China establishes world's largest language resource repository

China has established the world's largest language resource repository, consisting of over 120 languages and dialects that are being used in the world's most populous country, the Chinese Ministry of Education said Wednesday. Speaking at a news conference held in Anyang, Central China's Henan Province, Tian Lixin, director of the Language and Information Management Department […]

Pieces of Homo naledi story continue to puzzle

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 […]

Electric eels play defense with a mighty leap

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 […]

Juno is closing in on Jupiter

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 […]