells, shown in green in this microscope image, to release a hormone called peptide YY. This, in turn, causes a different type of colon cell, colored magenta, to pump out the chemical messenger serotonin, which activates pain-sensing nerve fibers.

Women Are More Likely to Have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This Newfound Gut Pain Pathway Might Explain Why

The hormone estrogen—which female animals typically have more of than males—triggers a molecular cascade in the gut that leads to pain signals, a study in mice suggests

Michaela "Michi" Benthaus in the center with her five crewmates

This Aerospace Engineer Just Became the First Wheelchair User to Travel to Space

A brief commercial flight with space tourism company Blue Origin made Michaela “Michi” Benthaus’ childhood dream come true

Nanoflowers, which look white, can help healthy cells, colored yellow, deliver mitochondria, colored red, to nearby cells. 

A New Way to Boost the Powerhouses of the Cell Might Combat Aging and Degenerative Diseases, Lab Study Suggests

Creating mini mitochondria factories helped recharge damaged cells in a dish, providing proof-of-concept work that could pave the way to new regenerative medicine therapies

Six infrared images of Titan created with data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft

Saturn’s Moon Titan May Not Have an Underground Ocean After All

A new analysis of data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft may upend Titan’s status as an ocean world. But it might still have pockets of water within a slushy ice layer

A female green hermit hummingbird

These Male Hummingbirds Evolved Straighter, Sharper Bills So They Could Better Joust for Mates

While female green hermit hummingbirds have curved bills, males’ straighter mouthparts are built for stabbing one another, a new study suggests

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, which is investigating a group of asteroids that share Jupiter's orbit around the sun, snapped this image on September 16 as 3I/ATLAS approached Mars. 

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Is About to Make Its Closest Approach to Earth. Here’s How to View It With Binoculars or a Telescope

On December 19, avid skywatchers can catch a glimpse of the mysterious visitor through powerful binoculars or a telescope when it’s around 170 million miles from our home planet

Illustration of a T lymphocyte white blood cell, depicted in blue, attacking a cancer cell, shown in red

Scientists Engineered Cancer-Fighting Cells Inside Patients’ Bodies—and Two Early Trials Show Promise

Two recent studies show the novel therapy works in people with multiple myeloma, but researchers are trying to minimize side effects

Orcas and dolphins might hang out together off the coast of British Columbia to hunt for food as a team, new research suggests.

Watch These Orcas Follow Dolphins to Snag a Salmon Feast. It Might Be the First Evidence of These Species Working Together

Off the coast of British Columbia, killer whales are tailing dolphins, and both seem to be rewarded with fishy meals. But not everyone is convinced it’s teamwork—and the behavior may hint at other ocean stressors

Supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, which sits within the Milky Way

Astrophysicists Found an Abundance of Odd Elements Essential for Life in the Leftovers of an Exploded Star

The surprisingly high amounts of chlorine and potassium in a supernova remnant could help solve the mystery of where these crucial elements come from

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