Why is math is harder for some kids? Brain scans offer clues

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MRIs show different brain activity patterns for kids with math learning disabilities When kids with math learning disabilities solve a math problem with number symbols, they approach and process it differently than typical kids. But differences disappear when numbers are shown as dots. Matt Chinworth Some kids struggle with math. Now, scientists have pinpointed some of the specific thinking processes and brain regions that might explain why math is a little harder for some than others. When given simple math problems, kids with math learning disabilities in a new study were less cautious about giving their answers and did not slow down after making errors compared with kids with typical math skills. But these differences disappeared when those same kids were given problems with dots to represent numbers instead of Arabic number symbols, researchers report February 9 in the Journal of Neuroscience. The idea that number symbols can be a challenge is not new. “There’s a very consistent observation that it’s the symbolic p
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Apollo rocks reveal the Moon had brief bursts of super-strong magnetism

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The Moon wasn’t steadily magnetic — it had brief, explosive magnetic “heartbeats” that fooled scientists for decades. The Moon’s magnetic field was mostly weak — but occasionally flared to strengths even greater than Earth’s. Apollo samples exaggerated those powerful moments because astronauts unknowingly collected rocks from rare, titanium-rich hotspots. Credit: Shutterstock Scientists at the University of Oxford's Department of Earth Sciences have settled a decades long argument over the strength of the Moon's magnetic field. For years, researchers have questioned whether the Moon generated a powerful magnetic field or only a weak one during its early history (3.5 -- 4 billion years ago). A new study published February 26 in Nature Geoscience concludes that both views were partly right. By reexamining rock samples returned by the Apollo missions, the team found evidence that the Moon did experience periods of extremely strong magnetism, at times even surpassing Earth's. However, these intense phases were rare and brief. For most of its history, the Moon's magnetic f
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Can you trust the results from gut microbiome tests? Maybe not

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Read this before you make health decisions based on a consumer test of your gut microbes The National Institute of Standards and Technology created a standardized fecal sample. Companies that analyzed identical samples of the standard produced results as varied as the microbes carried by different people. Listen to this article This is a human-written story voiced by AI. Got feedback? Take our survey . (See our AI policy here .) Finding out what gut microbes a person carries may not be as easy as many companies advertise. Seven direct-to-consumer microbiome testing companies each got three identical fecal samples but returned different results about which gut microbes were present, researchers report February 26 in Communications Biology. The results highlight discrepancies among companies that claim to give consumers insight about their gut health. That matters because consumers may
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A giant weak spot in Earth’s magnetic field is now half the size of Europe

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Earth’s magnetic field is on the move — and one giant weak spot over the Atlantic is getting dramatically bigger. The South Atlantic Anomaly — a growing weak spot in Earth’s magnetic shield — has expanded by nearly half the size of continental Europe since 2014, with especially intense weakening now occurring near Africa. At the same time, magnetic strength is rising over Siberia and fading over Canada, reflecting powerful changes unfolding deep inside Earth’s core. Credit: ESA (Data source: Finlay, C.C. et al., 2025) After analyzing 11 years of magnetic field data from the European Space Agency's Swarm satellite constellation, researchers have found that a large weak zone in Earth's magnetic field over the South Atlantic has grown dramatically. This region, called the South Atlantic Anomaly, has expanded since 2014 by an area nearly half the size of continental Europe. Earth's magnetic field plays a critical role in making the planet livable. It acts as a protective barrier, shielding us from harmful cosmic radiation and charged particles streaming from the Sun. How
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Is geothermal energy on the cusp of a worldwide renaissance?

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The UK's first geothermal plant in Cornwall is part of a wave of projects aiming to meet growing electricity demand, some of them enabled by technology from oil and gas fracturing The UK’s electricity grid has started getting its first geothermal power amid a worldwide resurgence of interest in geothermal, thanks to improving well technologies and rising power demand from data centres. The United Downs plant in Cornwall will generate 3 megawatts of electricity while also producing lithium for battery production. “Let’s call it a renaissance,” says Ryan Law, CEO of Geothermal Engineering Ltd., the company behind United Downs. “There is a lot going on in the US. There is quite a lot going on in Europe too, I think, in part driven by our sort of insatiable demand for 24/7 renewable energy.” As energy grids come to rely on wind and solar generation that changes with the wea
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Climate change could threaten monarch mass migration

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Suitable habitat in Mexico may shift south, fracturing existing migration routes ⏸ Monarch butterflies (Danus plexippus) rest on rocks in Mexico’s Biosphere Reserve of the Monarch Butterfly, a protected area where millions of the insects spend the winter before migrating north in the spring. AmericanWildlife/Getty Images Climate change may threaten North America’s iconic mass monarch butterfly migration.  Every fall, millions of monarchs (Danaus plexippus) travel thousands of kilometers over North America as they leave their breeding grounds in Canada and the United States for wintering grounds in a mountainous part of central Mexico. The butterflies make the trek back north over multiple generations when temperatures warm in the spring and summer months, following the growth of milkweed (Asclepias), their preferred food source. But Mexico’s suitable monarch overwintering habitat could shift south as the climate changes in decades to come, researchers report February 25 in PLOS Climate. That could length
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Just two days of oatmeal cut bad cholesterol by 10%

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Two days of oatmeal may be enough to slash bad cholesterol and reprogram your gut for better heart health. Just two days of mostly oatmeal cut bad cholesterol by 10% and triggered beneficial changes in gut bacteria linked to better heart and metabolic health. Credit: Shutterstock Eating mostly oatmeal for just two days may significantly reduce cholesterol, according to a clinical trial from the University of Bonn published in Nature Communications. The study focused on people with metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that includes excess body weight, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, and abnormal blood lipid levels. Participants followed a calorie restricted plan made up almost entirely of oatmeal for 48 hours. Compared with a control group that also reduced calories but did not eat oats, those on the oat based plan saw a markedly greater improvement in their cholesterol levels. The reduction remained noticeable even six weeks later. Researchers also found that the diet changed the balance of bacteria in the gut. Substances produced by these microbes
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