Matteo Paz with Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum after winning the Regeneron Science Talent Search award.

High School Student Discovers 1.5 Million Potential New Astronomical Objects by Developing an A.I. Algorithm

The 18-year-old won $250,000 for training a machine learning model to analyze understudied data from NASA’s retired NEOWISE telescope

Many teens have shared videos on social media showing their use of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, which is sold in small metal canisters.

The Long, Strange History of Nitrous Oxide, a Popular Drug Users Have Been Inhaling for Hundreds of Years

Galaxy Gas has brought the drug back into the spotlight, and scientists are raising alarms about its health risks

Thousands of years ago, people had been buried both inside and outside of this cist tomb.

New Research

Why Were These Teenagers Chosen as Human Sacrifices at an Ancient Mesopotamian Cemetery?

Researchers previously assumed that some of the graves at the site were royal burials. A new study presents a different theory, which challenges existing ideas about early class structures

Appearing in a landscape that looks as though it were painted in watercolor, a male red deer roars in the rain. This photograph was the runner-up in the animal behavior category.

See 15 Captivating Images From the British Wildlife Photography Awards, From a Majestic Shark to Hungry Pigeons

The winning photographs highlight the diversity of animal and plant life in Britain as well as the often hidden behaviors of wild creatures

Calcea Johnson (right), currently studying environmental engineering at Louisiana State University, published the new study with her high school classmate, Ne'Kiya Jackson (left), now a student in pharmacology at Xavier University of Louisiana.

New Research

Two High Schoolers Found an ‘Impossible’ Proof for a 2,000-Year-Old Math Rule—Then, They Discovered Nine More

Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson of Louisiana published a new study proving the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry, a feat mathematicians long thought could not be done

A 2019 study found that teenagers who spend more than three hours per day on social media have double the risk for anxiety and depression symptoms.

Surgeon General Calls for Placing Warning Labels on Social Media Platforms

Vivek H. Murthy views social media as a contributor the mental health crisis in young people, and he suggests tobacco-style warnings on the apps

The cast of The Outsiders during the musical's world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego earlier this year

‘The Outsiders’ Musical Is Coming to Broadway

The greasers and Socs from S.E. Hinton’s popular novel will spar on stage this spring

A staff member holds a copy of Heartstopper, an LGBTQ teen romance, at Lira's shop in Budapest.

Bookstore in Hungary Will Fight Fine for Selling ‘Heartstopper,’ a Popular LGBTQ Graphic Novel

Officials say the bookseller broke the law by promoting the novel to minors and failing to wrap it in plastic foil

L to R: Abby Ryder Fortson, Amari Price, Elle Graham and Katherine Kupferer in the film adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

Women Who Shaped History

How Judy Blume Redefined Girlhood

The first movie adaptation of “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” arrives in theaters today

Since its debut in 1974, Dungeons & Dragons has only grown in popularity. No longer a niche game, it’s been played by more than 50 million people to date.

14 Fun Facts About Dungeons & Dragons

Before watching the new movie adaptation, here’s what you need to know about the history of the fantasy role-playing game

The cast of the 1983 film, from left to right: Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruise

S.E. Hinton Is Tired of Talking About ‘The Outsiders.’ No One Else Is

The author reflects on her classic 1967 novel, its 1983 film adaptation and its legacy today

Participants of the 2022 Florida Python Challenge captured a total of 231 invasive pythons during the ten-day competition. 

Florida Teen Wins $10,000 for Hunting Invasive Pythons

The annual Florida Python Challenge combats the destructive snakes, which have taken over the Everglades

Paruroctonus soda

These California Teens Discovered Two New Scorpion Species

One of the creatures could be wiped out if its range isn’t protected, researchers say

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released draft recommendation statements for anxiety, depression and suicide risk in kids earlier this week.

The Future of Mental Health

Kids as Young as Eight Years Old Should Be Screened for Anxiety, Task Force Says

This guidance comes as experts warn that children are experiencing a mental health crisis, which the pandemic has worsened

High social media use may simply be a coping mechanism, rather than a cause, of adolescents' mental health challenges. 

The Future of Mental Health

Negative Effects of Social Media May Impact Adolescent Girls and Boys at Different Ages

A new study suggests certain ‘windows’ of development when youngsters appear most sensitive to technology

Award-winning filmmaker Janay Kelley honed her skills in the video lab in Cloud901. The state-of-the-art teen learning facility is one of the biggest and best of its kind.

How Memphis Created the Nation’s Most Innovative Public Library

You can play the ukulele, learn photography or record a song in a top-flight studio. You can also check out a book

Rasha Alqahtani, an 18-year-old from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, won a third award in the behavioral and social sciences category of the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair for her prototype of a video game feature to assess anxiety. In addition to her STEM research, Alqahtani is a poet and artist.

Innovation for Good

This Teenager Is Developing a Video Game That Assesses Your Mental Health

Rasha Alqahtani, an 18-year-old from Saudi Arabia, is determined to help her peers learn about their anxiety—in the wildly popular setting of ‘Minecraft’

Through Smithsonian programs, like ARTLAB and the National Youth Summit, museum educators demonstrate how adult mentors can elevate the voices of teens in their communities.

Smithsonian Voices

How Educators Can Boost and Activate Teen Voices

Amplify the voices of teens, share their suggestions on how to support young leaders’ efforts without disrupting their individual agency